Graduate Resume Guide

Choose sections that support the role

Projects can be especially useful when they resemble the work: analysing a dataset, building a prototype, researching users, organising an event or presenting a recommendation. State whether the work was individual or collaborative and identify your contribution.

Use experience alternatives honestly

Part-time work can also demonstrate service, reliability, prioritisation and problem solving. Volunteering and society roles can show coordination or communication. Relevance comes from the action and evidence, not from making the title sound corporate.

Proofread the document as an employer receives it

• Check names, contact details, dates and links.
• Keep tense and punctuation consistent.
• Confirm that every tool or skill is supported by evidence.
• Use a clear filename and the requested file type.
• Open the final file after export and review it on a second screen size.
• Remove comments, tracked changes and hidden placeholders.

Ask a reviewer to identify what role the resume appears to target and what evidence they remember after a short read. Their answer tests emphasis more usefully than a generic opinion that it “looks good.”

Rewrite one project as evidence

Choose a relevant project and state the problem, your action, the method or tool and the result you can verify.

Build a master evidence file before tailoring

Keep a private record of projects, responsibilities, tools, outcomes and feedback. Include dates and enough context to verify numbers later. The master file is not the document you submit; it prevents useful evidence from disappearing and makes tailoring more accurate.

For each application, select the evidence that supports the role’s main tasks. A technical project may lead for an analyst role, while customer-service evidence may lead for a client-facing role. Change the emphasis and order, not the truth.

Use a summary only when it adds direction

A short summary can identify your target, relevant evidence and strongest capability. Avoid first-person slogans and unsupported claims. If the document already makes the target obvious, the space may be more useful for a project or experience bullet.

Links to a portfolio, repository or profile should work, be appropriate to share and support the application. Do not include private coursework, confidential employer material or a project you cannot explain.

Can coursework count as experience?

It can provide evidence of relevant skills. Label it accurately as coursework or a project and explain your contribution and output.

Should one resume be used for every job?

No. Keep the underlying history consistent, but select and order evidence for the requirements of each suitable role.

What if you have no measurable result?

Describe the completed output, problem resolved, audience served or decision supported. Never invent a number to make a bullet appear stronger.

Check relevance at line level

Read each bullet beside the vacancy and ask which requirement it supports. A strong bullet can remain even when its setting is unrelated, provided the action and outcome are relevant. Remove or shorten bullets that consume space without helping the reader evaluate fit.

Use plain language before specialist language. Technical terms are valuable when the role expects them and you can explain them; unnecessary jargon can hide the actual contribution.

How should you order bullets?

Lead with the evidence most relevant to the target role rather than automatically preserving the order in which tasks occurred.

Can a portfolio replace the resume?

Only if the employer says so. A portfolio can support claims, but the application still needs the requested documents and fields.