Highlighting Internships & Projects: 15 Tips for Students with Limited Experience
Navigating the job market with limited work experience can be daunting for college students, but with insights from seasoned professionals like a VP of Strategy and Growth and an HR director, it becomes manageable. From quantifying internship achievements to creating a project portfolio section, we’ve compiled fifteen invaluable strategies. Discover how to effectively showcase your internships and relevant projects, as advised by top industry leaders.
- Quantify Internship Achievements
- Showcase Results and Transferable Skills
- Dedicate a Resume Section for Projects
- Match Skills to Job Requirements
- Align Work with Job Description Keywords
- Develop a Case Study or Portfolio
- Highlight Applied Skills and Results
- Treat Internships as Professional Experience
- Include Strong References for Backup
- Emphasize the Value Added to Organizations
- Craft Targeted Resumes and Cover Letters
- Collect and Display Social Proof
- Build a Strong Personal Brand
- Be Honest About Your Experience
- Create a Project Portfolio Section
Quantify Internship Achievements
When you’re short on work experience, the key to making your internships and projects shine is to focus on the results you achieved. Instead of just listing your responsibilities, explain what you accomplished and the skills you used to get there.
Did you increase website traffic by 10% through your marketing project? Did you manage a team project that came in under budget? Mention that! Quantify your achievements whenever possible, and show how your work made a real impact. This will grab the employer’s attention and show them you’re a go-getter, even with limited experience.
Kimberley Tyler-Smith, VP of Strategy and Growth, Resume Worded
Showcase Results and Transferable Skills
Showing off accurate results is essential for college students who want to showcase their internships and projects, despite having little work experience.
Even a small project can make a significant impact.
For example, if you increased network efficiency during your internship, show how much faster it became or how much less time you spent on the network.
Don’t forget to tell stories. Create a resume or portfolio that tells the story of your experiences.
Tell stories about the obstacles you faced and how you overcame them creatively. Problem-solving and adaptability are two skills employers love to see in you.
And don’t forget to take advantage of any transferable skills you acquired while interning.
Did you learn how to communicate better with your team? Or perhaps you learned how to manage your time more effectively under tight deadlines. Both of these skills are valuable in any work environment.
Lastly, make sure you’re networking like it’s the 21st century. Attend industry gatherings, network with experts on LinkedIn, and seek out in-depth interviews. There’s never a dull moment when a connection is made.
Don’t forget that experience isn’t about quantity; it’s about quality and relevance.
Laviet Joaquin, Marketing Head, TP-Link
Dedicate a Resume Section for Projects
To effectively showcase internships or projects with limited work experience, college students should create a dedicated resume section. Describe projects with quantifiable achievements, use action verbs, and include relevant technical skills to impress potential employers.
Kristina Ramos, Reverse Recruiter, Find My Profession
Match Skills to Job Requirements
As a recruiter, fresh graduates who mention job-relevant skills they developed or polished while working on a project or as an intern stand out to me. Therefore, I recommend carefully reviewing the job description and making note of the specific skills, experiences, and qualifications required for the position. You can then reflect on your past internships or projects and identify instances where you have gained relevant skills and experiences that match the job requirements.
On your resume, it’s best to provide concrete examples and details of your accomplishments during your internships/projects, including any relevant metrics or results achieved. For instance, if the job requires experience using certain software that you actually used at your internship, make sure to mention that in bold text under your internship details in the Work Experience section of your resume. Tying your experiences back to the job requirements and demonstrating how they have prepared you for success in the position is key to getting hired when you have no actual employment history.
Joe Coletta, Founder & CEO, 180 Engineering
Align Work with Job Description Keywords
The best way to highlight your internship and project experience is by aligning the work you’ve done to the job description, using keywords and mirroring phrases. Emphasize whatever component of your internship or project that matches the job you are applying to, instead of listing out everything you did.
Also, be sure to focus on the actual work you did, the steps you implemented, and any initiative you took; do not spend precious space describing the project or the internship program.
Mofei Xu, Career Coach, Mofei Xu Career Coaching
Develop a Case Study or Portfolio
Create a case study or portfolio feature for the work that was completed during your internship or project. Showing that you are going above and beyond to highlight the relevant experience in a way that can be easily connected to professional duties will help connect the dots for hiring managers.
Jason Miller, Digital Marketing Manager, York University
Highlight Applied Skills and Results
Noting internships and fellowships on a resume is a wonderful way to build work experience. Some of these experiences may be rewarded through academic course credit, monetary pay, and/or custom recognition channels. Even unpaid opportunities, aside from volunteer work, contribute as a valuable source when building a professional portfolio of work. Hosting skill sets is fine, but it holds no merit until individuals can prove they’re applying these skill sets in real-life settings.
