How to Write a Resume as a Fresher (With a Simple Template)

When a recruiter has a pile of fresher applications, they usually spend a short time on each one before deciding. They are not looking for perfection. They are looking for a clear match between the job and you.

For most entry-level roles, that match comes from your course, a relevant project or internship, basic tools you can use, and signs that you are reliable. Communication matters too, and your resume itself is the first sample of how clearly you communicate.

• A clear job target, such as "Accounts Trainee" or "Junior Web Developer"
• Correct, working phone number and email address
• Education with year of passing and marks if they are decent
• Projects, internships or training that relate to the role
• Skills you can actually demonstrate in an interview

At the top, write your full name, mobile number, a professional email address and your city. Add a LinkedIn or portfolio link only if it is updated. Skip your father's name, religion, marital status, height and a full home address; these are not needed at the first stage.

Your email should look like firstname.lastname@ rather than a nickname from school. Recruiters often call or WhatsApp freshers first, so make sure the number you list is one you answer and that your WhatsApp display name is your real name.

Below your details, write a two-line objective that names the role. For example: "B.Com graduate (2026) seeking an Accounts Trainee role. Comfortable with Tally, GST basics and Excel; ready to join immediately in Pune." This is far stronger than "Seeking a challenging position in a reputed organisation".

List your highest qualification first. Include the course name, college, university or board, year of passing and your percentage or CGPA. If your marks are average, you can still list them; leaving them out often makes recruiters assume the worst.

For 10th and 12th, one line each is enough. If you are a graduate, many recruiters only glance at school marks, so do not spend space describing them. If you are still studying, write "Expected 2027" next to the course.

If you have a backlog that is still pending, be truthful about it if asked; many employers will check marksheets before the offer. A diploma, ITI trade or vocational certificate also belongs here, and for technical or factory roles it can matter more than your degree, so place it prominently with the trade name and year.

• B.Sc. Computer Science, XYZ College, Savitribai Phule Pune University, 2026, CGPA 7.4
• Class 12 (Science), State Board, 2023, 72%
• Class 10, CBSE, 2021, 81%

For freshers, this section replaces work experience. Include final-year projects, internships, apprenticeships, short courses with a practical output, and even part-time work like tuition, retail weekends or event volunteering.

Write each item in two or three lines: what it was, what you did and what came out of it. Use action words like built, prepared, handled, tested or presented. Numbers you genuinely know, such as "taught 6 students maths" or "entered 200 invoices a week", make the line believable.

If you have nothing formal, do a small project now. A student applying for data entry can build a clean Excel sheet with formulas; a marketing aspirant can run a page for a local shop. Real work, however small, beats an empty section.

• Internship, Accounts (2 months): Entered purchase and sales vouchers in Tally, helped reconcile bank statements, prepared a monthly GST summary sheet.
• Final-year project: Built an attendance web app using HTML, CSS and PHP; tested with one class of 40 students.
• Part-time tutor: Taught Class 8 and 9 maths to small groups on weekends for one year.

Split skills into two short groups: job skills (tools and technical abilities) and work skills (communication, languages, teamwork). Avoid long lists of words you cannot back up. If you write "Advanced Excel", expect to be asked about VLOOKUP or pivot tables.

Languages are a real advantage in India. Mention every language you can speak with customers, such as Hindi, Marathi, Tamil or Bengali, along with English. Be honest about the level: "Hindi (fluent), English (good working knowledge)" is more useful to a recruiter than simply listing three languages. For field, sales and support roles, a two-wheeler and a valid licence are worth listing too. For more ideas by role, see our guide on skills to put on your resume.

Add a small section for things that show responsibility: class representative, organising a college fest, NSS or NCC, sports at district level, or a certificate from a recognised course. One line each is enough.

Leave out hobbies like "listening to music" unless they connect to the job. A hobby such as "run a small Instagram page on cooking" can help for a content or social media role because it shows a skill.

Use this order on a single page with a clean font such as Calibri or Arial, size 10–12, and clear headings. Save it as a PDF named like Priya-Sharma-Resume.pdf, not "final resume new 2". Our resume format guide explains layout choices in more detail.

1. 1Name, phone, email, city, LinkedIn or portfolio link (optional)
2. 2Objective: two lines naming the role, your qualification and joining availability
3. 3Education: highest first, with year and marks
4. 4Projects / internships / training: two or three items, two to three lines each
5. 5Skills: job skills and work skills, including languages
6. 6Achievements and activities: two to four short lines
7. 7Declaration line is optional; many employers no longer expect it

The biggest mistake is sending the same resume to every job. Change the objective and reorder skills for each type of role; it takes five minutes and makes you look like a better match.

Other common problems are spelling errors, a photo taken casually on a phone, two or three pages of school details, and copying a senior's resume format so closely that it lists skills you never learned. Read your resume aloud once before sending it. For a longer list, see resume mistakes to avoid.

• Generic objective with no job title
• Wrong or switched-off phone number
• Skills you cannot explain in an interview
• More than one page for a fresher
• File named "resume.docx" with formatting that breaks on a phone

Once your resume is ready, start applying to roles that match it. On BetterJobs, applying is free for job seekers, and uploading your resume fills your profile automatically so you can use one-click apply. Browse fresher jobs or graduate jobs to begin.

Stay safe while you apply. A genuine employer will never ask you to pay a registration fee, training deposit or "security amount" to get a job. If anyone asks for money, stop and do not share OTPs or bank details.