How to Add Extracurricular Activities and Academic Projects to Your Resume

The paradox of applying to jobs as a new college graduate is that you may have little relevant work experience. That certainly doesn’t help when a majority of entry-level positions ask for multiple years of experience, according to at least one study. As unfair as this can feel, it shouldn’t dissuade you from submitting job applications. Your “golden ticket” will not be in your years of experience (which you don’t have) but in your extracurricular activities and academic projects that showcase the same capabilities employers want to see. 

To help you navigate this process, we’ll cover two key areas:

• What kind of extracurricular activities you can and should put on a resume
• Where you should list that information on your resume

We recommend you have your resume up while you read this post and make changes or notes on your resume for future changes that you can implement based on these recommendations. 

Extracurricular Activities and Academic Projects to Include on Your Resume

Extracurricular activities and academic projects are both excellent additions to a resume. Depending on the activity or project, they can showcase critical hard and soft skills that employers want to see. These can include many employers are looking for right now, which may include (but are not limited to):

• Ability to work as a team
• Problem-solving
• Communication
• Research abilities
• Time management
• Adaptability
• Leadership

Note that almost every project or extracurricular activity you’ve engaged in during your undergraduate or graduate years will likely be connected to multiple skills. Both hard and soft skills are important, although LinkedIn notes that skills like adaptability, communication, and teamwork are highly desired by almost every employer. 

While almost any extracurricular activity or academic project could work, you may want to use your best judgment here. For example, a freshman-year project that earned you a B grade probably won’t hold as much weight as a senior-year project that earned you an A. And while you may be proud of your involvement in your school’s political clubs, some employers may see that as more divisive in the workplace than helpful on your resume. 

Some activities and projects are good to include on almost any resume. Participation in sports, for example, will always shine well on a resume as it displays teamwork traits. A well-written senior thesis, if you have one, is a standard resume addition for a young graduate, as it can help employers understand your research, writing, and communication capabilities. 

From a high level, consider nothing immediately off limits, but be thoughtful and creative about which academic projects and extracurricular activities you list, and where. More likely than not, you’ll find it necessary to have different versions of your resume that highlight a variety of projects and extracurriculars. 

Where and How to Talk About Extracurriculars and Projects on a Resume

Now that we understand that nothing is specifically off-limits, we can move on to how to add your extracurricular activities.

Step 1: Create a List of Your Activities and Projects

First, list your extracurricular activities and the academic projects you believe showcase your capabilities. A spreadsheet for this will help you organize your thoughts better. Here is a recommended column layout:

• Column A: Project or Activity
• Column B Academic Year Completed (if extracurricular, put the number of years you were involved)
• Column C: Grade Earned (if applicable)
• Column D: Soft Skills Acquired or Enhanced (if any)
• Column E: Hard Skills Acquired or Enhanced (if any)
• Column F: Benefit to Employer

This should help you create a good catalog of projects/activities, their value to you, and their potential value to an employer. As you apply to different jobs, you can refer back to your spreadsheet to find projects or activities that are better aligned and update your resume and cover letter accordingly. 

Step 2: Strategically Position Activities and Projects Within Your Resume

Now that you have a spreadsheet of projects and activities to draw from, you can begin crafting a resume that showcases the positive impact that these have had on your abilities as a potential employee. This information can go into different sections, depending on how you’re trying to organize your resume:

Education Section: 

The best place to list your academic projects. If you have no work experience, use a resume structure that places the education section at the top and focuses on key projects, descriptions of those projects, and skills acquired or honed through completing those projects. 

This usually involves listing a “Relevant Coursework” section under your degree. 

For example:

Senior Capstone Project: Developed a web application to streamline the task management process for small teams, utilizing HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and React. Enhanced skills in project management, teamwork, and technical problem-solving.

Experience Section:

You can create an “Experience” section (instead of a “work experience” or “work history” section) that lists your extracurricular activities as if they were your work experience. From there, you can offer to provide details about key actions taken within.

This could look something like the following:

Team Lead, University Robotics Club

Amazing University College, September 2022 - May 2024

• Led a team of 10 members in designing and building a robot for national competitions, demonstrating leadership, team collaboration, and technical expertise in robotics and programming.
• Organized weekly meetings and workshops, enhancing communication and project management skills.

Alternatively, if you do have relevant work experience, such as an internship, you can have a smaller “Extracurriculars” or “Projects” section. Focus on the work experience as the priority, and use your extracurriculars and academic projects as an additional supplement, typically at the bottom of the resume. 

Beyond this, your primary goals are the same as with any resume. Focus on making sure your resume is ATS-friendly so you can get past filters and lands in the right hands. This means varying the content of your resume to ensure it gets seen by hiring managers and recruiters.

The process of applying for jobs after graduating can cause anxiety. However, you’re not lacking in experience. Most employers understand that new graduates don’t have work experience or very little of it. prospective employer can see your potential, you will have more power to negotiate your starting salary. Lean into what you accomplished as a college graduate, and highlight how those accomplishments make you a great potential hire.