How to List Projects On Resumes: Types, Tips, and Examples
Showcasing projects on resumes is a powerful way to display your qualifications and achievements. Responsibilities and education are resume staples, but they don’t convey the tangible impact that projects do. This guide shows you how to highlight relevant skills through projects and stand out to hiring managers.
Why add projects to resumes?
Including projects on a resume shows recruiters your qualifications in action. Listing your responsibilities gives employers a to-do list of your skills and duties, but projects demonstrate hands-on experience, problem-solving abilities, and hard and soft skills.
Projects are excellent practical examples of your skills, showing initiative and the ability to manage complex tasks and deliver outstanding results.
You can typically link projects to quantifiable accomplishments, giving them extra weight and value. For example, including an employee training program project in your resume allows you to list impressive metrics like “Improved employee performance by 15%.”
Adding projects to resumes also helps align you with a job description and display relevance. For instance, a company is looking to hire a project manager with experience handling software development projects. Detailing two to three successful software development projects helps you show them you not only know what they’re looking for – you’re the ideal candidate.
Projects to put on resumes: 4 types
There’s a wealth of different types of projects you can include on resumes and most of them fall under these four categories.
Academic projects
Showcasing academic projects is a great way for recent graduates or students to display skills and experience when they have little to no work history. Most of these projects belong in your education section, like academic awards, clubs, coursework, honors, and extracurricular activities.
Work projects
These projects come in two main types: work projects that fall out of your regular responsibilities and official work projects, including marketing and software projects.
While official work projects are self-explanatory, the first type includes any additional assignment you’ve completed. Examples include a content writer creating guides for their team or a nurse building a presentation on an innovative health monitoring app.
Personal projects
These projects include anything you’ve done in your personal time that helps support and reinforce your qualifications, such as building and maintaining a personal website. While these projects are useful for all professionals, they’re especially helpful for anyone switching careers who has little professional experience in their new chosen field.
Volunteer projects
Volunteering projects are not only an excellent way to showcase relevant skills but also display values, work ethic, and a commitment to social causes. This may help align you with a company’s culture and show the work you’ll put in even without money on the table.
How to list projects on resumes
Let’s walk through a quick step-by-step guide on how to list projects on resumes.
- First, consider the top skills you want to highlight through your projects. It’s best to browse the specific job description you’re targeting to determine what the employer is looking for.
- Then make a list of your projects, choosing the ones you’re most proud of. Comb through this list and determine which ones display your targeted skills the best. Some projects are impressive but not strictly relevant to the role, so it’s best to take your time on this step.
- Now, consider where you’ll list these projects. We recommend academic projects in the Education section and work projects in the Work Experience section, but other types may require an atypical resume section, like Projects or Volunteer work. If you need an optional section, we recommend using a flexible resume template so you can include any sections you need.
With this information, you’re ready to add projects to your resume. Think about impactful details that add weight to your projects, such as important outcomes and metrics. It’s also a great idea to add links to your website or portfolio if you have published proof of your project.
Expert Tip:
Are you currently working on a project? Include it anyway. All impactful projects that effectively display your skills are worth putting on your resume, even if they aren’t finished. For example, if you’re currently coding an app, it’s still a worthwhile representation of your qualifications. As a bonus, it also gives you something to talk about during the interview.
Elements to include for each project
While every project is different, the key elements to include in your resume will be similar:
- Project Name: Provide a clear name for your project, whether it has an official name or you create one just for the resume.
- Organization: Include the name of the organization if it’s a work project and the institution if it’s an academic project.
- Dates: List the start and end dates. If your project is in progress, make sure to put “Present.”
- Scope: Add details around the scope, including team size, budget, and duration.
- Role and responsibilities: Describe the role you had in the project and your specific contributions.
- Achievements: Include measurable outcomes and metrics to add tangible achievement.
Keep in mind that some of these points will likely be subtle. For example, if you list a project as a bullet point in your work experience section, it won’t be lengthy and complex, but it can contain most of this information if you focus on being concise. Here’s an example:
“In 2022, contacted 50+ business leaders in a Survey Outreach Project to learn popular hiring strategy techniques, enhancing company recruiting process and boosting candidate experience by 20%.”
The trick is to provide the necessary details without any irrelevant information. This is a best practice you should apply throughout your entire resume, from work experience to skills. Check out our collection of resume articles for more insights.
How to include projects: Realistic examples
Get inspired by browsing a few realistic examples of listing projects on resumes:
- Developed a company website using expert UX practices to increase customer engagement and navigation, increasing customer conversion by 15%.
- Collaborated with editors and published to write a personal novel, winning a Book Critics Award and scoring a spot on the bestsellers list for 10 weeks.
- Led a team of marketers to build a social media marketing campaign using specialized content strategy and data analysis, leading to a 40% increase in followers.
Jump over to our resume samples to browse even more actionable examples.
“Projects are excellent practical examples of your skills, showing initiative and the ability to manage complex tasks and deliver outstanding results.”
Tailoring projects for different job applications
No resume should be “one and done,” and the same goes for projects. Ensure you tailor each project specifically for different applications. Even the same project has different points to highlight, depending on the role.
Tailor projects to job descriptions
Hiring managers are always on the lookout for relevant candidates. They receive thousands of applications that have similar qualifications, so the ideal candidate must have exact specifications.
Read the job description thoroughly to determine the top qualities the employer wants and emphasize those skills in your project. For example, if a job description requires innovation and leadership, discuss a project where you held a brainstorming session with other managers and implemented a professional development program.
Tailor projects to job levels
It’s important to consider which level your ideal role is at because projects are a little different depending on seniority.
For example, recent graduates and entry-level professionals benefit the most from personal, academic, and volunteer projects. Hiring managers expect junior professionals to have less experience, so this fits in perfectly.
However, managers and executives must have high-level projects that show impactful outcomes. These roles are for professionals with years of experience and it’s vital to showcase that experience. Plus, positions like this are also pricey, so employers are very strict with requirements.
Show off your work with projects on resumes
You’ve got an impressive, colorful history, and recruiters should know it. Proudly list projects on resumes to get the hiring manager’s attention and show them you’re the ideal worker to fill the role. Remember our tips:
- List projects in a relevant section, such as putting academic projects in your Education section
- Consider which projects best highlight your most desirable skills
- Read job descriptions to understand employer needs and build a targeted resume
- Include measurable metrics whenever possible to show tangible outcomes
Start building your perfect resume today with CVwizard’s resume maker. This flexible tool allows you to build and name any unique section you want so you can craft a custom place for your projects.
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