How students build a first resume: what to include with little experience, how to describe skills, and simple formatting that gets read.
A resume has one job: to get you an interview. It's a short, scannable summary of who you are and what you can do. For students with little formal work history, the trick is showing skills and potential — through school, activities, volunteering and projects — not just past jobs.
A strong first resume includes contact info, a brief summary, education, and then experience broadly defined: jobs, but also volunteering, clubs, leadership, projects and relevant coursework. Describe each with action verbs and results:
Two habits separate resumes that work from ones that don't: tailoring the resume to each specific opportunity (matching your points to what they want), and proofreading relentlessly — a single typo can sink an otherwise strong resume, because it signals carelessness.
Many applications also want a cover letter — a short note explaining why you're interested and a good fit. It's a chance to show personality and connect your background to the specific role, in a way a resume can't.
See Interview Skills, Your First Job, and Writing.