Resume for Freshers: ATS-Friendly Template and Tips

Writing your first resume feels impossible: every job asks for experience, and you don't have any yet. But recruiters hiring freshers know that. They aren't looking for years of work — they are looking for proof that you can learn, apply skills and deliver something real.

Your job is to show that proof in a format that applicant tracking systems can read. This guide gives you the structure, a template and examples that work for freshers in India — whether you are a B.Tech, B.Com, BBA, BCA, B.Sc or MBA graduate.

Why freshers get filtered out

Campus drives and job portals like Naukri, LinkedIn, Internshala and Indeed receive hundreds of fresher applications for each opening. Recruiters use filters — degree, year of passing, percentage, skills, location — and keyword searches to shortlist. The most common reasons fresher resumes are skipped:

• the resume is a two-column Canva design the ATS can't read properly;
• skills are generic ("MS Office, hardworking, quick learner") instead of specific;
• there are no projects or internships, only a list of subjects;
• the objective is vague, and the first half page says nothing useful;
• the same resume is sent to every job.

All of these are fixable in an afternoon.

The best section order for freshers

1. Contact details
2. Summary (2–3 lines)
3. Education
4. Skills
5. Projects
6. Internships / Training
7. Certifications
8. Achievements and Activities

Education goes near the top because it is your strongest credential right now. Once you have a year or more of work experience, move Experience above Education.

A fresher resume template (ATS-friendly)

RAHUL VERMA
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh | +91 91234 56780 | rahul.verma@gmail.com
linkedin.com/in/rahulverma | github.com/rahulverma

SUMMARY
Computer Science graduate (B.Tech 2025, CGPA 8.1) skilled in Java, SQL and
React. Built a placement-tracking web app used by 300+ students. Looking for
an entry-level software developer role.

EDUCATION
B.Tech, Computer Science and Engineering — XYZ Institute of Technology, AKTU
2021 – 2025 | CGPA 8.1/10
Class XII (CBSE) — 2021 | 89%

SKILLS
Languages: Java, Python, SQL, JavaScript
Web: React, HTML, CSS, Node.js
Tools: Git, GitHub, MySQL, Postman, VS Code

PROJECTS
Placement Tracker (React, Node.js, MySQL) — github.com/rahulverma/placement
• Built a web app for the placement cell to track 40+ company drives.
• Used by 300+ students; reduced manual Excel updates by 6 hours a week.

INTERNSHIP
Web Development Intern — TechNova Solutions, Noida | Jun 2024 – Aug 2024
• Created 5 responsive landing pages in React for client websites.
• Fixed 30+ UI bugs reported by the QA team within sprint deadlines.

CERTIFICATIONS
NPTEL Programming in Java (Elite + Silver), 2024
Infosys Springboard — Python Foundation, 2023

ACHIEVEMENTS
Finalist, Smart India Hackathon 2024 (top 5 of 120 teams in college round)

Want a ready-to-edit file? Download our free ATS resume template for freshers.

How to write each section

Summary, not objective

Skip "Seeking a challenging position in a reputed organisation". Instead write what you offer: your degree and year, two or three skills from the job description, and one result. For more examples, see our resume summary examples for freshers.

Education

Write your degree exactly as employers write it (B.Tech, B.E., B.Com, BCA, MBA), the college, university, years and CGPA or percentage. Many mass recruiters (TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Accenture, Cognizant) filter by minimum percentage, so include Class X and XII marks if they are 60% or above.

Skills

List skills you can actually use, grouped by type. Copy the exact names from the job description when they match your skills. "Communication" and "teamwork" are fine to include, but they don't replace technical or job-specific skills.

Projects: your experience

For freshers, projects carry the most weight. For each one, write:

• the project name and the tools used (in brackets);
• what it does and what you did;
• a result: users, accuracy, speed, data size, rank or time saved.

Final-year projects, mini projects, hackathons, Kaggle notebooks, freelance work, college society websites — all count.

Internships and training

Even a one-month or virtual internship is worth listing. Write it like a job, with dates and 2–3 bullets. Industrial training and apprenticeships count too. Read our guide on ATS-friendly resumes for internships.

Certifications

Choose relevant ones: NPTEL, Google Career Certificates, AWS Cloud Practitioner, Microsoft, HubSpot, Coursera or Infosys Springboard. Ten unrelated certificates are less useful than three relevant ones.

Achievements and activities

Ranks, scholarships, hackathons, sports captaincy, NSS/NCC, event organisation and fundraising show initiative. Add numbers wherever possible: "Raised ₹2 lakh in sponsorships for a fest with 1,500 participants."

What to remove from a fresher resume

• Photo, date of birth, father's name, religion, marital status, full address
• "Declaration: I hereby declare…" at the bottom
• Hobbies like "listening to music" (keep only if relevant or impressive)
• A long list of school subjects
• Two-column templates, skill bars and star ratings

Tailor for each job

Before each application, read the job description and adjust your summary and skills to match its keywords. It takes 10 minutes and dramatically increases your chances. Here is our step-by-step guide to tailoring your resume.

Test your resume

Upload your resume to our ATS checker for freshers. It checks your sections, keywords and formatting, and shows which skills are missing for typical fresher roles — or paste a job description for an exact match. A score of 65–75 is a strong target for a fresher resume.

Key takeaways

• Put Education near the top and treat Projects as your experience.
• Write a short summary with your degree, top skills and one result.
• Use a single-column format with standard headings.
• Add numbers to projects, internships and achievements.
• Tailor your skills to each job and test your resume before applying.