College Student Resume Templates

The first step to creating a resume that makes an impact on hiring managers is to write a compelling summary statement. This section gives an overview of what you can offer to the employer. It’s important to customize your statement so that it reflects what the employer is looking for.

Candidates can write a summary statement as a paragraph or as a bulleted list. Keep it short by including no more than three details or sentences. Here’s what to include:

• Hard skills specific to the industry

• Soft skills or personal qualities

• Top selling points or impact

You can follow the lead of the college student resume template for Word and write your own statement such as these examples:

Example 1

• Highly capable college student with an impressive record of academic success.

• Experience leading committees and teams throughout campus and getting the job done.

• Demonstrated written and oral communication skills.

Example 2

• Enthusiastic and dependable college student with experience working in a variety of jobs.

• Focused on being a top team player and helpful addition to any workplace.

• Strong attention to detail and ability to stay on task efficiently.

Example 3

• Highly successful college student with a consistent 4.0 GPA throughout academic career.

• Critical thinker with an ability to adapt to any type of work setting.

• Committed to providing excellent service to customers.

Example 4

College Student:

• College student dedicated to academic excellence

• Experience with customers

• Friendly and outgoing

Any college student who wants to get hired must demonstrate value to an employer with a strong skills section. This is a list of top qualities and industry skills that are relevant to the open position. In the college student resume template for Word, you can see how an example list of skills looks to the employer. Brainstorm some of the top attributes you possess and put them into a bulleted list format. Here are some best practices to make this section effective:

• Order the details by placing the most important skills at the top

• Target each skill to the exact industry and job you’re seeking

• Give specifics, such as computer program names and numbers

Here are some example skills that college students may use in crafting this part of the resume:

• Proficient in Microsoft Office

• Experience with money handling

• Customer service skills

• Leadership background

• Reliable with a strong work ethic

• Top communication skills

• Ability to work well with a team

Once you get to the work history section of your resume, you can begin to expand on your experiences with more extensive details. As shown in the college student resume template for Word, there may be a variety of different work experiences that could be relevant to the job you’re trying to land. College students may need to include part-time jobs or volunteer positions because of the lack of a lengthy career history. Here are some other helpful tips:

• Populate your work history with duties that are similar to the job posting requirements

• Include specific action verbs for each detail from your career

• Highlight your accomplishments as much as possible

• Use measurable details, such as numbers and percentages

Here are some example work history details for a college student:

• Headed a volunteer action group that reduced campus paper waste by 25 percent

• Chaired the college student council committee, improving student participation by 30 percent

• Tutored a group of three middle school students and helped them develop stronger math skills

• Greeted new students at freshman orientation in August