Start with a specific direction
Choose the kind of role you want to apply for before you start writing. Read several job descriptions and note recurring tasks, tools and skills. Your résumé should make it easy to understand what you could contribute to that work, even if you have not held a formal job yet.
Look beyond paid employment
Class projects, internships, volunteering and helping in a family business can show useful abilities. Explain the context and your actual contribution. Do not turn an occasional activity into a position you never held.
- Include the project or organisation name and dates.
- Describe your own tasks, the tools you used and what you delivered.
- Link to a relevant, publicly available work sample when appropriate.
Use evidence instead of adjectives
“Responsible and proactive” is difficult to assess without an example. A concrete task is more useful. Fictional example: “Organised the schedule for a class project and prepared the final presentation with a team of four students.” Use this sentence as a structure, not as a claim about your own experience.
Organise and check
Put education or projects first when they provide your strongest evidence. Include current contact details, skills you can demonstrate and honest language levels. One page is often enough at this stage, but clarity matters more than a fixed length.
Check dates, spelling, links and the exported file. Ask someone to identify your target role and two relevant abilities quickly. If they cannot, simplify the content.