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Cover Letter for PhD Application: Guide for Writing One & Example From a Real PhD Student

• Klara Cervenanska , 
• Updated March 27, 2023 9 min read

When applying for a PhD research position, you usually need to submit certain documents, including an academic CV and a cover letter for PhD application .

A PhD cover letter, also referred to as an academic cover letter, should be carefully crafted, well-formatted, and contain specific sections.

We'll show you how to do exactly that, along with a sample of an academic cover letter from a real person admitted to a PhD program at Lyon University in France.

And if you're not sure how to go about writing your PhD CV, check out this article: CV for PhD Application: How to Write One Like a True Scholar (+CV Example) .

Table of Contents

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What is an academic cover letter?

What to include in a cover letter for phd application, how to write a cover letter for phd application, how to format an academic cover letter, phd cover letter sample.

An academic cover letter is a document that PhD candidates submit alongside their academic CV when applying for a PhD. 

Essentially, it's a cover letter for a PhD application.

It's not exactly the same as your regular business cover letter. Nor is it the same as a personal statement or a motivation letter .

The purpose of a cover letter for PhD application is to explain to the reader, who's likely a researcher or a professor, what you can contribute to their institution and/or field.

Moreover, in a PhD application cover letter, you should explain why you're a good match for the research position on the program.

Differences between academic cover letter and business cover letter

Both these documents serve different purposes and people use them in different settings:

• Academic cover letter is used when applying for positions in academia — most often for a PhD. More emphasis should be on education, research background and scholarly accomplishments. Moreover, it should explain what your contribution to the institution or field could be. It should also point the reader to your academic CV.
• Regular (business) cover letter is normally used when applying for any kind of job . Hence, more emphasis should be on skills and past experience while being tailored to a specific job position. You should also explain why you're a good fit for the position at the given company. It should point the reader to your resume.

There are also other documents people often mistake for an academic cover letter. These include:

• Motivation letter is especially relevant for fresh graduates when applying to a university, a non-profit organization, or voluntary work. A motivation letter focuses more on your interests and motives for applying.
• Personal statement. Also used in an academic setting. It's always written by an applicant, often a prospective student, applying to college, university, or graduate school. You explain why you've chosen a particular course and why you'd be good at it. Other names include a statement of purpose or a letter of intent .

Like every cover letter, an academic one also needs to include specific elements and content sections. These are:

• Header. Here, provide your contact information, such as your name, address, phone number, and email in the header of the document.
• Formal salutation. In an official letter like this one, you should address the reader in a professional and formal way. If you know who'll be reading your cover letter, go with Dear Dr. [Surname] or Dear Professor [Surname] . If you don't, go with Dear Sir/Madam .
• The specific PhD program or position. Clearly state in your letter which research position you're applying for or the name of the PhD program. A cover letter is usually read before a CV, so you need to make sure everything is clear.
• Your motivation. Explain why you're interested in the specific PhD position — it's one of the key elements you should include.
• Your academic background. Now, we don't mean you should list in detail every single university course you ever took. Instead, focus on the most relevant course for the PhD and describe in detail what you learned, any projects you worked on, why it was interesting (and optionally, what knowledge gap you identified). In this way, you also show a certain level of understanding of the field.
• Your ambition. Briefly mention what your ambitions, intentions, and plans are regarding your contribution to the field when securing your PhD position. How is your research going to enrich the field? How will the institution benefit from it?
• Conclusion. Keep the conclusion short. Contrary to a regular cover letter ending , there's no place for reiterating everything here. Simply thank the reader for your consideration and prompt them to read your academic CV.
• Formal sign-off. Just pick from the usual: Sincerely, Respectfully, Regards... Then throw in your full name in the following line.

And that's all you need to include!

Now, let's take a look at how to write your cover letter step-by-step.

Applying for a PhD will be a lot less stressful if you follow these tips on how to write a cover letter for a research position:

Consider researching the background of the organization, department, ongoing research projects, and their past and current projects. All that before you start writing your cover letter. Knowing these things will help you tailor your letter to the specific PhD opening.

Before you actually start writing, try to sit down and take a moment to think first. Assess how your past experiences helped you prepare for the PhD position and scribble down those that are most relevant and significant for the specific program. These include any research experiences, research projects, courses, or internships.

