How to write an entry level resume, with examples

An entry level resume fits on one page and leads with what best proves you can do the job: your degree if you just graduated, or your most relevant job if you have one. Add internships, part-time work and projects, each as what you did and what came of it, and use the words from the posting.

By the ResumeGood team

Build my resume

Building, editing and downloading are free. Downloading the PDF needs a free account.

Secure connection: all contents are encrypted end-to-end

One quick check before we read your resume

Tick the box and your upload starts.

Uploading your resume…

Next, we read it. That usually takes under a minute, so keep this tab open.
Alex's resume: a new accounting graduate with one internship, education first, on one page.
Alex's resume: a new accounting graduate with one internship, education first, on one page.

Build yours like this

What makes a resume "entry level"

An entry level resume is for a first full-time job in a field: you are graduating, just graduated, or switching into work that asks for little or no experience. The format is the same as any resume. What changes is the evidence: you lean on education, internships, part-time jobs and projects, because you do not yet have years in the role.

The order that works:

  1. Name and contact details. Email, phone, city and state, and a LinkedIn link if your profile is up to date.
  2. Summary. Two sentences: the job you want and what qualifies you.
  3. Education or experience, whichever is stronger for this job (see below).
  4. The other one.
  5. Projects, volunteering or certificates, when they are relevant.
  6. Skills, grouped and specific.

Education first, or experience first?

Your situation Put first Why
Graduated in the last year, little related work Education Your degree is your strongest line
Related internship or co-op Experience It is direct proof you can do the work
A year or more in a related job Experience Recruiters read work as more recent proof
Changing fields with a new certificate Certificates or Education It explains the switch before anything else
No degree, steady part-time work Experience Reliability is what an entry level employer wants to see

Entry level resume examples, line by line

The example on this page is an accounting graduate. Here is how a weak line becomes a strong one for a few common entry level jobs.

Job Weak line Stronger line
Staff accountant Did reconciliations during internship. Reconciled three bank accounts each month for a nonprofit client, and wrote the checklist the team kept using.
Customer service Answered customer questions. Handled about 50 calls and chats a day on billing and orders, and kept my satisfaction score above the team target.
Administrative assistant Did office tasks. Scheduled meetings for four managers and kept the shared calendar, supply orders and visitor log up to date.
Data analyst Used Excel and SQL. Cleaned a 20,000 row sales export in SQL and built the Excel pivot tables the store managers used each week.
Software engineer Worked on a team project. Built the login and password reset flow for a three-person web app, with tests that run on every pull request.

The stronger line says what you did, for whom, and gives one concrete detail. Only use a number you can explain in an interview.

Summaries you can adapt

Recent accounting graduate looking for a staff accountant or audit associate role. One audit internship, three years of tutoring, and a habit of checking the numbers twice.
New communications graduate looking for an entry level marketing coordinator role. Ran the student newspaper's social accounts for two years and wrote weekly email newsletters for a campus nonprofit.
Customer service associate with three years of part-time retail experience, looking for a full-time support role. Calm with upset customers, quick with new systems, and trusted to close the store.

Change the role and the two details to yours. Leave out words like "hardworking" and "passionate": the details already show it.

Recent graduate resume

If you graduated in the last year or so, these are the choices that matter:

  • Graduation date. Month and year, for example "May 2026". If you have not finished yet, write "Expected May 2027".
  • Relevant courses. Three to five that match the job, listed under your degree. Drop them once you have a year of related work.
  • Honors. Dean's list, cum laude or a scholarship go on the same line as your degree or under Awards.
  • Campus jobs and roles count. A resident assistant, tutor, lab assistant or club treasurer had real responsibility. Write it like any job.
  • Thesis or capstone. If it is related to the job, list it under Projects with one line on what you found or built.

New grad resume

"New grad" is the phrase many employers use for entry level roles, especially in software and nursing. The resume is the same as above, with a few differences in emphasis.

  • Projects sit higher for software roles, often right after education. Give each one its stack and what you built.
  • Clinical rotations get their own section for new grad nurses (often called Clinical experience), each with the unit and the hours or weeks.
  • Licenses and certifications go near the top when the job requires them, with the date you passed or expect to.

For a computer science resume in the classic LaTeX look, see our guide to Jake's Resume.

Entry level resume with no experience

If you have no internship and no related job, you still have material:

  • Part-time and summer jobs show you turn up, learn quickly and handle people.
  • Class projects with a real question and a result, written like jobs.
  • Volunteering with a regular commitment.
  • Certificates you can earn in weeks for the field you want.

Then put your skills to work in the summary: name the job and the two things that make you ready for it.

Before you send it

  • One page, saved as a PDF, with your name in the file name.
  • Every date has a month and a year.
  • Every line starts with a verb, and none says "responsible for".
  • The summary names the kind of job in the posting.
  • You checked the skills section against the posting's words.

Questions

How long should an entry level resume be?

One page. With a few years of experience or less, a second page almost always means something needs cutting.

Should I put my GPA on an entry level resume?

Within a year or two of graduating, include it if it is 3.0 or higher or the posting asks for it. After your first full-time job, take it off.

Should I include high school?

Not once you have a college degree or are working toward one. High school belongs on the resume only when it is your highest level of education.

What if the entry level job asks for two years of experience?

Apply if you meet most of the rest. Count internships, relevant part-time work and substantial projects, and show them near the top.

Do I need a summary on an entry level resume?

It helps. Two sentences that name the role you want and the one or two things that qualify you tell a recruiter at once where you fit.

Start your resume

Build my resume

Building, editing and downloading are free. Downloading the PDF needs a free account.

Applying to a specific job? Jobician, from the same team, tailors your resume to the posting and drafts the cover letter. See Jobician