Writing your first resume is harder than it looks — especially in India, where advice ranges from "keep it to one page" to "include a photo and your father's occupation." Most of that advice is outdated.
Here's what actually works for freshers applying to jobs in India in 2025, whether you're targeting campus placements, off-campus drives, or direct applications.
Use Reverse Chronological Format
For freshers, the reverse chronological format works best: list your most recent experience first, then go backward. Functional or skills-based formats are harder for ATS to parse and tend to look like you're hiding something.
Your sections, in order: Education → Internships / Work Experience → Projects → Skills → Certifications → Extra-curricular Activities.
If you have no internships at all, Projects moves above Skills.
What to Include
Education (at the top)
As a fresher, education is your primary credential. Include: degree, institution, graduation year, and CGPA/percentage — but only if it's above 7.0/70%. Below that, leave it out unless the application explicitly asks.
If you studied at a notable institution (IIT, NIT, BITS, top state universities), let the name do the work. You don't need a separate line explaining what it is.
Internships and Work Experience
List every internship — even one-month ones. For each: company name, role title, duration, and 2–3 bullet points describing what you did. Lead each bullet with an action verb. Quantify wherever possible: "Reduced API response time by 40%" beats "Worked on optimizing APIs."
Projects
Projects are your most important differentiator as a fresher. Include 2–4 projects with: project name, one-line description of what it is, your tech stack, and 2 bullet points on what you built and what it achieved. Add a GitHub or live demo link if it exists.
Skills
Divide your skills into clear categories: Programming Languages, Frameworks, Tools, Databases. Don't list soft skills like "team player" or "good communicator" — every resume claims these, they add no signal.
Certifications
Only include certifications from recognized platforms: Coursera (especially Google, IBM, Meta certificates), NPTEL, AWS, Microsoft, or similar. Skip generic "certificate of participation" entries.
What to Leave Out
- Photo: Indian recruiters increasingly prefer no photos, especially at MNCs, startups, and any company following international hiring practices. A photo adds no value and can introduce bias.
- Date of birth: Not required. Many modern companies have policies against collecting this data pre-offer.
- Father's occupation / family details: This was standard in older Indian resume templates. Drop it entirely.
- Hobbies (vague ones): "Reading, music, cricket" is noise. Only mention hobbies if they're genuinely distinctive or relevant (competitive chess, open-source contributions, technical blog).
- Objective statement: Outdated. Replace with a 2-line professional summary if the role calls for it.
Length: One Page
For freshers with under 2 years of experience, one page is the standard. Two pages is acceptable only if you have extensive internship history, multiple publications, or significant open-source work. When in doubt, cut.
ATS Formatting Tips
A significant portion of Indian company applications — especially larger firms, MNCs, and any company using iimjobs, Naukri, or LinkedIn Apply — go through ATS screening. Keep your format clean:
- Single column layout
- Standard fonts (Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman)
- No tables, text boxes, or decorative borders
- Save as PDF unless DOCX is requested
You can check how your resume performs against a specific job description — and see exactly which keywords you're missing — using HireRaft's free resume optimizer. It's built specifically for the Indian job market.
One Final Rule
Tailor your resume for each application. Not a full rewrite — just 10 minutes of matching the keywords in the JD to the language in your bullets. That single habit will put you ahead of 80% of applicants who submit the same generic resume to every role.