Student CV Example
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A student CV exists to land an internship or part-time work, not a senior post. So it stays on one page and concentrates on what you're studying now, what you've achieved inside the university, and the skills that make you useful from week one. Include your GPA if it's strong; leave it out if it isn't.
Copy-ready professional summary
Copy it, then swap the numbers and details for your own.
Third-year Computer Science student seeking a summer internship in software development. Have completed three practical projects in Python and JavaScript and am an active member of the university programming club. Available 20 hours a week during term and full-time over the summer.
Skills employers look for
- Python and JavaScript — solid working level
- Git and version control
- Teamwork and presenting
- Balancing study and work commitments
- English — strong technical reading
- Problem solving and analytical thinking
Ready-made experience bullets
Replace anything in brackets with your own details, and keep the numbers — they're what sets your CV apart.
- Programming club — active member: helped run two training workshops for first-year students.
- Coursework project: task-management web app built in React, published on GitHub.
- Part-time role — [organisation]: customer service for 6 months at 15 hours per week.
- Participated in the [name] hackathon as part of a five-person team.
Education
BSc Computer Science — [University], third year, expected graduation [date].
ATS keywords
Include these terms exactly as written — applicant tracking systems match on literal text.
- university student
- summer internship
- part-time work
- coursework projects
- student club
- expected graduation
Tips specific to this role
One page is enough
A student CV shouldn't run past a single page. If it does, the cause is usually school-level detail that adds nothing — drop secondary school once you're at university.
State your expected graduation date
Companies hiring interns need to know when you're free. Write "Expected graduation: June 2027" clearly, and say how many hours a week you're available.
Coursework projects count
Add a GitHub or portfolio link if you have one. A project the hiring manager can actually open beats any written description of it.
Licences and certificates employers ask for
Name in full any you hold, with the number where there is one — many postings screen on these.
- ⚠️ Free certificates are the cheapest way to fill a student CV: Google, Microsoft and Coursera give them away, and three in your field change how the page looks.
- A driving licence — worth listing, because it is a condition for many part-time and field placements.
- An English certificate (IELTS or STEP) — opens internships at multinationals, and should be given with the score, not just the name.
- An Excel or data analysis course — the most commonly asked general skill of interns regardless of discipline.
- Certificates from student clubs, hackathons and exhibitions — evidence of initiative, which is what internship programmes screen for.
Mistakes specific to this role's CV
- Apologising for lack of experience in the first line. Nobody expects experience from a student. The apology alone creates a doubt that was not there.
- Omitting your expected graduation date. Internship programmes filter on it specifically, to know when you can start.
- Listing secondary and primary school. University is enough; anything below it takes space your projects need.
- An unprofessional email address. Nothing eliminates a student faster than a childish handle at the top of the page.
- Listing every course you took. Name three to five directly relevant ones, not a full transcript.
- Leaving out part-time or volunteer work in the belief it does not count. Someone who worked in a café learned reliability and dealing with the public under pressure — skills to name, not hide.
- A low GPA printed at the top. Include it only if it is strong; otherwise leave the space for your projects.
Questions that come up in this role's interviews
Prepare an example from your own work for each — a generic answer is what every other applicant gives.
You have no work experience. Why should we pick you?
Do not defend. Move the question onto what you do have: a project you finished, a responsibility you carried in a club, a skill you taught yourself. Finish on learning quickly — with evidence of it, not a promise.
How do you balance study and part-time work?
They are measuring organisation, not enthusiasm. Give a real system: fixed working days, the timetable first, and what you do during exam weeks. "I manage my time" convinces nobody.
Tell me about a coursework project you are proud of.
Pick one and explain it as you would a job: the problem, your specific role in the team, the difficulty, the result. Students fail here by describing the subject instead of describing their part in it.
What do you want to learn from this placement?
Be specific. "To gain experience" is a meaningless answer. Name a skill, a tool or a process you want to see from the inside — specificity says you researched the organisation before applying.
Where do you see yourself after graduation?
Do not say "a manager". Give a reasonable direction over two to three years and why, tied to the field you are applying to. Specific ambition reads as maturity; inflated ambition reads as unrealistic.
Where this job leads
A student does not need a career path so much as an order for their years: start with a free certificate and a small project in your second year, then a summer internship in your third even if unpaid, then a cooperative placement in your fourth — and take it at somewhere you would want to stay, because a large share of hiring comes from interns. Saudi Arabia has programmes designed for exactly this: cooperative training, Tamheer, and summer schemes at the large employers. Whoever starts applying in their second year graduates with a CV; whoever waits for graduation starts from nothing.