In the first few sentences of your letter, you need to convey some basic information about yourself and what specific position you're applying for. The opening should also state firmly why you're a strong candidate for the position/program, by using a persuasive and convincing wording. Here's an example: "As an MChem Chemistry graduate with a narrow focus on the sustainable synthesis of biologically active molecules from the University of Dundee, I am excited to apply to a "Synthesis Of Small Molecule Inhibitors Using Enzymes" PhD programme at an institution with such a strong foundation and numerous research groups in this field."

This is the place where you may explore more extensively on the educational journey that brought you here. Set the foundation for demonstrating how your Master's degree and research experience seamlessly translate into the next phase — the PhD program. Emphasize how your thesis contributes to the field's body of knowledge. Mention any other publications that support your thesis. And, if you can, identify any knowledge gaps or topics that can be explored further.

This paragraph provides the opportunity to neatly tie in together everything the reader has learned about you so far. You can show how your previous experience, coupled with what you'll learn during the PhD program, will come together to produce something novel to enrich the field. First, identify the courses or topics within the PhD program that interest you the most and how they relate to you developing your research further. Second, introduce your future research aspirations and goals. Third, point out how this future work will enrich the field and what will the intellectual merit be.

When ending your PhD cover letter, briefly refer your reader to your academic CV and encourage them to examine all of the remaining projects, courses, publications, or references . Finally, thank the reader for their time and consideration and let them know you look forward to hearing from them. Sign off.

Put the letter in a drawer and don't think about it for a day or two. Then, when you read it again, you'll have a fresh pair of eyes to see the cover letter in a new light. Maybe you decide some things are redundant, or you think of something that's more relevant. Or you know, find a typo here and there.

Just like an academic cover letter needs to contain certain content components, the formatting should also align with the structural expectations for this type of document.

How long should a cover letter be? How to finish a cover letter? And what about the cover letter font and spacing?

Here's a recommended academic cover letter format:

• Length. While STEM PhD candidates should aim for half a page to one page, humanities candidates can do 1–2 pages.
• Font. Use one of the classics: Times New Roman, Calibri, or Arial. Just no Comic Sans, we beg you. Keep the size between 10–12 points. Also remember to keep the text clean — no underlining, no bolding, and no color. However, you can use italics if appropriate.
• Spacing. Cover letter spacing isn't complicated. Just single-space your text, make sure there's a space between each paragraph, and leave a space between the concluding paragraph and your formal sign-off.
• Margins. The only rule here is that the margins on your cover letter should match those on your CV.
• Consistence with your CV. Your academic cover letter should match your academic CV in all formatting aspects — including the cover letter font and spacing. For example, Kickresume lets you choose a matching template for your CV and your cover letter, so no need to worry about this.

If the institution provided any instructions for formatting your academic cover letter, don’t get creative and follow their guidelines.

Finally, to help you tie everything we talked about together, here's a cover letter sample from a real person admitted to a PhD program at Lyon University in France.

These things ensured Herrera's cover letter was successful:

• She clearly states her motivation in the opening. In the first two paragraphs, Herrera introduces herself and her motivation to apply for the given PhD program.
• She describes educational and research background thoroughly. The main body of the letter is dedicated to describing Herrera's educational background, research projects, internships, and skills acquired throughout the way.
• She presents research aspirations in the letter. Herrera writes: "I have a history of proven results and profound findings. Given opportunity, I’m confident in my abilities to earn similar ground-breaking results while being part of your team."

Even though this example lacks some of the key elements, such as mentioning the specific PhD program or identifying the topics within the PhD program that interest her the most, this PhD cover letter still managed to impress the University of Lyon.

Lyon University PhD Student Cover Letter Sample

Klara graduated from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. After having written resumes for many of her fellow students, she began writing full-time for Kickresume. Klara is our go-to person for all things related to student or 'no experience resumes'. At the same time, she has written some of the most popular resume advice articles on this blog. Her pieces were featured in multiple CNBC articles. When she's not writing, you'll probably find her chasing dogs or people-watching while sipping on a cup of coffee.

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Lyon University PhD Student Cover Letter Sample

Securing a PhD position can get smoother with our ultimate Lyon University PhD Student cover letter sample. This cover letter helped a real applicant get accepted at Lyon University. You can download this example at no cost or modify it in any way using our online cover letter builder.

