Not too sure how student resumes should look and what to include?
For all job applications in general, you need to show your employers that you’re qualified for the role.
If you’re coming up short-handed and struggling with the writing process, it’s a good idea to read and check what others have done. Building a winning formula is more straightforward when you start by seeing what’s already proven to work. In this guide, we’ve listed 10 of the best student resume examples and what makes each of these stand out to the hiring manager.
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“It helped me out a lot in revamping my resume and sure enough, I finally started getting calls back and eventually landed a job! I still can't believe that such an amazing and helpful website exists. Rezi is doing something really amazing for struggling students like me” - Usama.T
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What Should a Student Put on a Resume?
There are different things on what to put on a resume. The main resume sections you will need though include:
- Resume header
- Resume summary
- Education
- Work experience
- Skills
- Additional sections (e.g. certifications, involvement, projects, coursework, etc)
With resumes for students, one advantage you have is not having any work experience.
Surprisingly enough, it’s a strength for employers because they can mold you into their own and won’t have to worry about changing any of your previous workplace habits. And, habits aren’t easy to revert. You’ll be easier to manage and with enough training, you’ll be more independent and capable of working in synchronization with the company workflow.
As we’ve mentioned in several of our blogs, you need to stick to your strengths. There’s always room for something for you to talk about in your ATS resume.
We’ll go through the 10 student resume examples below along with what’s been done well in each of them. Even as a student, it’s achievable to write a good resume with no experience in your job search and land a good placement or career opportunity.
These examples are also proof that you can write a great resume despite not having all the ideal requirements recruiters expect.
First Year Student Resume
In this first year student resume example, you’ll notice the education section being listed first on the candidate application. Although your work experience is one way for the hiring manager and employers to determine if you’re capable for the role, a degree or major along with any other academic certifications is key to show that you’re capable for the job even as a student.
At the very least, they’ll know you’re knowledgeable about your field and industry. Usually, the work experience comes first but if you don’t have much, you may want to consider putting your education first.
This should include:
- The qualification, e.g. Bachelor of Business Administration: Marketing
- Where you studied
- Date of graduation
They’ve also used an additional resume section to make up for that lack of work experience, i.e. the relevant coursework section.
Second Year Student Resume
This second year student resume example is similar to the previous one. However, they have more work experience and skills to talk about. One thing to take note of is that you’ll want to stick to a one-page resume. These tend to be more impactful and effective when leaving an impression on your hiring manager.
Unlike the first year student, they omitted the relevant coursework section and only included what’s more relevant. This keeps their resume more concise.
In the sample, they’ve also listed out more specific skills at the bottom that’s aligned with the job description, e.g. leadership. Some of these are ATS resume keywords too, which is vital for the application of every job seeker.
Third Year Student Resume
As the third year student resume example comes by, you’ll notice the applicant has gained more work experience.
Throughout the progression of this university student, some parts of the previous resume have been omitted and some have been added. Essentially, they know how to edit a resume and only include what’s necessary and relevant.
Fourth Year Student Resume
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In this fourth year student resume example, you’ll need to pinpoint what’s most aligned with the job background to show you’re qualified for the role. Pretty much, you need to update your resume accordingly.
Mechanical Engineer Student Resume
The resume work experience is imperative for all resumes. However, this doesn’t have to be clearly written as work experience. You could rephrase it as long as it’s clearly defined for what it is, e.g. here it’s outlined as engineering experience. This is good in terms of personalizing and customizing your resume to stand out.
Unlike the other student resume examples so far, this one has included a resume summary section. It provides an overview of their professional background and implies their career objectives.
With the ATS resume format as well, this is a good example of simplicity. You’ll see that bullet points are being used as they should be underneath each resume section. One-liners are used too, which makes it readable for the human eye as well as scannable so you can beat the applicant tracking system.
Financial Analyst Intern Resume
The financial analyst intern resume example above incorporates the education section around the middle. The additional resume sections here used include projects and involvement.
Don’t forget to include additional information when it’s relevant.
As for the skills section, one basic soft skill and attribute he includes that’s important for virtually all jobs is communication. They’ve also narrowed it down to specific resume skills, i.e. technical skills, soft skills, and fields of interest.
Management Student Resume
Notably, with our management student resume, you’ll see how short the summary section is. This is more likely to engage the reader when they skim through your application as it’s readable and only one-line long. As a result, it can make your application more engaging and compelling for your hiring manager.
Like some of the other examples listed above, this resume lists out their awards in the certifications section.
This one is unique and stands out as their approach is different in showing they’re qualified for the role. They’ve simply listed out all their relevant qualifications and achievements in mostly one-liner bullet points. The same goes when describing their work experience too.
Student Technical Assistant Resume
The student technical assistant resume example resembles more of the standard ATS resume approach.
Underneath each section, they’ve described their responsibilities, the skills they’ve developed, and some accomplishments in their line of work. For instance, the involvement section mentions that his team won first place. This shows he’s had an impact in his role being the electrical team lead.
Including results like this is powerful. It’s one of our top resume tips because it shows employers that you can carry out the tasks to a good standard and better than the average job seeker.
Corporate Rotational Graduate Resume
This corporate rotational graduate resume template has been mentioned in several of our articles for a reason.
Something interesting in this candidate application is their work experience section.
It’s in reverse chronological order, which is fairly straightforward. However, the content that’s written to describe it is intriguing. It’s not the typical type of work experience section you’d expect as an employer.
Yet, it highlights the student applicant’s familiarity in the professional environment in the workforce and provides insight into their abilities even as they’ve just graduated.
Candidates of all levels whether you’re a freshman, undergraduate or entry-level professional seeking to learn and land a new job, you can emphasize your level of ability by showing an accomplishment. Mentioning your skills that have been developed too is also a good idea.
Science Resume
Compared to most of the examples on this list, the science resume template doesn’t use a resume summary section that summarizes their objective or background. It’s optional and not necessary to insert, but they’re recommended.
Notably, they have several honors and coursework to show they’re qualified for the role. You’ll also notice that they’ve included their GPA, which is acceptable as long as you’ve scored a minimum of over 3.0. If you’ve made a strong effort to study, there’s no reason why you can’t emphasize it.
Furthermore, they’ve pointed out their language skills. It’s not essential, but it’s one way to impress your recruiter. Speaking a different language fluently is hard, which is why it’s commendable and deserves a level of respect.
More ATS Resume Examples From Rezi
We’ve broken down other ATS resume examples that have helped our users get their next job.
However, if you want to use a template designed for a specific job position you’re looking to break into, you can browse through our list of 264 ATS resume templates and cover letters. It’s intuitive and ready to use.
With the help of Rezi, building a student resume has never been easier. Here’s what a few more of our student users had to say:
“Absolutely love Rezi. Used Rezi ever since the AMA from Jacob on Reddit was posted and I swear it was thanks to Rezi that helped me land my 1st internship. Also, I love the pro features” - Calvin.C
“I'm a high school student and Rezi helped me organize my first resume. I didn't have much guidance applying for my first job, but Rezi made it easy” - Mightier than the sword
“Rezi is a unique platform, exceptional for students who are building their resume for the first time” - Lorenzo.M
Final Piece of Advice
Hopefully, you now have a better idea and understanding of what student resumes should look like as well as what you can include.
As a final piece of advice, just make sure you’re personalizing each and every application you send to perfect it. I understand that the process might seem tedious but the end result of landing that job and gaining work experience makes it worth the effort.
And in fact, it doesn't have to take that long.
Not when you use the Rezi resume builder to create your application. If you haven’t already, give it a go – you’re guided through each section step-by-step.
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