A first résumé without an internship
This compact fictional specimen shows section order for an operations applicant. Replace every detail with your own; follow employer instructions when they differ.
- Contact: Alex Rivera · [your email] · City, State · Portfolio link
- Education: Lakeside University · B.A. Economics · Expected May 2028. Relevant coursework: Statistics, Operations Management.
- Course project — Stock tracking: Built a spreadsheet that flagged items below a reorder threshold; tested the formulas against a small sample of known stock levels.
- Paid work — Campus café: Recorded stock at closing and handed discrepancies to the next shift.
- Skills: Spreadsheet formulas and pivot tables.
Write specific résumé bullets
Write specific résumé bullets
Harvard recommends concrete, fact-based résumé language. These original fictional examples show the work behind a skill; do not copy them as your accomplishments.
- Course project: Checked a 120-row practice order file for duplicate IDs and missing dates; documented which records required review before calculating delivery performance.
- Campus job: Maintained the room-booking log and matched incoming requests with confirmation emails before updating availability.
- Student organization: Arranged room bookings and volunteer assignments for three workshops; resolved two scheduling conflicts with the organizers.
Sources[1]
Choose what to include
Choose what to include
Match a posting’s main tasks to work you have actually done. For a first U.S. internship résumé, one readable page is a useful starting point; follow employer instructions when they differ. Omit unrelated filler.
This fictional operations applicant has relevant evidence without a previous internship.
See a posting-to-résumé example
| Task in the posting | Evidence worth including |
|---|---|
| Check spreadsheet records | A class project that identified duplicate order IDs |
| Maintain accurate records | A campus job keeping booking requests and confirmations together |
| Coordinate deadlines | Room and volunteer arrangements for three club workshops |
Put relevant work first
Put relevant work first
A relevant project can precede an unrelated job. The job may still show other responsibilities.
- Education: degree, institution and expected graduation date.
- Experience: label “Course project”, “Independent project” or the real job title accurately.
- Skills: tools and tasks you can discuss, such as “Excel: pivot tables and lookup formulas”. Remove proficiency bars and unsupported “expert” labels.
- Coursework: relevant preparation not already visible elsewhere.
“Built a stock-tracking spreadsheet” describes an output. “Reduced stockouts by 20%” needs before-and-after evidence and a defensible connection to your work. Without a measured outcome, describe the output.
Check your final file
Check your final file
Open the final PDF or requested file type. Copy its text into a blank document and check employer, title and date order. This catches reading-order problems; it does not certify compatibility with every hiring system.
Test work-sample links while signed out; reviewers should not need to request access. Remove confidential material. Use a clear filename, such as Firstname-Lastname-Resume.pdf.
Check before you submit
Check before you submit
Explain your strongest bullet: what you did, how you checked it and what it produced. Revise claims you cannot explain. Check contact details, dates and employer instructions. Keep the submitted version for interview preparation.