You're in university. You need a resume for an internship application, a working student position, or the graduate job hunt that's approaching faster than you expected. And you're staring at a template wondering what to write because you haven't had a "real job" yet.
Most resume advice is written for people with 5+ years of experience. The tips about "quantifying your achievements" and "using strong action verbs" feel useless when your main achievement is passing your exams.
This guide is for you. It covers exactly what a university student should put on a resume, what to skip, and how to present what you have so that employers take you seriously.
What employers actually expect from a student resume
Companies hiring interns and working students know you don't have years of experience. They're looking for:
- Relevant coursework or projects that show you have foundational knowledge
- Any practical experience even if it's a part-time job, volunteer work, or a personal project
- Technical skills they can use immediately
- Language skills especially in Europe where multilingual candidates have a real advantage
- Signs of initiative clubs, competitions, hackathons, organizing events
They're not expecting perfection. They're expecting potential.
Format and length
One page. No exceptions for students. You don't have enough relevant experience to justify two pages, and padding it to fill space makes it weaker.
Use a combination format that puts your education and skills above your work history. If you have no work history at all, that's fine. The other sections will carry the weight.
When you build your resume in Laddro, you can drag sections into any order and choose from 22+ ATS-tested templates. Start with the one that gives the most space to education and skills.
Contact information
Name, city, email, phone, LinkedIn profile. That's it.
Get a professional email address. [email protected] is standard. Drop the university email if it expires after graduation.
If you have a portfolio website or GitHub profile relevant to your field, add it. If not, don't add one just to have a link.
Country-specific rules: If you're applying in Germany, Austria, or Switzerland, adding a professional photo is still expected. In the UK, Scandinavia, or the US, leave it off. Check the applying abroad guide if you're crossing borders.
Education: your strongest section
As a student, education goes first and gets the most detail.
Weak:
BSc Business Administration, University of Amsterdam, 2023-2026
Strong:
BSc Business Administration, University of Amsterdam (Expected June 2026) Current GPA: 7.8/10 Relevant coursework: Marketing Analytics, Corporate Finance, Operations Management, Business Statistics Thesis: "Price Sensitivity in European D2C Subscription Models" (in progress) Dean's List: Fall 2024, Spring 2025
Include:
- Full degree name and university
- Expected graduation date (or actual date)
- GPA if it's above average for your institution
- 3 to 5 relevant courses (choose based on what the job requires)
- Thesis or capstone project title (even if in progress)
- Academic honors, scholarships, or awards
If you're doing an exchange semester: Include it. "Exchange semester at Copenhagen Business School (Spring 2025)" shows international experience and adaptability.
University projects count as experience
This is the section that separates a strong student resume from a weak one. Your coursework projects, group assignments, and independent work are legitimate experience. You just need to write them like a professional would.
Weak:
Marketing Plan Project (2025) Created a marketing plan for a class assignment.
Strong:
Digital Marketing Strategy for Urban Roots (Academic Project, Spring 2025) Developed a comprehensive digital marketing strategy for a Berlin-based organic food startup as part of a 4-person team. Conducted competitor analysis of 6 brands, designed a content calendar for Instagram and TikTok, and projected a 25% increase in online orders based on comparable case studies. Presented the strategy to the company founder, who adopted the social media calendar.
The difference: specifics. What exactly did you do, how much of it, and what was the result? Even estimated or projected results count when you're a student.
Types of projects worth including:
- Group projects with real clients (university partnerships with companies)
- Capstone or thesis research
- Hackathon entries
- Independent projects you built on your own (apps, websites, analyses, designs)
- Case competition submissions
Work experience (even if it seems irrelevant)
That café job you had for two years? It's relevant. Not because making coffee is a transferable skill, but because showing up reliably for two years, handling customers, working under pressure, and managing a till are all things employers care about.
Weak:
Barista, Café Central, Vienna (2023-2025) Made coffee and served customers.
Strong:
Barista, Café Central, Vienna (Sep 2023 to Present) Served 150+ customers daily during peak shifts while maintaining order accuracy and a friendly atmosphere. Trained 3 new team members on point-of-sale system and drink preparation. Managed daily cash reconciliation with zero discrepancies over 18 months.
The trick is translating what you did into professional language without exaggerating. "Made coffee" becomes "maintained order accuracy during high-volume service." Same work, different framing.
Types of student work worth including:
- Part-time jobs (any industry)
- Working student positions (Werkstudent in Germany)
- Internships (obviously)
- Tutoring or teaching assistance
- Research assistant roles
- Campus jobs (library, IT helpdesk, admissions office)
Skills: specific over generic
Every student resume lists "teamwork, communication, problem solving." These mean nothing because every applicant claims them.
