Freshers & students
Resume format for freshers in India: what to put, in what order
A one-page structure that works for graduates, diploma holders and 12th pass, with a sample outline you can copy.
When you have no full-time job yet, the resume has one job: show a recruiter in under a minute that you can learn, that you have done something real with what you studied, and that you are easy to contact. The format below does that. It works whether you are a B.Com graduate, a B.Tech student in final year, a polytechnic diploma holder or a 12th pass looking for a first job.
Keep it to one page
A fresher resume should fit on one A4 page. Recruiters screening campus or entry-level roles read many resumes in a row; a second page usually means padding. If you are spilling over, cut school-level achievements first, then shorten project descriptions to two or three lines each.
The order that works
Put the strongest part of your story near the top. For most freshers that is education, followed by projects or internships. Use this order unless you have a good reason not to:
- Name and contact details: phone number with +91, a professional email (firstname.lastname@ rather than a nickname), city and state, and a LinkedIn or portfolio link if it has something worth seeing.
- Summary or objective: two lines about what you are looking for and what you bring. See career objective vs summary for examples.
- Education: most recent first. Degree, college, university or board, year, and CGPA or percentage.
- Skills: grouped, not a long comma list. For example Technical, Tools, Languages.
- Projects: two or three, each with what you built, what you used and what came out of it.
- Internships and training: organisation, dates, and one or two lines on what you actually did.
- Certifications: only ones related to the job, with the issuing body.
- Achievements and activities: competitions, NSS/NCC, sports, college clubs, volunteering, if they show responsibility or initiative.
- Languages: the ones you can speak and write, honestly rated.
A sample outline
Here is how the page looks for a commerce graduate applying for accounts roles. Swap the details for your own field.
NAME SURNAME
+91 98xxx xxxxx · name.surname@email.com · Pune, Maharashtra · linkedin.com/in/yourname
SUMMARY
B.Com graduate with hands-on practice in Tally Prime, GST returns and Excel. Looking for an accounts assistant role where I can grow into a full accounting position.
EDUCATION
B.Com, ABC College, Savitribai Phule Pune University · 2023–2026 · CGPA 7.8
Class XII (Commerce), State Board · 2023 · 82%
Class X, CBSE · 2021 · 88%
SKILLS
Accounting: Tally Prime, GST filing basics, bank reconciliation
Tools: MS Excel (VLOOKUP, pivot tables), Google Sheets
PROJECTS
Bookkeeping for a family shop: recorded six months of sales and purchases in Tally and prepared monthly GST summaries.
INTERNSHIP
Accounts intern, a local CA firm · May–Jul 2025: entered vouchers, matched bank statements, helped prepare GSTR-1 for small clients.
CERTIFICATIONS · ACTIVITIES · LANGUAGES
Education: give the numbers, cleanly
Indian recruiters do look at marks, and many companies have cut-offs such as 60% throughout. Write your CGPA or percentage clearly for each level. If your college uses CGPA, give the CGPA; add a percentage only if your university publishes a conversion. Do not leave the marks out hoping no one notices; it usually makes people assume the worst.
If you have a backlog that is cleared, you do not need to mention it on the resume. Answer honestly if asked in a form or interview.
Projects carry the most weight
With no job history, projects are your proof. For each one, write a single line on what it does, then one or two lines on your part and the result. Name the tools. "Built a library management system" says little; "Built a library app in Java and MySQL used by 40 classmates to reserve books; I wrote the search and fine calculation" says a lot.
- Final-year and mini projects count.
- So do practical things outside college: a website for a relative's shop, an Excel tracker for a society, a YouTube channel you edit.
- If a project is on GitHub or live online, add the link.
What to leave out
Many Indian resume templates still include a block of personal details. Most private employers do not need it, and some of it can lead to bias. Leave these out unless a form or the employer specifically asks:
- Father's name, mother's name, religion, caste, marital status.
- Full date of birth and height or weight.
- A photo, unless the job advert asks for one.
- The word "Resume" or "Curriculum Vitae" as a heading. Your name is the heading.
- "References available on request". It is assumed.
The Declaration line ("I hereby declare that the above information is true…") is not needed for most private-sector jobs. Some government, PSU and teaching applications still expect it; add it only for those.
Format details that save you trouble
- Use one clean font at 10–12 pt and clear section headings.
- Keep dates in one style throughout, for example "Jun 2025".
- Save as PDF unless the portal asks for Word. Name the file with your name, like Name-Surname-Resume.pdf.
- Read it aloud once. Spelling mistakes in a fresher resume are noticed more than anything else.
Before you send it
Check the resume against the job advert. If the advert asks for Excel and you know Excel, make sure the word "Excel" is on your resume. Our guide on how ATS software reads resumes explains why this matters. If you want a starting point for your stream, the sample resumes cover 10th and 12th pass, ITI and diploma, graduates, engineers and postgraduates.