How to make a resume as a college freshman, and do you need one?

A lot of students, when entering a college, face a need to create a resume that can be requested both on campus and when applying for a job. How can a student create such a resume and keep it as modern and suitable as possible? We have gathered the best tips for your freshman resume, so don’t waste your time and let’s dive into this topic.

You never know when a new opportunity arises, so college freshman resume is better to be prepared beforehand in order to use it for:

Applying for a job
Competing for a scholarship
Joining a college student organization
Taking participation in research and field studies
Applying for contests and alongside grant cover letters

Basically, this is the document that represents your strengths, sums up your accomplishments, and tells about your experience. Consider creating such a resume even if it seems like you don’t need it right now. For example, you might need a college freshman resume for an internship, and without a complete document on your hands, you might be too late to fill the vacant position. So, don’t miss your chance! Let’s create a freshman college student resume together.

1. Contact Information Block

Contact information is one of the most important parts of your resume. Make sure to update this block of your resume if something changes so as not to miss your opportunity because of the old phone number.

What information to include:

Your current address (campus, rented apartment, house)
Your phone number
Your email address

Make sure to create and use an email address which looks professional. Use your full name instead of nicknames for your email address name. Nicknames are more preferable for informal communication with your friends.

2. Your Objective

When creating a college student resume, provide an objective. This extra touch will make your resume look more polished. Your college freshman resume objective or in other words a summary should be brief and laconic (usually cut down to one sentence) to show your intentions and goals clearly.

Example:

To get into the university that will provide me with the exceptional knowledge of financial management so I will be able to develop a successful career.

3. Education Block

Commonly this block goes before achievements and work experience blocks. Here, you should provide information about your education, such as academic level, school, GPA, major, expected date of graduation from college, etc. You can also mention relevant coursework as a separated or included block with information about the subjects that you are currently studying or studied in the past.

Don’t forget to mention your honors or specific projects that showcase your skills.

Example:

The College of Wooster, Wooster, OH.

The Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies

Graduation expected May 2023

The Wooster High School, Wooster, OH. (High school information should be removed from your resume when starting your sophomore year).

Awards: National Merit Scholar

GPA: 4.0/4.2

Graduated May 2019

4. Employment Experience Block

When you are a freshman, typically there is not much information that you can put in your resume. So, all the relevant experience will be suitable.

How to write a resume with little experience?

It’s hard to write a lot in this block when creating a resume for college freshman as usually there are not many jobs for those who under 18 available. But you can include all of your part-time jobs and volunteering projects that you have participated in. Don’t forget to mention what your duties were or what goals you have achieved while working. Even your experience as a teenage babysitter can be put in here if presented as a job that taught you how to be responsible and attentive.

A tip: if you feel that this block seems too poor or irrelevant, you can combine two blocks together – Employment and Relevant Projects to put more info in here.

Example:

Sales Seasonal Associate (June 2018 — July 2019)

Bath & Body Works Store, Wooster, OH.

Provided excellent customer service and helped customers to choose the most suitable products.
Operated the cash register.

5. Activities and Honors

If you can add something more about your education, it’s great. Use this chance to tell about sports, music, and art events you participated and your achievements in the spheres besides the school program. If you took on a leadership role, it’s a great chance to put this information too so to emphasize your ability to work in a team and organize the working process inside the group.

It’s also a great place to mention your honors or club membership.

Example:

The Wooster High School, Wooster, OH.

National Honor Society, Secretary.
Tennis team (January 2017- May 2019). Team captain (September 2018 – May 2019).

6. Skills

To let your prospective employer or any other person know about what responsibilities will match your abilities, list all of them if the are relevant skills. Such a list can be very diverse depending on the vacancy that you are aiming for, competition, etc. However, computer skills and foreign languages levels can be met pretty much in every resume.

Example:

Computer: Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, and Access.

Languages: Basic Italian and Spanish

Personal: Excellent interpersonal communication skills.

Other: Experience in social media promotion (Instagram, Facebook).

Templates to Use

If you are not sure about the format of your resume, you can use templates which provide excellent guidelines and help you to structure your resume properly. Such templates can be found on platforms like:

Choose the one that will be the most suitable for you. Pay attention to the readability of your resume and its structure.

Basic Rules to Follow When Creating a Resume for College Freshman

How to write a resume as a college freshman without mistakes? Just follow these simple rules:

Keep your resume up to one page.
Break your resume into blocks for easier reading.
Use bold font for headings and bullet points for lists.
Use separate email address created specifically for professional purpose.
Update your resume at least once a year or more if you need to update any information in it.
If you need to send your resume, send it in a .pdf format instead of .docx or .txt.
Print your resume when you go to interviews.
Use casual language and avoid complicated wording.
Remember that your font size should be different for various components of your resume: bullet points – 10pt, contact info – 12pt, your name – at least 16pt.
Avoid long paragraphs.
Proofread and edit your resume or ask someone to do that for you. You can also ask a career counselor or any other professional to look through your resume and give you an opinion on it.
Avoid lying in your resume. If there are no jobs to list, it’s better to create a resume with no work experience to avoid embarrassment when confronted lying.

So, these are the basic tips that you should follow when creating your resume. Keep in mind that sometimes you might be given specific requirements to your resume, so you will have to tailor according to the vacancy or the contest that you want to participate in. Also, you will need to write a compelling cover letter as an addition to your CV.