ResumeForDev

How to write a computer science resume as a student, intern or new grad

By , founder of ResumeForDev · Updated

Short answer

A new grad or intern software engineer resume should lead with Education (school, degree, graduation date, relevant coursework if it helps), then Experience (internships, research, TA roles, part-time dev work), then two or three substantial Projects with a tech stack and measurable outcomes, then a grouped Technical Skills section. Keep it to one page and treat projects like jobs: specific bullets, real numbers.

Key points

  • Education goes first until you have a full-time engineering job.
  • Projects carry the most weight. Pick 2–3 with real users or real technical depth.
  • Hackathons, research, TA work and open-source contributions all count as experience.
  • GPA is optional; include it if it's strong.

Section order

  1. Header: name, email, phone, LinkedIn, GitHub.
  2. Education: university, degree, expected graduation, GPA (optional), relevant coursework (optional, one line).
  3. Experience: internships, research assistantships, TA roles, freelance or part-time development.
  4. Projects: two or three, each with a stack line and 1–3 bullets.
  5. Technical Skills: grouped.

Making projects count

Reviewers can tell a tutorial project from one you designed. What makes a project stand out is a decision you made and a result you can measure: real users, a performance number, a deployed URL, an interesting constraint.

Before and after

Before:Created a chat app using React and Firebase.

After:Built a real-time study-group chat in React and Firebase with per-course rooms and message search; used by 300+ students across 40 courses during finals week.

What counts as experience when you're a student
ActivityHow to list it
InternshipExperience, like any job
Research assistantExperience, with the lab and what you built or analysed
Teaching assistantExperience; mention tooling you built (autograders, scripts)
HackathonProjects, or Achievements if you placed
Open-source contributionProjects, with merged PR count or the feature you added
Club or society tech leadExperience or Projects, depending on how much you built

Common new grad mistakes

  • An objective statement that says you're “passionate about technology”.
  • Listing every course you took.
  • Twenty skills with no evidence for most of them.
  • Two pages.
  • Bullets that describe the assignment instead of what you did.

ResumeForDev was built with students in mind as well as working engineers. It asks about education, projects and achievements one at a time, and its follow-up questions pull out the numbers students usually leave off (users, stars, placements). You can also start from an old resume (.pdf or .docx) or your LinkedIn data export. The first resume is free.

Frequently asked questions

Should I put relevant coursework on my resume?
One line of upper-level courses can help if you have little experience and the courses match the role (Operating Systems, Distributed Systems, Databases). Skip intro courses.
Can I use class projects?
Yes, if they're substantial and you can explain your own contribution. Say it was a team project and what you specifically built.
Should I include a hackathon I didn't win?
Yes, if you built something worth describing. Treat it as a project and focus on what you shipped in the time.
How do I make a resume with no experience as a CS student?
Lead with education, then two or three projects written like jobs: what you built, the stack and a result (users, accuracy, speed). Add hackathons, TA work, clubs and any job, with bullets that show responsibility.
What skills should a computer science student put on a resume?
The languages you've written real code in (often Python, Java, C++ or JavaScript), frameworks from your projects, Git, SQL and Linux. Keep it honest; interviewers ask about everything listed.

Keep reading

One page, every line yours.

Answer a few questions about what you built. ResumeForDev asks follow-ups, writes the bullets, and never adds a number you didn't give it. Your first resume is free.

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