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Lyon University PhD Student Cover Letter Sample (Full Text Version)

Herrera Learner

Dear Concern,

After a year of working as master 2 student directly in a scientific research setting, I am seeking to leverage my experience within the field of professional scientific research.

Ideally, PhD position will allow me the opportunity to utilize my experience gained as M2 internee at the professional level. If you are looking for a passionate, dedicated and hard working profile along with strong communication skills and an experience in working on pathogens, please consider my resume attached with the application.

I have done Master M2 “Therapeutic Innovations in Cancer” from Universite Claude Bernard Lyon1 in 2017. During the course of my master M2, I had an opportunity to work on HCV-induced hepatocellular carcinoma at Cancer Research Centre Lyon (CRCL). This internship inculcated many pragmatic accomplishments in me. As a result, I am fairly competent in following skills.

·            Cell Culturing

·            Western Blotting

·            RT-PCR

·            Working protocols in P2 and P3 laboratories

·            Plasmid construction

·            Flow Cytometry

·            CRISPR/Cas9 Technique

·            Scientific writing

Before seeking admission in Master M2, I had done my graduate degree, Doctor of Pharmacy, in 2013 from one of the leading national universities in Pakistan. Since then, every coming year has proven to be professionally more rewarding than its precedent. Working as a community pharmacist for a couple of years followed by a year of Chemistry and English teaching to high school disciples added a lot to my professional excellence. During all these professional phases, I have a history of proven results and profound findings. Given opportunity, I’m confident in my abilities to earn similar groundbreaking results while being part of your team.

For your convenience, I have attached my resume for your review. I would welcome the opportunity to participate in a personal interview to answer any of your questions and better present my qualifications. Please feel free to contact me via e-mail or phone call to arrange a meeting if needed.

I look forward to speaking with you soon and becoming a part of your team.

PhD Student

A PhD is the highest level of academic degree a student can be awarded. Earning a PhD usually takes between three and four years of full-time work and dedication, leading to writing a final thesis that should contribute to a specific subject in an original and significant way. As a PhD student, you will typically conduct an independent research project, collect your results, write a thesis that reflects your conclusions, submit your work as a dissertation, and defend it in an oral exam. Institutions may generally demand PhD applicants to have both a Master's degree and a Bachelor's degree.

The Lyon University is an academic community that comprises 11 member and 24 associated institutions in Lyon and Saint-Étienne. It serves as a hub for higher education and research in accordance with social changes. The three main universities focus on health & science studies, social sciences & arts, and law & humanities.

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The Humanities PhD Project

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Study this sample resume and explore the dropdowns below to learn how to craft a quality resume.

Access the full PDF guide to view all sample resumes and detailed advice.

Watch our video on resume-building .  In a hurry? Read our Quick Tips .

Keep it simple. Name should be 14-18pt font. Contact information should be 11-12pt font. Add links such as Github, LinkedIn, or other professional portfolio sites. Make sure that this section is located at the top of the page. Do not put it in the header section of Word/Google Docs (that is, in the top margin) to ensure readability and Applicant Tracking System (ATS) compliance.

Summary (also called the Profile) is optional. If you choose to include this, make sure that it is highly tailored to the field you are pursuing. Express your goals and value beyond “looking for a summer internship”.

The Summary should be located between your Name & Contact and your Education sections.

Arrange your Degree and University along the left margin and your expected Graduation Date and GPA (if it is above a 3.5) along the right margin. Consider putting your Degree in bold to better highlight your skills and knowledge.

Align on the left margin and make a list or use bullet point formatting to ensure Applicant Tracking System compliance. Only list coursework that clearly demonstrates your value.

Be sure to spell out the title of the class; most people outside of UTD will not recognize the course abbreviation/numbers.

Classify your skills if you have many. Otherwise, start at the left margin and make a list. As long as you can honestly speak to your ability, you can add it to your Skills section. Don’t sell yourself short!

Soft skills (for instance, communication, active listening, customer service) do not go in the Skills section. Rather, work these into your bullet points.

Experiences can be Professional or Academic. In both cases, be sure to build out the sections like you would for a job—clearly demonstrate the skills you used and the results you gained. For Academic Experience, do not simply discuss the end results of the app you built or the topic you wrote a paper about. Keep in mind that you likely will not be hired to create that exact app again, but you will be called upon to use those hard and soft skills again. Sell your skills, not the particular project.

Start with a strong action verb. Try not to repeat the same verb.