List skills someone could test you on:
Technical skills: Python, R, SPSS, Stata, Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP, conditional formatting), SQL, Tableau, Power BI, Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, AutoCAD, MATLAB, LaTeX
Tools and platforms: Google Analytics, Hootsuite, Salesforce, SAP, Jira, Notion, Slack, HubSpot, Mailchimp
Languages: List every language you speak with your CEFR level (A1 to C2). In Europe, languages are a genuine differentiator. A business student who speaks German, English, and basic French is more attractive to European companies than one who speaks only English.
When you use Laddro's guided builder, the AI suggests skills relevant to your target role. But only add skills you can actually discuss in an interview.
Extracurriculars and volunteer work
Student clubs, associations, and volunteer work fill the experience gap in a way that feels natural and shows initiative.
Weak:
Member of Finance Club, 2024-2025
Strong:
Vice President, Finance & Investment Club, University of Lisbon (Sep 2024 to Present) Organized weekly workshops on financial modeling for 40+ members. Led a team of 5 to manage the club's mock portfolio of EUR 100K (simulated). Coordinated a speaker series with professionals from Deloitte, EY, and Banco de Portugal.
If you just attended meetings, don't list it. If you organized, led, created, or managed something, describe what you did with specifics.
Strong extracurriculars for a resume:
- Leadership roles in student organizations
- Event organizing (conferences, career fairs, networking events)
- Hackathon participation (especially if you placed)
- Sports teams at competitive level (shows discipline and commitment)
- Tutoring or mentoring other students
- Volunteer work with measurable impact
Certifications and online courses
If you've completed any certifications relevant to your target role, include them. They show initiative beyond your required coursework.
Worth including:
- Google Certificates (Analytics, Digital Marketing, Data Analytics, Project Management)
- AWS, Azure, or GCP certifications for tech roles
- HubSpot Academy (Marketing, Sales, CRM)
- Bloomberg Market Concepts for finance
- Language certificates (DELF, Goethe, DELE, Cambridge)
Not worth including:
- Random Udemy courses without projects to show for them
- Certifications in fields unrelated to your target role
- Expired certifications
List the provider, the certificate name, and the completion date.
What to leave off
- High school: Once you're in university, high school details are irrelevant (unless you graduated from a particularly prestigious school in your target market)
- Generic hobbies: "Reading, traveling, watching movies" adds nothing. Specific hobbies that show personality are OK (e.g., "Competitive chess, ELO 1850" or "Marathon runner, Berlin Marathon 2025")
- References: Don't list them and don't write "available upon request." Everyone knows.
- Objective statements: Replace with a professional summary
- Every course you've ever taken: Pick 3 to 5 that match the job. Nobody needs to see "Introduction to Sociology" on a finance resume
Make it pass ATS filters
Applicant tracking systems filter resumes before a human reads them. Even for internship applications at mid-size companies.
- Use a clean template with standard section headings
- Don't put critical information in headers, footers, or text boxes
- Use keywords from the job description naturally in your content
- Save as PDF
- Name the file professionally: FirstName-LastName-CV.pdf
Laddro's 22+ templates are all ATS tested. You don't need to worry about formatting compatibility.
Tailor for each application
Your general student resume is a starting point. For each application, adjust:
- The professional summary to match the role
- The coursework listed to match what the job values
- The skills order to put the most relevant ones first
- The project descriptions to emphasize aspects relevant to this specific job
You can paste any job description into Laddro's tailor tool and it will restructure your resume for that role. When you're applying to 10 to 20 positions, this saves hours of manual editing.
Add a cover letter for internships
Most internship applications in Europe expect a cover letter. Keep it short (one page, three paragraphs) and answer three questions:
- Why this company? (Show you researched them)
- Why this role? (Connect it to your studies or career goals)
- What do you bring? (Pick two specific things from your resume and expand on them)
Don't start with "I am writing to express my interest in the position of..." Start with something specific about the company or role that caught your attention.
Laddro can generate a cover letter matched to your resume and the job description. Customize it with personal details the AI can't know.
Start building
You have more to put on a resume than you think. The projects, the coursework, the part-time job, the student club, the languages. It all counts when you frame it correctly.
Open the Laddro resume builder and try the guided flow. It walks you through each section with questions designed for people who aren't sure what to write. It's free, works in 14 languages, and you don't need an account to start. Build your first version, tailor it to a real job posting, and start applying.