How to Write a Perfect Resume for Freshers in 2026

Your resume is often the first impression you make on a potential employer. As a fresher with limited work experience, crafting an effective resume can be challenging. This guide will help you create a resume that gets noticed.

Choose the Right Format

For freshers, the best resume format is the reverse chronological format with a skills-focused approach. Keep it to one page - recruiters spend an average of 6-7 seconds on the initial resume scan.

Essential Sections for a Fresher Resume

1. Contact Information

Include your full name, phone number, professional email (not [email protected]), LinkedIn profile, and city. For tech roles, add your GitHub profile.

2. Professional Summary / Career Objective

Write 2-3 lines summarizing your skills, education, and what you bring to the table. Avoid generic statements like "seeking a challenging position." Be specific about the role and company.

Example: "B.Tech Computer Science graduate from VIT with strong skills in Python, Machine Learning, and web development. Completed 3 academic projects and a 6-month internship at TCS. Seeking a software engineering role to apply my technical skills and contribute to innovative solutions."

3. Education

List your highest qualification first. Include university name, degree, specialization, graduation year, and CGPA/percentage (if above 7.0/70%). Add relevant coursework if applicable.

4. Skills

Divide into categories: Technical Skills, Tools & Technologies, Soft Skills. Use keywords from the job description. Be honest - only list skills you can demonstrate.

5. Projects

As a fresher, projects are your biggest asset. For each project, mention: project name, technology stack, brief description (2-3 lines), your specific contribution, and the outcome/impact.

6. Internships / Training

Even short internships count. Mention the company, duration, role, and key achievements with metrics where possible.

7. Certifications

Online certifications from Coursera, Udemy, NPTEL, Google, AWS, etc. show initiative and self-learning ability.

8. Extra-curricular Activities

Include leadership roles, volunteering, hackathons, technical events, and sports achievements. These demonstrate soft skills.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Typos and grammatical errors
Using a generic template without customization
Including irrelevant personal information (father's name, marital status)
Writing "References available on request" (it's assumed)
Using fancy fonts or colors
Making it longer than one page
Lying about skills or experience

Pro Tips

Customize your resume for each job application
Use action verbs: "Developed," "Implemented," "Designed," "Optimized"
Quantify achievements wherever possible
Save as PDF to preserve formatting
Name the file professionally: "YourName_Resume.pdf"
Get it reviewed by seniors or career counselors