When you’re in secondary school or university, building a resume may not be the first thing on your mind. Most students assume that resumes come later on after graduation or once they’ve gotten through a few jobs. But waiting can be a mistake. The thing is that your resume is not just a document, it’s your first professional impression, and it will never be too early to start forming it it.
Creating your resume while you’re still in school forces you to reflect on all your experiences, goals, and skills. It can help you spot gaps early on that you might want to do, like realizing you haven’t volunteered or joined any leadership roles yet. And even more importantly, it prepares you for opportunities that come sooner than you think.Things like internships, scholarships, summer gigs, even research positions in some special cases. Building a student resume early on will get you ready so that when one of those emails saying “please attach your resume,” lands in your inbox, you will easily attach one instead of going to ChatGPT to create a fake one for you.
So, what does a student resume entail?
What should a student resume include?
When it comes to student resumes, one of the biggest worries students face is knowing what to put on their resumes when they haven’t had a real job yet. The good news is that a student resume isn’t about having 10 years of experience, it’s about showing what you’ve done with the time you’ve had. Academic achievements, relevant coursework, class projects, part-time jobs, leadership roles, sports, and volunteering.
These are all essential!
Start with your education. This should include your school, your expected graduation date, and your major or focus area. If your GPA is 3.0 or higher, make sure to include it. You can also list relevant coursework, academic awards, or any extracurricular activities you’re a part of. If you’ve done a research project, summarize it briefly and put it in your resume. It shows depth and initiative.
Then comes your experience. This can be anything from tutoring other students, working at local cafes, assisting in a lab, or organizing a fundraiser with a student organization. These might not sound like career-defining roles, but they demonstrate key skills like communication, responsibility, problem-solving, and time management.
As you can probably tell by now, no productive initiative outside of normal school activities by you is counted out. On the contrary, these are the most defining things to your student resume.
The power of action words and numbers
A good student resume is more than just a list, it’s a highlight of your best moments. To make you stand out through your accomplishments, start your bullet points with strong buzz words like developed, led, organized, collaborated, analyzed. Avoid vague language like “helped with” or “responsible for.”
The point is to be direct and to avoid unnecessary gibberish.
Whenever possible, add numbers to show results. Think about how many people you worked with, how much money you raised, or how long the project took. For example, instead of saying “Worked at the student help desk,” you could say that you “Assisted over 200 students per semester with technical issues, reducing average ticket response time by 20%.”
You see, that sounds more like it.
This not only shows what you did, but also how well you did it. Numbers build credibility and give your student resume a measurable weight.
Tailoring your student resume to each opportunity
One common mistake that not only students make is creating one resume and using it for everything. But employers can spot a generic resume from a mile away. Each opportunity, whether it’s a research position, internship, scholarship, or volunteer role has different expectations. Your resume should reflect that expectation.
But that doesn’t mean rewriting your resume from scratch every time.
It means adjusting your summary, skills, and the order of your content to emphasize what’s most relevant. If you’re applying for a research internship, highlighting your coursework, academic projects, or lab experience near the top is most essential. If it’s a marketing internship, move your social media experience, creative work, or leadership activities at the top.
It also helps to mirror the language of the job description. Many companies use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to scan resumes for keywords. Including the right terms depending on the opportunity, like data analysis, event coordination, or social media strategy. Doing this can help your resume get past the software and in front of a human.
So make sure that your student resume is well tailored to the specific opportunity being applied to.
Keep It simple and professional
Even with great content, a poorly formatted resume can ruin your chances. Think clean and minimal. No fancy font styles, use standard fonts like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman in 11- or 12-point size. Stick to black text, use bold for section headers, and keep spacing consistent. Don’t include headshots, emojis, or decorative borders, these might seem fun, but they can look unprofessional and confuse ATS scanners.
Your student resume should ideally be one page long, especially if you’re a secondary school or university student. Only go to a second page if you truly have substantial content that adds value. Structure it in clear sections:
- Header: Your name and contact info
- Summary or Objective (optional): A 2–3 sentence snapshot of who you are and what you’re aiming for
- Education
- Experience
- Projects or Research (if applicable)
- Skills
- Extracurriculars or Leadership
Save it as a PDF unless instructed otherwise. And always double-check the file name, something like “FirstName-LastName-Resume.pdf” works well.
As you see, it is nothing fancy. Keep it simple and professional.
Helpful tools and where to get feedback
Luckily, you don’t have to do it all alone. There are tons of free or low-cost tools that can help you write and design your resume:
- Canva, and AIs like ChatGPT offer great free student resume templates.
- Jobscan and Resume Worded help you optimize your resume for specific job descriptions.
- University career centers often provide sample resumes, free reviews, and one-on-one consultations.
Don’t underestimate the value of feedback. Ask a professor, mentor, friend, or even someone who has a job you admire to review your resume. They can catch typos, suggest improvements, or help you reframe your experiences more powerfully. AIs are also a good tool for review but it is always good to get a second opinion.
Keep your student resume updated
Your resume isn’t just a one-time project. It’s a living document that should grow with you as you add to your accomplishments. Add new experiences as they happen, whether it’s a new class project, volunteer role, or a part-time job. Keeping your student resume updated means you’ll always be ready to apply for a last-minute opportunity.
Also, don’t be shy about putting your resume to work. Upload it to LinkedIn, include it in emails to professors or employers, and bring it to networking events. The more you use it, the more confident you’ll become in it.
Conclusion
Writing a student resume while you’re still in school isn’t about pretending to be a seasoned professional. It’s about learning to tell your story with clarity, confidence, and purpose. It’s about showing that you’re proactive, self-aware, and ready to grow even if there isn’t much on it.
If nothing else, the key takeaway from this article should be that every experience you’ve had, every group project, part-time job, club leadership, or community event is a small part of your resume. When framed the right way, these parts create a picture of someone who’s ready to take on the respective opportunity tailored to it.
Let’s get writing!