When theory translates to application, then there’s a reason for employers to take interest in exploring how these potential candidates can optimally contribute to their organizations. The resume can exhibit different genres of projects that you’ve worked on by stating the objective of the internship/fellowship, sharing the tasks that were assigned during the duration of the commitment, and disclosing lessons learned from the project. Make sure to quantify certain aspects of your work experience so employers can automatically learn the duration of your commitment and understand the measurable metrics that were used to track performance.
For example, if a student had to produce X reports within a week at their internship, they need to frame the context of their contribution without appearing too nebulous. They were chosen to honor such roles for a reason; therefore, highlight the strengths through skills that were applied and new skills that were acquired. Ambitious employers are seeking candidates who are willing to showcase their ongoing professional development while paying attention to the results of their work.
Sasha Laghonh, Founder, Sasha Talks
Treat Internships as Professional Experience
Experience is experience. College students should create a resume highlighting internships and projects in the same way they would a paid position and speak to them in interviews.
Be mindful of the keywords called out in the job(s) they are applying for and interviewing for when describing responsibilities and skills acquired. The key is to clearly outline what they’ve learned and the successes they’ve accomplished.
Mandy Schaniel, Founder & CEO, Schaniel Consulting Inc.
Include Strong References for Backup
Sometimes all you need is a little backup when it comes to quantifying your achievements that were garnered outside of the workplace. This is where references come in handy. Be sure to include references from supervisors, professors, or mentors who can speak to your skills, work ethic, and performance during your internships or projects. A positive reference can strengthen your application and validate your qualifications, making it more likely for you to stand out against others who might be in the same position.
Make sure to mention these references in the interview process and provide them without needing to be asked. This makes it more of a seamless process and creates less work for recruiters.
Michael Banis, Chief Development Officer, Virtue Recovery Centers
Emphasize the Value Added to Organizations
As an organizational perspective, we are keen to know more about the internship in terms of how it has been beneficial or added value to the organization. Students often make the usual mistake of explaining the project’s WHAT & HOW, but I would suggest more representation on WHY is required, and it should touch the prospective organization.
Vipul Annadate, Manager HR, K D Aher Building Systems Pvt. Ltd.
Craft Targeted Resumes and Cover Letters
College students with limited work experience can effectively highlight their internships or relevant projects by crafting targeted resumes and cover letters. Focus on showcasing specific achievements, skills, and experiences gained during internships or projects, emphasizing relevant tasks and accomplishments.
Additionally, leverage online platforms such as LinkedIn to create a professional profile highlighting these experiences, engaging in networking opportunities, and joining relevant groups or communities to connect with professionals in the field.
Finally, during interviews, confidently articulate the value and skills acquired through internships or projects, demonstrating enthusiasm and a proactive attitude toward learning and professional development.
Steven Mostyn, Chief Human Resources Officer, Management.org
Collect and Display Social Proof
Use social proof to highlight your projects. Make sure to release the projects and keep them live on a website.
Additionally, you can launch them on platforms like GitHub/Product Hunt. When you list your project in the resume, highlight social metrics like GitHub stars, Product Hunt rank, or even website visitors, and include a link to your website. This is a good way to stand out from the crowd.
Deepti Chopra, Co-founder, Adaface
Build a Strong Personal Brand
I emphasize the significance of harnessing the power of personal branding for college students aiming to stand out with their internships or relevant projects. Crafting a personal brand that resonates with their career aspirations and professional ethos can serve as a beacon for potential employers.
This can be achieved by consistently sharing insights, learnings, and achievements related to their field of interest across social media and professional networking platforms. Curating content that reflects their professional identity and expertise not only showcases their dedication and passion but also positions them as thought leaders among their peers.
By authentically communicating their unique values and visions, students can effectively highlight their potential and readiness for the professional world, even with limited work experience. Thus, personal branding emerges as a strategic tool in bridging the gap between their current academic pursuits and future career goals.
Amit Doshi, Founder & CEO, MyTurn
Be Honest About Your Experience
Be honest about your level of experience and don’t try to pad out your past roles if it’s not necessary. Be open about the experience you do have, and be willing to communicate that experience (do not lie or worry about a seemingly lesser amount of experience in your roles).
Tracey Beveridge, HR Director, Personnel Checks
Create a Project Portfolio Section
I recommend that college students create a Project Portfolio segment in their resumes or LinkedIn profiles to highlight their internships or relevant projects. This goes beyond merely listing the internships or projects; it’s about storytelling and showcasing the impact of their work through a curated collection of tangible outcomes, learnings, and visual aids.
We often look for candidates who can demonstrate their contributions and learning experiences visually and contextually. For a college student, this could include links to digital portfolios, project websites, or even brief video presentations summarizing key projects undertaken during their internships.
Each project in the portfolio should highlight specific skills used, challenges overcome, and the value added to the project or internship role. For example, if a student worked on a marketing campaign for a new product, they could include campaign visuals, any data on increased engagement or sales, and a brief analysis of what strategies worked and what they learned.
Laurie Hyllberg, Vice President, Kinsa Group
