Structure and order
For an internship, put what is strongest first. For most students that means education, then projects, then experience, then skills. If you have a real internship or job, it can come before projects.
Sections of a student resume
| Section | What goes in it | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Header | Name, email, phone, city, GitHub and LinkedIn or portfolio | One or two lines |
| Education | School, degree, dates, GPA if it helps, a few relevant courses | 2 to 3 lines |
| Projects | Two to four projects, each with a one-line description and one or two bullets | Half the page |
| Experience | Internships, part-time or research roles, each with two to three bullets | As needed |
| Skills | Languages, frameworks and tools you can use today, grouped | 2 to 4 lines |
Write bullets that show what you did
A strong bullet says what you did, how you did it, and what changed. Start with a verb, be specific, and include a number only when it is true.
Weak bullets and stronger ones
| Weak | Stronger |
|---|---|
| Worked on the backend of a ride-sharing app | Built a ride-sharing board in Next.js and PostgreSQL that 300 students used in its first month |
| Responsible for testing | Wrote integration tests for the billing API and fixed 11 flaky tests in CI |
| Used Go for a project | Wrote a Go service that batches webhook deliveries, cutting retry traffic by 40% |
| Helped improve performance | Moved three reports to indexed views so each loads in under a second |
Projects are your experience
- Pick projects that you can explain for ten minutes: what you built, why, one hard problem, what you'd change.
- Link to the repository, and make the README worth reading (see proof of work).
- Prefer a small, finished project to a large, abandoned one.
- Put the technologies in a short line under the project title so a skimming reader sees them at once.
Formatting that parses cleanly
- One column, one page. Multi-column layouts and tables can confuse some parsers.
- Real text, not an image. Export a PDF where you can select and copy the words.
- Standard headings. "Education", "Projects", "Experience" and "Skills" are read correctly almost everywhere.
- A plain font at 10 to 11 points, and margins that aren't cramped.
- Readable file name, such as "Alex-Chen-Resume.pdf".
- Links that work. Check every URL, and make the visible text match.
What an ATS can and can't do
An applicant tracking system stores applications and helps recruiters search them. Every company configures it differently, and nobody outside can promise a pass or a score. What helps everywhere is a simple structure, honest wording and the keywords the posting uses where they're true: if the posting says PostgreSQL and you use PostgreSQL, write PostgreSQL, not "relational databases".
What to leave out
- A photo, date of birth or marital status. Most software employers don't need them.
- A long objective statement. A two-line summary is enough, and optional.
- Skill ratings, bars and percentages. They tell the reader nothing they can check.
- Every course you've taken. Keep the ones relevant to the role.
- Anything you couldn't discuss in an interview.
A checklist before you send it
- It fits one page, and the PDF text can be selected.
- Every bullet starts with a verb and is true.
- Every link opens, and the GitHub README explains the project.
- The role you want is clear from the first lines.
- Spelling and dates are consistent. Someone else has read it.
You can see finished examples in the resume examples, and build your own in the free resume studio.
Frequently asked questions
- How long should an internship resume be?
- One page. You don't have enough experience to need two, and a recruiter reads for seconds before deciding whether to read on.
- Should I include my GPA?
- Include it if it is strong or the application asks for it. If it isn't, lead with projects and relevant courses instead. Never change it.
- Will my resume pass the ATS?
- No one can promise that. Use a single column, real text and standard headings, and keep the content honest and specific. Those are the things within your control.
- Do I need a photo on my resume?
- Not for software roles at most companies. Leave out the photo, date of birth and marital status unless the application asks for them.
- What if I have no experience?
- Lead with projects. A small project that works, with a clear README, shows more than an empty experience section. See proof of work.