College Freshman Resume Examples and Writing Tips

To help you assemble the best application possible, below we have a variety of resume and cover letter writing guides, examples, and templates made just for students.

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What to put on a college freshman resume

Here’s what to include on a resume as a college freshman:

• Contact information
• Resume introduction
• Educational background
• Work or relevant experience
• Your key skills
• Relevant hobbies, volunteer work, or extracurricular activities

1. Contact information

List your contact information in your resume header so that it can be seen straight away. At a minimum, include the following information:

• First and last name
• Email
• Phone number

Make sure that you use a professional-sounding email address (e.g. JohnDoe@gmail.com, or your college email address).

You can also include your LinkedIn profile or a link to your portfolio website (if you have one) to give employers a more comprehensive picture of your experience and qualifications.

2. Convincing resume introduction

Your resume introduction is a short section at the start of your resume that summarizes your key strengths and qualifications.

Including an introduction on your resume is essential for college freshmen, because it gives you an opportunity to show you have the skills and motivation to carry out a job, internship or scholarship, even if you don’t have much work experience.

The best type of resume introduction for a college freshman is a resume objective because it gives you the opportunity to draw attention to your career goals.

Here’s an example of a well-written college freshman resume objective:

3. Detailed education section

As a college freshman, your education is a large part of your overall experience. To reflect that, your resume education section should be thorough and detailed.

When you have more experience, your education section can be lower down and less detailed. But for now, include this section at the top of your resume with as much relevant information as you can.

Your education section should list the following information for your college and high school:

• Major and level of degree
• College name
• Location of the school (including the city and state)
• Expected graduation date (both the month and year)
• Your GPA (but only if it’s above 3.0)
• Any awards or honors

Also include the dean’s list on your resume if you’ve made the list during your freshman year.

You could also include relevant coursework on your resume to demonstrate that you’re interested in and have background knowledge of the job or internship you’re applying for.

For your reference, here’s a sample of a well-written college freshman education section:

4. Relevant experience

If, like most college freshmen, you don’t have much work experience, swap out your “Work Experience” section for a “Relevant Experience” section. This allows you to provide a more accurate picture of your skills and achievements.

If you have no professional experience to highlight, use this section to list any of the following experiences (as long as they’re relevant to the job you want):

• Internships
• College coursework
• Volunteer work
• Study Abroad
• Extracurricular activities
• Hobbies and interests
• Clubs
• Sports
• Choirs, orchestras and other musical ensembles

Don’t forget to explain the main duties that you took on and the relevant skills that you gained. Any experience can prove that you are a good fit for the job.

Here’s an example of what a relevant experience section from a college freshman’s resume looks like:

5. Diverse mix of skills

Include a mix of hard and soft skills in your resume skills section to demonstrate that you’re a well-rounded candidate capable of tackling a variety of challenges. As a college freshman, you’ll probably find it easier to prove that you have soft skills, such as:

• Communication skills
• Analytical skills
• Leadership skills
• Problem-solving
• Collaboration
• Time management
• Multitasking
• Empathy
• Reliability
• Creative thinking
• Critical thinking
• Conflict resolution
• Good work ethic

Don’t worry if you haven’t got many technical skills yet — most other freshmen won’t either. But you do probably have more hard skills than you think, so don’t forget to include them on your resume if they’re relevant to the job you want. These include:

• Microsoft Office
• Google Workspace
• Photoshop
• Typing speed (words per minute)
• Foreign language skills
• Social media
• Driving license

College freshman resume template

Here’s a college freshman resume template that you can paste into Microsoft Word or Google Docs and fill out. It includes an outline for each resume section, and what information you should list in each section.

College freshman resume examples

To help you put together the ideal resume as a college freshman, here are some college freshman resume examples to take inspiration from:

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Internship resume

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College resume

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Scholarship resume

4 tips for writing a college freshman resume

Now that you know what to put on your college freshman resume, here are a few tips for making it perfect.

1. Stick to one page

College freshmen should always use a one-page resume. This gives you plenty of space to list your relevant skills and achievements, while making it easy for employers to read.

Anything longer is hard to justify when you don’t have much experience, and can make it hard for employers to find the information they’re looking for.

The best resume templates for 2024

One of the best ways to make your resume is by filling out one of our free resume templates. All our templates are designed by experts and free to download for Microsoft Word or Google Docs.

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2. Use the right resume format

As a college freshman, it’s important that you communicate your most notable qualities as quickly as possible. That’s why formatting your resume properly is essential.