Be specific—you want the potential employer to clearly picture your skillsets and work style.

Use a model like WHO ( What you did, How you did it, Outcome /Purpose) to ensure that you are covering all the important information. See our full guide for more examples of the WHO model and for other effective models. Add metrics—quantify where possible.

Add any experiences that you believe will help showcase you as a professional. Athletics or other non-industry organizations can be added; however, be sure to prioritize industry-related content on your resume. Do not add hobbies unless you are affiliated with an organization (for instance, a UTD Baking Club would be all right to list. However, you would not want to list simply “baking”.

Awards can go close to the end of your resume. You can also consider adding scholarships as part of your Education section.

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20 College Student Resumes That Landed Jobs in 2024

• College Student Resumes
• College Student Resumes by Role
• College Student Resumes for Academics

Writing Your College Student Resume

Companies sometimes require that entry-level candidates have experience, but how do you get experience when even entry-level jobs make it difficult to apply?

Getting that first job or internship can be the most challenging part of your career. Fortunately, as a college student, you’re in a great position to get that first break you need. Once you get your degree, you’ll have the experience employers are seeking, but until then, how can you build an effective resume or write a cover letter as a college student?

After reviewing countless  resume samples , we’ve determined what types employers want to see from college students. Furthermore, we used that knowledge to create  20 college student resume examples to help inspire your resume in 2024 .

College Student Resume Example

or download as PDF

Why this resume works

• This lets employers know when you can work full-time. Whatever you do, be honest. Stretching the truth won’t get you any points with employers. It’s better to be upfront and willing to learn a skill rather than try to succeed by the skin of your teeth.
• The golden rule on your college student resume is to lead with your strengths. If you’ve got a relevant internship, add it. If you’ve done any related class projects, list them. No matter what you include, make sure to highlight transferable skills.

Undergraduate Student Resume

• To impress the recruiter, demonstrate the dedication you have had in your previous posts despite minimal experience.

University Student Resume

• In that case, your university student resume can capitalize on your analytical skills, which helped identify cost-saving opportunities and cut overall expenses by six percent.

College Student No Experience Resume

• Luckily, there are a host of  resume templates  you can use to format your experience well, so long as you adjust based on your qualifications.
• For example, you can add or remove sections based on the amount of work history you have (or don’t have).
• For example, being on the club basketball team may feel irrelevant to business analysis. But by focusing on how you’ve organized practices and led a local volunteer effort, your  college student no experience resume  can point to qualities that might appeal to a thoughtful employer.

Current College Student Resume

• A reverse-chronological format is still the most accepted, but if you want to highlight your skills, try using a functional format instead.
• Adding relevant metrics shows that you know what matters to your employer and you’ve positively impacted your previous workplace.

College Student for Internship Resume

• That’s okay—you can weave in other things, like projects and part-time jobs. Of course, if you do have internship or job experience, put that at the top.
• It’s as easy as checking the  job description . Then just list your relevant abilities according to what matches the keywords listed by the employer.

College Student Assistant Medical Laboratory Technician Resume Example

• Do you have a unique interest related to science? Are you involved in a sport? Do you volunteer? All of these hobbies are great additions to your resume.
• If you’ve just graduated, you can bulk up your education section.
• Feel free to add any college awards you won and your GPA (if it’s higher than 3.5).

College Student HR Executive Assistant Resume

• As a rule of thumb, we recommend including one if you’re light on experience or are going through a substantial career change. Otherwise, leave it out in favor of work experience. 
• Good skills to include on an HR executive assistant resume are “talent acquisition,” “conflict resolution,” “legal compliance,” and “compensation/benefits.”
• An even more effective way to breathe life into your skills is to weave them into your work history or project bullet points.

College Student Case Assistant Resume

• Show off your personality using contrasting colors, classic fonts, and well-organized layouts. Our ready-to-build  resume templates  or handy  Google Docs interactive resumes  can help you keep your resume both tasteful and personable.
• If you don’t have certification, then now’s the best time to get it. Better late than never!

College Student Resident Assistant Resume

• Though an objective isn’t required, it can help employers see your skills and experience straight away.
• Just make sure to tailor it for every job you apply for by including the name of the employer, the position you’re seeking, and some matching keyword skills (that are true about you) gleaned from the  job description . 
• You also shouldn’t feel limited by your work experience. If you’ve done any relevant projects or have volunteered, include them! Employers love to see transferrable skills like collaboration, a good work ethic, and organization.

