Graduate Student Resume Examples & Templates

Important Resume Sections

1. Resume Header

   A professional resume header must be bold and clearly legible. It must have your first and last name, phone number, networking profile, like Bold.pro or LinkedIn and an email address. If your field requires it, include your professional portfolio.

   Including a resume headline can set you apart from other candidates by giving center stage to your strongest skill.  For example:

   John Smith
   555-555-5555    email@email.com    Philadelphia, PA
   Results-Driven | Strong Business Acumen | Leadership

2. Resume Objective

   A resume objective introduces you to the reader. These three to five sentences tell the hiring manager your title, where you are in your career, what you seek to accomplish and your current strongest skills. 

   A resume objective follows a simple formula:

   [Who you are] [Years of experience] [Statement of intent] [Top qualifications]

   For example: 

   Graduate student with experience in data analysis and research seeking a research assistant position to utilize strong analytical skills and contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge.

   If you return to school after working for a while, you can write a career summary, highlighting your experience and work achievements, or include a sentence explaining your previous experience.

3. Education

   The focus of your graduate student resume will be on your education section. Go beyond the academic institution’s name and degree information by including:

   • Relevant coursework
   • Special projects
   • Awards and recognitions
   • Memberships or clubs

   If you have multiple projects, you can also include them in their own separate section to draw the reader’s eye.

4. Skills

   A graduate skills student resume skills section showcases what you bring to the table. If you’re writing a resume with no experience, attention will be drawn to this section alongside education. 

   Build a bulleted list with 6 to 12 hard and soft skills. 

   • Hard skills are the teachable abilities needed to perform your job. These depend on your industry. 
   • Soft skills are habits that help you perform, like relationship building, time management, ethical sensibility and cultural competence, among others.  

   Match as many skills to the application description as you can. And, if you still need to include more skills, add emerging and trending skills you are learning as well as transferable skills.

5. Work History

   Write a work history section using your academic and working experience. Include previous professional experience, part-time roles, volunteer jobs and internships

   List your work experience in reverse chronological order, with your most recent experience first. Include your title, the location and the dates worked. For each role, use bullet points to include three quantifiable accomplishments. Beyond your duties, these achievements show what you can do using your hard and soft skills.

   For example, if you’ve worked as a barista, don’t simply write “Served coffee to morning clients”. Instead, “Served specialty coffee to 100+ clients each morning.” While not related to a graduate degree, it shows your ability to work under pressure and follow complicated instructions. 

   Write your achievements with the role in mind. Customize each bullet point to show you have the skills required by your application.

6. Additional Sections

   Stand out by including optional sections. These sections can attract the reader to your work history and skill set. Additional sections to consider include:

   • Certifications
   • Foreign languages with your level of proficiency
   • Special projects
   • Research experience 
   • Publications
   • Awards and recognitions
   • Extracurricular activities