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How To Write A Winning Resume Even If You Don't Have Any Experience To Show
It can be frustrating trying to get your foot in the door in the company of your dreams when they demand previous experience as entry criteria. Moreover, you are fighting for the spot with hundreds of experienced candidates. Writing a winning resume becomes important to standout.
In fact, it’s quite like the chicken and egg conundrum — an endless loop. No experience leads to not being able to land a job, which, in turn, leads to no real experience.
But it doesn’t have to be that way!
You can break out of this loop by putting your best foot forward on your resume and showing why you deserve a chance and the contribution you can make to an organisation.
In this blog, we share a step-by-step guide on how to write a winning resume for tech freshers.
Table of Contents
How to write a resume for tech freshers
Use these standard points as a guideline to get started on your resume:
Professional Summary
Right after you list your personal details (such as name, email id and phone number) at the top of your resume, dedicate an easily visible section to your professional summary. It lets recruiters know exactly what your educational qualifications and skills are in under three sentences.
Since a professional summary is your first impression, make sure it is to the point. If you can hold their attention here, they are more likely to spend more than a few seconds on your resume. It is best to tweak this section based on individual jobs for better chances of succeeding.
Here’s what you can include in your professional summary:
- Education
- Tech and soft skills
- Career aim
- Work ethic
- Internship experience (if applicable)
Example: An analytical and highly efficient graduate seeking a role as a software developer. Proficient in C++, C#, PHP and Java with an ability to write meticulous codes and achieve deliverables in a timely manner. With the capability to turn business needs into creative software solutions, I am seeking an entry-level developer role with a well-known IT company.
Soft skills
As a developer looking to enter the workforce, it is obvious that your technical skills need to be a focal point on writing a winning resume. However, what can set you apart from other fresher candidates applying for the same job is showcasing the soft skills you bring to the role.
Regardless of your level of experience, every job comes with a learning curve of its own. To show hiring managers you may not need as much training as your counterparts, speak to your individual skills of empathy, communication and ability to comprehend abstract briefs and turn them into faultless codes. Highlighting such skills can potentially show recruiters that you can be an asset to the business and that you will fit into the company culture effortlessly.
Some other skills hiring experts generally look for are time management, collaboration, problem solving, adaptability, critical thinking and emotional intelligence.
Certifications
After listing your educational qualifications in descending order, highlight any additional certifications you have earned. This shows recruiters that you have the expertise for the role and a deep interest in technology or even the skills they need for the role.
Keep this section separate from your education and achievements since it is easier for automated systems to pick up on it.
Don’t have the right certificates to impress recruiters? Take a skill assessment with ellow.ai and share your results in a dedicated section of your resume.
Example: Platform App Builder | Salesforce Certified | Valid till June 2023
Internships
The best alternative to full-time experience is getting either a paid or an unpaid internship. They provide college students, freshers and people looking to switch their fields an opportunity to gain real-world experience. Internships also provide you with a chance to network with people in your field and superiors you could lean on in the future along your career path.
Here are a few key details you may mention about your internship:
- List your internship under the ‘work experience’ section
- Mention your title, company name, city and the start and end date
- Note down all the responsibilities you were trusted with during your tenure starting from the most significant ones
- Cite any relevant achievements and accomplishments such as “employee of the month”
Example:
Web Developer Intern
Ellow.io, Bengaluru, Karnataka
January 2022 — July 2022
Job Responsibilities
- Create custom HTML, CSS and JavaScript code for in-house and client websites
- Recommend better alternatives for existing website features
- Troubleshoot website-related issues
Extracurricular
While this section of your resume is not mandatory, it can surely be a positive add-on. You can include this after your awards and achievements.
Things to mention:
- Extracurriculars such as volunteer or pro bono work
- Team sports and any tournaments you participated in
Example: Football: Played at a competitive level and won 3 gold medals
Volunteering: Taught kids basic computers skills at a local shelter
Tips to create a winning resume
Customise resume for every application
A stark difference between freshers who get the job and freshers who don’t is that the former category of individuals understands the importance of customising their resume for each application to cater to the job requirements.
From the duties listed in job descriptions to strengths and skills, modifying your resume to match company needs presents you as a candidate who can be a great fit for the organisation. When your resume appeals to individualistic requirements, you appear interested and the recruiter knows you have read their prerequisites before applying.
Use keywords
To keep up with recruitment trends, you might try to be overly experimental with the details that go on your resume. However, most companies (especially large corporations) use some kind of applicant tracking system (ATS) to browse through inbound resumes.
So, while you are right in wanting to stand out from your peers, avoid buzzwords like those used on social networking platforms such as LinkedIn. For example, it is better to write “web developer” instead of “creator of innovative sites”.
Additionally, you can even avoid being generic and use niche keywords if you are confident about the career path you want to take. So, instead of writing “front end developer” or “back end developer”, you can be precise and write “Javascript developer” or “python developer”.
Add a cover letter
Consider adding a cover letter even if the application doesn’t require it. It shows hiring managers that you have put in the effort and might continue to do so on the job.
Also, resumes typically follow a pretty standard format with minimal scope to let your personality shine. With a cover letter, you can easily advocate why you would be the ideal candidate for a particular company.
Use this space as an opportunity to highlight skills you haven’t mentioned on the resume, speak about your work ethic, detail how your interest in the field and if it positively impacted the companies you worked for, and remember to be concise.
College projects
You can either list this section separately or add it to the education section based on how much attention you want to draw to it. Write the highlights in bullet points and also mention the key results.
Resume example for freshers
Here is an example of a functional resume that is suited for tech freshers:
Girish L
Pune, Maharashtra
+91 99999 99999
girishl@email.com
Professional Summary
An analytical and highly efficient graduate seeking a role as a software developer. Proficient in C++, C#, PHP and Java with an ability to write meticulous codes and achieve deliverables in a timely manner. With the capability to turn business needs into creative software solutions, I am seeking an entry-level developer role with a well-known IT company.
Computer Languages
- C++
- C#
- PHP
- Java
Technical skills
- Coding
- Source control
- Text editor
- Database operation
- Encryption
- Cross-platform software understanding
Soft skills
- Communication
- Organisation
- Time management
- Collaboration
Work Experience
Web Developer Intern
Ellow.io, Bengaluru, Karnataka
January 2022 — July 2022
Job Responsibilities
- Create custom HTML, CSS and JavaScript code for in-house and client websites
- Recommend better alternatives for existing website features
- Troubleshoot website-related issues
Education
Bachelor’s in Computer Science
Pune University, Pune
2018-2021
Certification
Full stack developer: Beginner
Ellow.io
Extracurricular Activities
Football: Played at a competitive level and won 3 gold medals
Volunteering: Taught kids basic computers skills at a local shelter
The only resume that works is the one that gets you the job
Remember to tweak your resumes and cover letters to see which ones earn you a call back from hiring managers. Try to also highlight what sets you apart from other candidates applying for the same position. Again, there is no specific formula for success when it comes to writing winning resumes.
Experiment, and keep improving while not being stuck on making the perfect resume. In your attempt to do so, try taking programming tests that can help validate your skills. You can take these tests on ellow.io since we have a pool of top companies and startups looking to hire talented developers. The test validates your skills even if you have no previous experience. And that’s what all companies want these days — skills to get the job done.
Abhishek Ghosh