College Student Warehouse Worker Resume

• If you’re struggling to get going, consider using a  resume outline  to help you structure your experience—just don’t forget to fill out all the sections thoroughly!
• While it’s not impossible to land an excellent job without internships or experience, having some kind of work history, even in the form of projects, will allow you to be more picky and skim from the top of warehouse positions.

College Student Teacher Assistant Resume

• Adjusting formatting details, like the layout and header colors, can make your resume pop and reveal a bit about yourself. (Red and pink are bold, daring colors, while blue and green are calming.)
• Adding a  hobbies and interests section to your resume  can also help catch the eye of employers, provided you list hobbies that are relevant to the desired job, such as creative pursuits, volunteering, or research.
• Even if you’ve never had experience as a teacher assistant, you can instill confidence by demonstrating the impact of your communication skills. Did you effectively resolve an issue using negotiation? Write something that added helpful clarity? Show how you used communication to affect others positively!

College Student Biology Lab Technician Resume

• Don’t get too carried away here; after all, it’s still a resume and not a flier for a Wednesday Night Disco. But, one to two colors can be appropriate for all but the most conservative working environments. 
• Numbers can be frustrating to calculate and add to your resume, but trust us when we tell you that they make a world of difference. Hiring managers are consistently more willing to interview people with metrics on their resumes, as they convey job competence and confidence.

College Student English Tutor Resume

• Breaking up each work experience into bullet points can make your resume both easier to read (with fewer blocks of dense text) and easier to write.
• Instead of writing one big chunk of cohesive text, you can focus on pulling out as many highlights about your work history at each job as possible. 
• A project can be anything. Seriously, your final group project from that writing seminar counts, or you could highlight a blog you’ve been working on in your free time.
• Hint: Projects also make great stories to discuss on your college student cover letter .

College Application Resume

• Suppose you’re applying for a Bachelor of Arts in education. Express your passion for teaching and eagerness to advance your knowledge of education theories and practices. Even better, emphasize your long-term ambition to shape future generations through innovative education methods.

College Admission Resume

• Take a leaf from how Brian narrates his stints as a restaurant server, project presenter, and volunteer. Well-described, such experiences paint a picture of a well-rounded character who can take on varied challenges of an engineering program, enhancing their appeal in the eyes of the college admissions committee.

College Freshman Resume

• Use past projects to advantage here even if they’re only a year long. Clearly state how you used skills such as Canva and Microsoft Teams to make specific impacts during this time. Another great addition to your college freshman resume is any work experience under your belt.

College Student Academic Highlights Resume

• Say you have some work experience, but it’s not relevant to the job. That’s okay—instead of trying in vain to match the  job description , focus on transferable skills like customer service, organization, event planning, public speaking, and computer literacy.
• If you lack much work history, adding projects, coursework, or volunteer experience is the next best way to showcase your potential. You can also list your involvement in clubs, organizations, or peer mentorship.
• Write them like you’d write work experience by using active verbs and incorporating metrics (numbers).

First Year College Student Resume

• Your time contributing to a project is tangible evidence of your skills and experiences. Depending on what you include, it could showcase your communication and organizational skills or more technical abilities, like your proficiency with Microsoft Office.

Freshman College Student Resume

• Do you love gardening or nature photography? Awesome, it shows you’re inherently passionate about biology. Do you spend your time baking as well? It’s a sign that you know how to follow instructions and observe changes over time—skills that will come in handy as a lab assistant.

Related resume guides

• College Graduate
• Grad School
• Entry level

Before we dive into the difference between a  resume objective  vs. a  resume summary , let’s get some definitions out of the way:

• Resume objective : A statement of your qualifications, interests, and skills that make you a good fit for the role to which you’re applying.
• Resume summary : A summary of your past experience detailing your high-level accomplishments and projects.

When you’re applying for a job or internship as a college student, you likely won’t have extensive work experience. So, we’d recommend including a resume objective instead of a resume summary.

The goal of your resume objective is to set the stage for your resume. It should highlight your skills applicable to the job at hand, and it should be specific for each job to which you’re applying.

Most resume objectives are boring and generic. By taking the time to craft a customized and effective resume objective, you give yourself an edge over other applicants and increase your chances of getting an interview.