You should start by using a chronological resume format, with your education placed towards the top of your resume, followed by your experience section. Your experience should list your most recently held position at the top, with your least recent position at the bottom.

Here’s an example of what that looks like in action:

This format is ideal for freshmen because it puts your most marketable quality (your education) right at the top of your resume, and then provides an easy-to-read overview of your relevant experience.

3. Use strong action verbs

You should always use resume action verbs when talking about your experience on your freshman resume. These powerful verbs help put the focus on your accomplishments by actively describing what you’ve done.

For example, don’t just say that you led a volunteering project. Write that you chaired, coordinated or organized an aspect of this project. This way, you demonstrate to employers what you’re capable of achieving if hired.

4. Write compelling bullet points

One common mistake too many job seekers make is listing their responsibilities or duties passively with phrases like “Responsible for”, or “Tasked with.” Describing your experience this way won’t give employers any sense of how you approached your duties, or what results you achieved.

Here’s how to use your bullet points to make a stronger impact:

Add numbers to quantify results

A simple yet effective way to showcase your talents is to use numbers that show employers the scope of your experience and accomplishments. Not only does using numbers make your achievements stand out, it makes your resume more memorable.

Here’s an example of a resume bullet point without a number:

• Organized monthly meetings for the environmental club, planned eco-friendly initiatives, and engaged with new members to increase participation

Here’s the same point with numbers added:

• Spearheaded monthly meetings for the environmental club with 50+ attendees, launched 5 major eco-friendly campus initiatives, and boosted membership by 30% through targeted outreach and engagement strategies

See what a difference it makes?

You don’t need to use complicated metrics, either. The numbers you add can specify how many projects you worked on, how many customers you helped, or the amount of time you spent working on something.

Use a formula

If you’re not sure how to write impactful resume bullet points, try using a helpful formula (or several)! Here are three you can try:

1. Action verb + task + result or outcome + quantifiable data (if applicable)

This formula provides a classic framework for your resume bullet points, emphasizing what you did, how you did it, and the impact of your action.

Example:

“Led a team of 10 volunteers in a campus clean-up initiative, collecting over 200 pounds of waste, which contributed to a 20% improvement in the local environmental audit scores.”

2. Challenge faced + action taken + skills used + result

You can use this formula to demonstrate problem-solving skills and adaptability. It helps you showcase how you tackled a particular challenge, the skills you applied, and the outcome you achieved.

Example:

“Faced with declining engagement in the debate club, devised and implemented a new digital marketing strategy using social media analytics, enhancing member participation by 40% within the first semester.”

3. Contribution + method or technology used + benefit to the organization or team

This formula focuses on your contribution to a project or task, how you accomplished it (including any tools, software, or methodologies used), and how it benefited the team or organization (something employers always love to know).

Example:

“Developed a new member onboarding process using Google Forms to streamline data collection, reducing onboarding time by 25% and improving newcomer satisfaction rates.”

Mix and match these formulas to show employers your range of skills and accomplishments.

Additional resources

Here are some extra guides to help you build a strong college freshman job application:

Frequently asked questions about resumes for college freshmen

Here are answers to some commonly asked questions about writing a college freshman resume:

How do you write a resume as a college student with little experience?

Here’s how to write a college student resume without professional experience:

• Focus on your academic achievements: Highlight your GPA (if above 3.5), relevant coursework, academic awards, and projects. These can demonstrate your commitment, intellectual engagement, and area of expertise.
• Include extracurricular activities: Including clubs, sports, and other activities can show leadership, teamwork, and other important transferable skills.
• Add volunteer work and community service: These experiences showcase your work ethic, compassion, and areas of interest. Highlight any initiatives you led or the impact your work had on the community.
• Feature part-time jobs and internships: Even roles that might seem unrelated to your intended career path can demonstrate key skills you need to get in the door, such as reliability, communication, and time management.
• Tailor your skills section: Include both hard and soft skills relevant to the jobs you’re applying for. Language proficiency, computer skills, and certifications can be particularly valuable.

Should a freshman in college include high school experience on their resume?

Yes, as a freshman you should include high school experience on your resume. High school achievements can demonstrate foundational skills and achievements.

However, as you grow in your college career, you should begin to replace achievements from your high school education with more current and relevant college experiences, internships, and jobs.

What should a college freshman resume look like?

Here’s what a college freshman resume should look like:

No matter what you put on your resume, make sure it looks flawless by using a professionally-designed resume template.