Building Your Resumé

By the second year, many Computer Science students begin exploring internship opportunities, either through the Computer Science Co-op program or by applying to independent internships on their own. One of the most nerve-wracking parts of this process is trying to build a standout resumé.

Your resumé is a vital tool for communicating how your skills, education, and experiences align with what employers need in tech roles. A strong resumé clearly shows that you:

• Can do the job (technical and analytical ability)
• Will do the job (motivation, initiative and other soft skills)
• Fit the team (communication and adaptability)

Target Your Resumé

Employers should be able to tell within 10 to 30 seconds why you're a strong candidate. They won’t spend time reading every detail of the dozens or hundreds of resumés they receive. Your goal is to stand out quickly and clearly.

Whether your strongest asset is your education, a technical project, or an internship, make sure it appears on the first page of your resumé if it spans multiple pages.

Note: Multiple-page resumés are acceptable, but limit them to a maximum of two pages. For Co-op applications, two pages are generally acceptable. For traditional internships, you're better off with a condensed one-page resumé.

So, What Are Employers Looking For?

Employers value a blend of technical and transferable skills.

Technical skills are important and worth developing; however, employers often expect to train new hires in specific tools or technologies. What they truly rely on are strong transferable skills. You don’t need to master every programming language, instead, focus on becoming confident and proficient in one or two. The problem-solving and logical thinking you develop will translate well to other languages and technologies. At this stage, a solid foundation and the ability to learn quickly are just as valuable as your current technical knowledge.

Resumé Formatting

Your resumé should be clean, consistent, and easy to read at a glance. Use professional formatting with clear headings, uniform spacing, and a readable font. Organise your content in a way that highlights your strengths and draws attention to the most relevant experiences, skills, and accomplishments. Tailor your section headings (Projects, Technical Skills, or Experience) to best reflect the role you’re applying for and the qualities that will resonate with employers in that field.

Your resumé can and should be different depending on the position you’re applying to. While it’s helpful to maintain a strong “base” resumé that contains your core experiences and skills, you should be prepared to make adjustments for each application. This could mean reordering sections or technical skills and emphasising different experiences to better match the job description.

Header

• Must-Haves:
  • Full name
  • Phone number
  • Email address (with a professional handle, such as [email protected])
• Optional but highly recommended (if applicable)
  • GitHub profile
  • LinkedIn profile
  • Portfolio of personal projects
    • Could be in the form of a website

⚠️ Do not include your full home address. If the job is local, listing your city and province is sufficient.

Education

• Must-Haves:
  • Degree (e.g., B.Sc. in Computer Science)
  • University name
  • Duration (e.g., Sept 2022 – Apr 2026)
    • The expected graduation date is essential
• Optional:
  • GPA (only if it's strong)
  • Relevant courses (e.g., Algorithms, Databases)
  • Scholarships or academic awards

Technical Skills

Organise your skills by category and keep them concise, clear, and relevant to the role you’re applying for.

Example Format:

Languages: Python, Java, C
Tools & Platforms: Git, GitHub, Visual Studio Code, Linux
Relevant Coursework: Data Structures & Algorithms, Object-Oriented Programming, Statistics & Computing

As mentioned before, tailor this list for each job. Avoid listing everything and instead prioritise relevance. For example, if the job description highlights Python and SQL, make sure those appear early in your list.

Work Experience

As a second-year university student, you may not yet have extensive technical work experience, and that’s okay. If you have worked in a university IT department, completed an internship, or held any position where you applied your technical skills, be sure to highlight those experiences first.

However, if you don’t have this kind of experience, don’t underestimate the value of any work experience. Roles in retail, food service, or campus jobs can still demonstrate transferable soft skills like reliability, communication, teamwork, and work ethic. This section is your opportunity to show employers how you contribute in a professional setting, regardless of the industry.

• Basic Must-Haves:
  • Job Title
  • Organisation/Company
  • Location
  • Dates
• Describe your role and accomplishments.
  • Use bullet points with the XYZ format:
    • Accomplished X by doing Y using Z.
• Demonstrate your skills with strong action verbs:
  • Choose verbs that clearly reflect the skill you’re highlighting (e.g., “Collaborated” for teamwork, “Led” for leadership). Avoid vague or passive verbs like “provided” or “assisted.”
• Add impact with qualifiers or numbers:
  • Quantify your achievements where possible, such as the number of people helped, percentage improvement, or awards received. This makes your statements more compelling and memorable.

Possible job description points (using the example of a Math tutor):

Personal Projects

This section is especially useful if you're early in your computer science career. Employers understand that you may not have extensive technical work experience yet, but personal projects are a great way to showcase your programming skills, initiative, and creativity.

Include this section to demonstrate:

• Your ability to build something independently or as part of a team (soft skills)
• Familiarity with tools, technologies, or frameworks relevant to the field (hard skills)
• Problem-solving and software design skills (soft & hard skills)

Tip: If you don’t have many (or any) personal projects in your portfolio yet, there is still time to get started. Check out the Personal Projects section of this guide for inspiration.

• Must-Have:
  • Project Title
  • Short Description
  • Languages/Technologies/Platforms Used
• Optional:
  • Date or occasion (e.g., hackathon)
  • Recognition or awards

If you have multiple personal projects, you don’t need to include all of them on your resumé. Focus on highlighting the most impactful ones, those that best demonstrate your skills and initiative. Projects with less impact can still be valuable and accessible to employers if they are publicly available on your GitHub or portfolio site.

Below is a general ranking of project types, from most impactful to least impactful:

• Complex programs with real world users
• Complex team projects
• Simple team projects
• Technical solo projects
• Simple solo projects

Example:

Bill Splitter App | Python, Flask, SQLite

• Developed a web app that splits group expenses fairly and tracks user balances.
• Implemented session tracking, user authentication, and database persistence.

Extracurricular Experience

This section highlights your volunteering roles, club involvement, sports, and other unpaid activities. Include experiences here if you have limited industry work experience or want to showcase valuable skills such as leadership, teamwork, and communication.

Use a similar format as your work experience section, including role, organisation, location, dates, and bullet points that demonstrate your contributions and skills.

Examples of roles:

• CSSA Club Executive
• Hackathon Participant / Volunteer
• Unpaid Computer Science Tutor

Final Look-Over

Once you finish your first draft of your resumé, remember to proofread it multiple times to make sure you are satisfied and confident in it. A resumé is going to showcase a lot of information in a condense and short document, so make sure there are aren't any small mistakes.

Before submitting your resumé, ask yourself:

• Is my strongest qualification on page one?
• Is the information tailored to the job?
• Are my bullet points impact-focused and specific?
• Did I avoid all outdated sections and fluff?
  • Refer to the table below.
• Is everything well formatted and proofread?
• Did I open the exported file (PDF) to make sure the layout looks clean?

Sections & Info to Leave Out