Before we dive into the rules for creating a strong resume objective, let’s look at some examples.

Sample college student resume objectives

• “Recent college graduate with a degree in marketing looking for a full-time role where I can utilize my experience in social media and paid advertising to help an up-and-coming brand like Club Z! Inc. spread awareness and acquire more users.”
• “Diligent college student at the University of Pittsburgh who is equally committed to academic excellence (3.8 GPA) and service (student leader at the local food shelter) looking for an opportunity at Unidos as a part-time employee to utilize these talents to improve customer satisfaction.”
• “Recent graduate with a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) seeking an opportunity within an established management organization to utilize my organizational and quantitative abilities. Epic seems to have a culture of empowering employees to have ownership over their problems, and that culture fits my work style perfectly.”

You can see that all of these resume objectives specifically mention the company that the student is applying to. Tailoring is the golden rule of resume objectives.

Here are some other rules to make your objective the best it can be:

• Again, take the time to  customize your resume objective for each company to which you’re applying .
• Don’t be afraid to inject your personality. Making an impression will help you stand out among the hundreds of other applicants.
• Keep it to two to three sentences.
• Mention any relevant skills or certifications you have for the role to which you’re applying.

College Student Resume Formats

One of the hardest parts of  building your resume  as a college student is the blank page. The “getting started” part is overwhelming—you’re unsure what your resume should look like, let alone what should be in it!

When it comes to formatting your resume, the best advice is to keep it  simple . You need to convincingly make the case that you deserve an interview for the role to which you’re applying.

In short, your resume should likely contain the following sections:

• Header: This is your name and job title. Have your job title match the job title to which you’re applying.
• Resume objective: We talked about this above, a quick summary of your skills and what you’re seeking.
• Education: As a college student, this should include your anticipated graduation date, the field of study, and relevant classes.
• Skills: List six to ten technical skills relevant to your career.
• Work experience: If you have any relevant internships or part-time jobs, mention them here.
• Projects: Did you do any side projects that demonstrate your competency? Include them!

Not all of these sections need to be included in your resume.  Your resume should focus on your strengths.

If you don’t have much relevant work experience, you can omit that section in favor of discussing your projects or classwork.

However, no matter what format you choose, there are a few writing guidelines you should adhere to throughout your resume.

Formatting guidelines for your resume

• Keep your resume to one page! Your resume should only extend to a second page when you have 10+ years of experience.
• Avoid any spelling or grammar errors by double-checking your text and having a friend review your resume. Don’t let typos be the reason why you don’t get an interview.
• Break up your work experience into small, consumable bullet points. Nothing is harder to read than a big wall of text.
• Use reverse-chronological order to keep your most recent experience/projects at the top.
• Don’t include fancy images or graphics. It’s highly likely a computer will read your resume before a human ever does, and images are hard for computers to scan.
• Don’t list more than ten skills on your resume. (We’ll expand on this below.)

Skills to pay the bills

When building your skills section, it can be tempting to list any and every skill you know. You’ll have to resist this temptation.

Before a human reviews your resume, an automated system called an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) will score your resume based on whether or not it includes the “right” keywords. These filters are largely screening for specific skills.

Doesn’t this mean that you should include as many skills as possible to beat the ATS? Unfortunately, you need to make your resume appealing to both the ATS and a human, and nothing is a bigger red flag to a hiring manager than a candidate with a laundry list of skills!

You’re much better off focusing on  six to ten skills you’re an expert in  than including more that you kind of know. Generally, if you wouldn’t be comfortable being interviewed on a given skill, don’t include it on your resume. 

Work Experience and Projects

In any resume, no matter the career stage, your work experience and projects should take up at least 70 percent of the overall space. These will decide whether you get an interview or not.

Once you have a few years of experience, then the size of your projects section will decrease as the size of your work experience section expands.

If you have an internship relevant to the job you’re applying for, this should be listed in your “work experience” section. As a college student, your work experience can also contain any part-time jobs you had while in school, even if they don’t seem relevant to the position to which you’re applying.

It’s not easy to balance work and school, so having a part-time job demonstrates responsibility and drive.

When talking about your work experience, there are a few key tips you should follow:

• Mention the skills you demonstrated on the job.
• Quantify the impact of your work whenever possible.
• Talk specifically about your role; avoid being too general.
• Use action verbs like “owned” or “led” to highlight your leadership abilities.

