How to List Projects on Resume - College, Job and Personal

You have worked on plenty of projects throughout your life. But how do you list them on your resume?

This article will teach you how to list your college, professional and personal projects using a simple template. Here we go.

How to List Projects on Your Resume:

1. List projects in your education section
2. Include projects in your job section
3. List any relevant personal projects
4. Consider having a Key Projects section
5. Format your project list like a pro
6. Sell Yourself
7. Make a functional resume (if you're a freelancer or contractor)

1 - List projects in your education section

Should you list your college and academic projects? It depends. If you just graduated or have a short career, list all projects you consider relevant.

These projects are the only experience you have, and that helps set yourself apart from other graduates. Example:

If you have a doctorate or were responsible for important research work, ‌add those projects too. Especially if they relate to the job you're applying for.

If you have a long career, don't add any college projects. An exception would be if you got any award or certificate based on that project or were involved in groundbreaking academic research.

2 - Include projects in your job section

Your job section is the most important section on your resume. This is where you show companies that you can execute in the real world.

It shows you have experience, skills, and problem-solving abilities. Here's an example:

Some tips:

• Each project is a bullet point. Name the project if it's relevant
• Write down your project responsibilities
• Quantify your results, use numbers
• Be concise and impactful

Focus on your accomplishments. How did each project benefit the company?

Did it cut costs? Did it help the company make money? Write down the impact you had on each project, using bullet points and small sentences.

You don't need to list all your projects, only the most relevant. If you have a long career, focus more on the latest projects and less on the older ones.

Those with shorter careers can list more projects to make up for the lack of professional experience.

If you have an online portfolio, add the address to the top of your job experience section.

3 - List any relevant personal projects

Should you include your personal and side projects on your resume? Yes, especially if they apply to your career.

Whether you're a social worker who created a youth blog or a software developer who contributes to open-source, you should include those projects on your resume.

A social worker would have a personal project section like:

Just like the education section, your personal projects are more important when you have less professional experience.

The more experience you have, the less relevant your personal project list, unless those are projects that set you apart from your peers.

4 - Consider having a Key Projects section

Hiring managers often throw out resumes if your last job differs from the job you're applying for.

Having a "Key Projects" section that contains your most relevant projects, will prevent that from happening.

Here's an example:

You want to put key projects right above your job section.

If you're applying to a marketing job, but your last job was sales, this will allow you to focus your resume on your marketing skills.

This is also a solution for professionals with long careers, as it will help shorten your resume.

5 - Format your project list like a pro

Here are some quick tips to remember:

• Don't list all your projects, only the most relevant
• Write small sentences and make abundant use of bullet points
• List projects(and jobs) chronologically (dates are optional)
• Use good formatting. Use bold text when appropriate

6 - Sell yourself

Your resume is a marketing document. You need to sell yourself to get the interview.

Don't be afraid to write down your achievements, key results, awards, or anything you consider relevant.

7 - Make a functional resume (if you're a freelancer or contractor)

If you work and get paid on a project basis, then you should consider creating a functional resume.

Functional resumes focus on each project rather than the chronological list of jobs you had in the past.

Here's an example for a web developer:

How to do it:

1. Rename your job section to "Projects"
2. List the company and your position
3. Include project duration(dates not needed)
4. List any skills or technology you used
5. Add brief paragraph(or bullet points) with your responsibilities and key results

And that's all you need to know about listing your projects on your resume.

Good luck with your job hunt!