Including Projects on Resume Documents

If you’ve recently completed a project, adding it to your resume could be a potential boost for landing your dream job. 

Creating a section on your resume for projects demonstrates your unique skill set, professional achievements, and experiences. You might even consider adding projects from previous employment, side hustles, academic work, or personal endeavors—if they’re appropriate. 

However, there is a correct way to highlight your finest work professionally to capture a recruiter’s attention. Here is everything you need to know about adding projects to your resume.

Why Include Projects on Resumes

A 2018 Eye-Tracking Study found that recruiters spend 7.4 seconds scanning an applicant’s resume. The findings also indicated that clean documents with precise headings and a readable layout caught their eye best. 

When applying for a job, you want to avoid having your resume land in the discarded pile. By including a projects section, companies can better determine your qualifications and decide whether you’re ideal for filling a particular role. 

Listing projects you worked on is another way recruiters can effectively link your key skills sets with successful results. An organization wants to know how you can help it progress toward reaching its goals.

The Types of Projects to Mention

Adding projects to your resume is beneficial if you’re looking to land your first job, switch companies, or pivot in your career entirely. However, it’s essential to be strategic when listing projects—meaning you shouldn’t list every project you’ve ever completed. 

Read through the job description and take note of the qualifications the company is looking for in an applicant. Figure out if there are one or two relevant projects you’ve worked on that demonstrate your knowledge and expertise for that role. For example, if you’re applying for a graphic designer position, have you ever worked on projects creating computer graphics or templates?

Other types of projects you may want to consider adding to your resume include:

• Freelance projects you’ve worked on for businesses—large-scale editing, digital design, programming, consulting, marketing, etc.—that demonstrate hard skills
• Publications or presentations you’ve written
• Various projects you participated in during an internship
• Academic projects that display your learned technical, leadership, collaborative, or soft skills

Allow whatever projects you include to underscore your work experience rather than overshadow it.

How to List Projects on Your Resume

There are different ways you may consider including projects on your resume. While some people may wish to add a project to an entry within previous jobs or education, others may want to create a dedicated section—especially if they have extensive experience.

Regardless of whichever style you choose, you’ll want to mention specific details for each listing, for example:

• Title of the project
• Project dates
• Company name or industry
• Your role in the project
• A short description of the project, its results, and what sort of effect it had

Remember to remain achievement-oriented in your project descriptions. This may require writing one or two bullet points under your project to explain how you used your skills to attain noteworthy outcomes. 

It would be best if you also modified your project description to the position you’re applying for. Make sure that if you submit your resume for a web developer role, you spend more time highlighting the design aspect of your project. You’ll also want to try and adopt similar language and keywords as the job posting. 

Finally, if your project is online, include a hyperlink for recruiters to visit your work and review it themselves. 

The Best Approach to Adding Projects on Resumes

Concise, consistent, and detailed is how you should approach adding projects to your resume. Keep your descriptions brief, make sure your resume format is uniform and flows, and add as many relevant points you feel the recruiter needs to know. Professional or academic projects can shine a spotlight on your achievements and may result in a job offer of a lifetime.