You've spent years building skills, taking classes, and working hard. Your resume should show that. But for a lot of students — especially first-generation and immigrant students who don't have family members in professional fields to review their work — the resume can feel like a mystery.
This guide breaks it down. No fluff, no gatekeeping. Just a clear, practical walkthrough of what a strong resume looks like and how to build one.
First: Understand What Your Resume Is Actually For
Your resume has one job — to get you an interview. It's not your life story. It's a curated, targeted document that demonstrates you could do the job you're applying for.
Employers look for three things: your education, your relevant experience, and your skills. Everything on your resume should speak to at least one of those.
The ATS Problem (And Why It Matters)
Before a human ever reads your resume, a machine probably will.
Up to 90% of companies use Applicant Tracking Systems — software that scans resumes for relevant keywords before passing them on to a recruiter. If your resume isn't readable by that system, it may never reach a real person.
The fix: keep your formatting clean and simple, and use the same language the job description uses.
More on formatting below.
Formatting: Keep It Simple
Before you write a single word, get the format right.
- One full page — no more, no less (for students and recent grads)
- 0.5" margins on all sides
- Simple font — Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri — size 10–12pt
- Single column — two-column layouts confuse ATS software
- Built in MS Word or Google Docs, saved as a PDF
- No photos, graphics, or icons — they don't scan well and add no value
- Color is okay — but use it sparingly and purposefully (think: your name in a dark navy, not a rainbow of section headers)
Design-heavy resumes might look impressive, but they often fail ATS scans and distract from what actually matters — your content.
The Sections (In Order)
A strong resume has five sections. Here's what goes in each one.
1. Header
This is the very top of your resume. Include:
- Full name (use your preferred name)
- Professional email address — [email protected], not [email protected]
- Phone number with area code
- City and State (optional — no need for your full street address)
- LinkedIn URL — customize it (linkedin.com/in/yourname) and include it
- GitHub or portfolio link — if relevant to your field
2. Education
List your school, degree, major, expected graduation date, and location. If your GPA is 3.3 or above, include it. If not, leave it out — it's optional.
Relevant coursework is worth adding, especially if you're earlier in your career and don't have much work experience yet. List course titles, not course numbers.
Example:
University of Michigan–Dearborn, Dearborn, MI
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
Expected May 2026 | GPA: 3.6
Relevant Coursework: Data Structures, Algorithms, Machine Learning, Database Systems
3. Skills
Group your skills by category and list them separated by commas. Match the language from job descriptions.
Example:
Programming Languages: Python, Java, C++
Tools & Software: Git, VS Code, Figma, Microsoft Excel
Hardware: Arduino, Raspberry Pi
What to leave out: soft skills. "Communication," "teamwork," and "organized" tell an employer nothing and take up space. Show those things through your experience instead.
4. Work Experience
List your jobs in reverse chronological order (most recent first). For each entry include:
- Company or organization name
- Your job title
- Location
- Start and end dates (Month Year format)
- 2–4 bullet points describing what you did
Use present tense for a current role, past tense for previous ones. Start every bullet with a strong action verb — never "responsible for" or "helped with."
More on writing strong bullets below — it's the most important part.
5. Projects
No work experience? Projects are your best friend. Class projects, personal projects, hackathons, research — all of it counts.
For each project include:
- Project name
- Context (Course Project, Personal Project, Group Project)
- Dates
- 2–3 bullet points
Be specific about your individual contributions, especially for group projects. "We built an app" tells an employer nothing. "Designed the backend API and integrated a PostgreSQL database" tells them exactly what you can do.
The Most Important Skill: Writing Strong Bullet Points
This is where most resumes fall apart — and where yours can stand out.
Weak bullet points describe tasks. Strong bullet points describe impact. The difference is the ACR formula: Action, Context, Result.
A — Action
A strong verb describing what you did
Example: Designed, Implemented, Analyzed
C — Context
The tools, methods, scope, or reason
Example: using Python and scikit-learn for a course project
R — Result
What came out of it — quantified if possible
Example: achieving 94% model accuracy
Put it together: "Developed a machine learning model using Python and scikit-learn for a course project, achieving 94% classification accuracy on a 10,000-record dataset."
Compare that to: "Worked on a machine learning project using Python."
Same experience. Completely different impression.
More examples:
Weak: "Responsible for testing materials in the lab"
Strong: "Conducted tensile testing and MATLAB analysis of composite materials, identifying a material with 12% higher tensile strength that informed a faculty conference presentation"
Weak: "Worked on a team project using Java"
Strong: "Developed a Java-based scheduling application used by 200+ students, reducing double-booking conflicts by 30%"
The result doesn't always have to be a number — "that was presented to faculty," "used by our team of 8," or "deployed to production" all work. But whenever you can quantify, do it.
Use AI to Improve Your Bullets (The Right Way)
AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini can be genuinely useful for resume writing — but only if you use them right.
Don't just paste in a weak bullet and ask it to "make this better." Instead, try this prompt:
"Before rewriting my resume bullet, ask me 3–5 clarifying questions to help uncover the action, context, and results. Then create an improved version."
This forces the AI to dig for the real story behind what you did — which leads to a much stronger result than a generic rewrite.
A few rules: use AI for brainstorming and editing, not for fabricating. Always personalize the output in your own voice. And always fact-check — AI gets things wrong.
Things to Never Put on Your Resume
- "Responsible for…"
- "Duties included…"
- "Assisted with…" / "Helped with…"
- "I" statements
- Soft skills as a skills section (communication, teamwork, hardworking)
- Skills you can't actually demonstrate or talk about in an interview
- Your full home address
- A photo
One Last Thing
A great resume doesn't require a perfect background. It requires being honest, specific, and intentional about how you present what you've actually done.
You have more to put on a resume than you think. Class projects count. Campus involvement counts. Part-time jobs, volunteer work, independent learning — it all counts when you frame it right.
Start with what you have. Use the ACR formula. Keep it clean. And don't be afraid to ask for feedback — that's exactly what KNOW's mentors are here for.
Explore our resources at knownonprofit.org/resources or connect with a mentor at knownonprofit.org/join-us.