Recruiters hiring freshers spend under 30 seconds on a first scan. They are checking three things: can you do the basic work, have you built anything, and can you communicate. Your resume format should make those three answers obvious in the top half of the page.
The section order that works for freshers
- Name, phone, email, LinkedIn and GitHub or portfolio link — one line, no photo.
- Career objective — two lines naming the role you want and the skill you bring.
- Skills — grouped (Languages, Tools, Concepts), only what you can discuss in an interview.
- Education — degree, college, year and CGPA if above 7.
- Projects — two or three, each with what you built, the tech used and a result.
- Internships and training — even short ones, with one measurable line each.
- Certifications, achievements and languages — short, at the bottom.
Career objective examples that don't sound generic
- Computer Science graduate seeking a Java developer role, with two REST API projects and an internship building internal dashboards.
- Commerce graduate looking for an accounts executive role, trained in Tally and GST filing with a 3-month audit internship.
- Final-year ECE student aiming for a data analyst role, comfortable with SQL, Excel and Power BI through two published dashboards.
Formatting rules for ATS
- Single column, standard headings, 10–11 pt font.
- Save as DOCX or text-based PDF — never a scanned image or Canva picture.
- Use the exact job title and skills from the job description where they are true.
- Keep it to one page. Freshers with two pages look unfocused, not experienced.
You can build this exact layout for free with the Careerpilotai360 fresher resume builder, then run it through the free ATS resume check before you apply.