Numbers truly speak louder than words, especially on your resume. By providing numerical context around your work, you show your ability to contribute meaningfully to your workplace.

Compare these two descriptions of an internship. Which do you think would be more compelling to a hiring manager?

WRONG – general work experience descriptions

Marketing Science Associates April 2020 – Current, New York NY Digital Marketing Intern

• Created testing plan for Facebook ad copy
• Built key reports for the executive team around KPIs
• Oversaw the creation of the blog for SEO purposes
• Worked closely with clients to understand their product positioning to incorporate into ad copy

RIGHT – specific, quantified descriptions

• Created A/B testing plan for Facebook ad copy, improving ROI by 15%
• Built key reports for the executive team around KPIs such as marketing spend, new leads, revenue generated, and ROI
• Oversaw the creation of the blog for SEO purposes which grew from 1,000 to 5,000 monthly organic visitors
• Worked closely with clients to understand their product positioning to incorporate into ad copy, leading to client satisfaction of 99%

Projects can be anything

If you don’t have much (or any) relevant work experience for your resume, don’t fret. You can still  create a highly effective resume  by showcasing your projects.

As a college student, you’ve likely done a lot of class projects that are relevant to the job or internship you’re looking to get. This is the perfect place to talk about those projects. You can even mention projects you completed outside of class. Talk about your goals, the methods/skills you used, and the project’s outcome.

The key is to include anything that will convince the hiring manager you have the drive, skills, and ability to translate your academic knowledge to the real world and contribute to the roles for which you’re applying.

Here are some potential projects you can work on for different majors:

Project ideas for college students

• Are you a business student? Detail a case study that you analyzed and presented in a class.
• If you’re a marketing student, you can write a short blog post about how you’d improve the paid marketing strategy for a company you admire.
• As a graphic designer, this is a great opportunity to talk about some of the projects in your portfolio.
• If you’re looking for a data analyst role, talk about how you analyzed stock data to determine areas of opportunity.
• As a human resources major, you’ve likely created processes for companies as part of a class, so talk about that.
• Software engineering students complete meaningful coding assignments all the time. Discuss one of those or talk about your side project.
• If you’re looking to break into product management, discuss a hackathon you were part of or create a case study for a feature your favorite product is missing.

Basically, the projects you include on your resume can be just about anything. They simply have to demonstrate you know what is required of the kind of role you’re applying to, and that you can meet those requirements.

Your Education Section

As a college student, it should go without saying that you need to include an education section on your resume.

Here’s what you need to include in your education section no matter what:

• The school you’re currently attending (or recently graduated from). You do not need to include your high school.
• Your graduation date (or expected graduation date). You can give just the month and year.
• The kind of degree you’re working toward (bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, master’s, etc.).
• Your field of study.

Once you include all that, there’s more flexibility. If you have a strong GPA (greater than 3.5), you should include it, too.

If you don’t have much experience yet, then you can add relevant courses or awards to your education section, provided they’re relevant to the job for which you’re applying.

For example, if you’re applying for a role as a data scientist, then it makes sense to include any math, economics, or programming classes you completed.

Here’s an example of an effective education section for a college student looking for a marketing role:

If you received any awards or honors during your time in college, list them here. These can include getting on the Dean’s List, any department-specific awards relevant to your major, or formal recognition for your work or volunteer efforts.

Resume Builder for College Students

There you have it—we’ve discussed the building blocks to help you land a job or internship as a college student!

In summary, here are the keys to making an effective resume as a college student:

• Inject your personality into your resume objective and customize it for each company to which you apply.
• Your resume format should include a header, resume objective, skills section, education, and work/ project experience.
• Include any relevant internships or part-time jobs you’ve had during college and quantify the impact of your work.
• If you don’t have much working experience, include relevant projects you’ve completed either in the classroom or on your own time.
• Your education section is your chance to highlight classes you’ve completed that will convince the hiring manager you have the right tools for the job.

Finding a job or internship as a college student can be incredibly stressful.  Building your resume  is a huge first step, so pat yourself on the back. After you’re done with the writing, you can  check your resume  against our AI-powered tips to see how your resume matches up.

Just remember, it does get easier after you get some experience first. We can’t wait to see where you’ll go!

• We’ll show you how, step-by-step • Real, practical tips and tools • 100% free

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