Computer Science Internship resume examples & templates

Your computer science internship resume distinguishes you from all the other eager candidates for whom coding is second nature. Despite your portfolio of projects, slacking off at this point can sink your candidacy. Compile a beautiful resume to boost your shot at that interview.

How will a resume help? By creating an image of eagerness and talent.

While computer science has a reputation as a solitary career, that’s not really the case. You need to understand what the company or client wants and be able to produce an elegant solution. A resume for a computer science internship needs to demonstrate that you know what the internship coordinator is looking for and convince them that you have it all and more. Give your career a head start now with an attention-grabbing resume.

Resume guide for a computer science internship resume

Start with Resume.io’s algorithms for success. Our guides and resume examples cover over 500 professions, and our resume builder makes creating a compelling resume easier than ever.

This resume guide and the computer science internship resume example that goes along with it will cover the following:

• An overview of how to write a computer science internship resume
• Understanding resume formats and how to choose the right one for a computer science internship
• How to add your contact information
• Writing a creative and compelling summary
• Adding your computer science experience (even if you haven’t held a full-time job)
• Listing education and relevant experience
• Picking the right resume design/layout

How to write a computer science internship resume

Great resumes all begin with common components and the first step in creating your computer science internship resume is knowing what they are. Your resume should contain the following elements:

• The resume header
• The resume summary (aka profile or personal statement)
• The employment history section
• The resume skills section
• The education section

It’s nice to think that your computer work speaks for itself, but it does not stand alone. A resume tells the HR department what your portfolio means and what skills you used to develop it. In other words, it tells the people with the power to offer you an interview what you can do and why your talents are a great fit for the internship.

Our first bit of advice is this: Don’t sell yourself short. Toe the line between bragging and modesty. Here’s how:

• Highlight your achievements with evidence to back them up instead of listing the tasks you were responsible for. A responsibilities list may end up sounding like the job listing itself.
• Choose your words carefully. Use strong action verbs that immediately call up the image of a go-getter.
• Yes, you want an internship, but HR personnel still expect you to present a professional image with a resume layout that is streamlined and easy to read.
• Personalize each resume. Not all computer science internships are alike and your resume should reflect the focus of the work you want to do. This method will also help you pass through the ATS filter.  For more pointers on the ATS, see the box below.

Choosing the right resume format for a computer science intern

A resume for a computer science internship is a bit different from the resume you will write when you enter the job market after school; therefore, you may want to choose a format other than the standard reverse chronological order we usually recommend. 

Why? At this point in your life, your academic career is probably more impressive than your work history, so a resume format that focuses on your education over your employment will allow you to put your best foot forward. A functional format gives you more space to list your skills as well as your academic or professional development record. 

The many styles of resume templates we offer in our resume builder include chronological, functional or hybrid resume examples. Take a moment to look through them and choose the option that best highlights your computer science experience thus far.

Include your contact information

The header of your computer science internship resume serves two purposes:

1. Allows you a bit of design freedom and
2. Makes finding your contact information a breeze so that the recruiter can offer you an interview.

Here is what to include (and what not to):

• Full name and title. List your first and last name. Do not include a nickname unless that is what you want to go by professionally. Use the title of the role (computer science internship) you are pursuing.
• Professional email address. Use a clean format like firstname.lastname@gmail.com. Your university email address will work well. Do not use the funny one you created for your friends in middle school.
• Phone number. List a number where you can be readily contacted, but double check the voicemail greeting to make sure it sounds professional.
• Location. List your city and state. Don’t list street address or zip code. It’s both outdated and unsafe.
• Social media. Only list any professional social media account or a link to your portfolio. Don’t give an internship coordinator any opportunity to doubt your character by including your casual accounts.

Don’t include:

• Date of birth or other personal details.

Make use of a summary

One great benefit of a summary for any internship resume is the chance to express yourself and your desire to learn more about your chosen profession in your own professional voice. It is also here that you tout your greatest accomplishment thus far.

During your interview, you are likely to get the question: Why do you want this internship? The summary gives you about four lines (perhaps 5-6 if you don’t have much employment history) to head off that question by explaining what attracts you about the opportunity. This is a perfect opportunity to personalize and check off a few ATS-driven keywords as well.

Choose whether you will use simple present or past tense and stick with it. Switching tenses in the middle of a paragraph sounds sloppy and can be confusing for your reader. Here are summary example sentences for each:

• Present: Conceiving and developing adventure game set in 1920s using Unity game engine.
• Past: Tested and debugged SQL database for advanced computer science class.

Carefully consider the image you want to present and use descriptive words to convey that message. Are you adept at juggling projects? Great at interpreting what other people need in a program? Dedicated and laser-focused? A quick study? Which of those best represents qualities that will make you a good candidate for this particular internship? This again points out the need to personalize.

One caution: don’t list a quality you don’t honestly have. You want an internship that best fits your personality or neither you nor your employer will be satisfied. 

You can find an adaptable computer science internship resume summary example below:

Outline your computer science work experience: an array of achievements

How do you write an employment history section if you haven’t been employed? Any resume, including one for an internship, needs to demonstrate some work experience. What an internship coordinator wants to see is an understanding of what it means to be responsible at a job.

Think through these questions:

• Have you held another internship?
• Did you work during the summer or after school when you were in high school?
• Did you do community service work or volunteer regularly?
• Have you turned your computer science skill into contract work for pay? You're an entrepreneur!

All of these activities count as work experience as long as you are clear in your listings. 

Each work history item in your computer science internship resume should include:

• The name of the company
• Its location
• Your title
• The dates you worked

Begin each bulleted item with a strong action word followed by your accomplishment. The STAR method—Situation, Task, Action and Result—serves as a template for developing these items. You may also include a second R, a reflection of what you learned.

Here’s an example:

• Discovered bug in database queries that slowed processes, suggested two methods to fix problem to team, implemented chosen fix to speed report processing by 45%

If you cannot explain a situation in one or two lines, either break it up into components or save it for the interview.

Take a look at the computer science internship employment history resume sample below:

Include the relevant key skills that make you a great computer science intern

Skills fall into two categories: hard and soft. You’re in the midst of increasing your knowledge of different aspects of computer science. Those learned skills are also known as hard skills. When you apply for an internship, the recruiter does not expect you to be an expert.  

What they do expect is that you have the basic soft skills to function within an IT team and in the company as a whole. We’ve already shown you a few places in which to insert these skills within your summary and work history sections. When you curate your skills section, make sure that you choose skills that not only echo what the internship application mentions, but are those you can back up with examples throughout your resume.

This short section may have an outsize effect on whether or not you are granted an interview, so don’t rush through it.

To get you started, the resume builder offers several pre-written key skills to choose from or you can write in your own skills. You can also specify your expertise level. 

Here’s what the skills box looks like in our computer science internship resume template. 

Let’s focus on a few soft skills categories:

• Interpersonal. Every job requires communication with others, but even that category is too broad. Try getting more detailed by pinpointing a subcategory of communication. These include active listening, written and verbal communication, presentation, negotiation or diplomacy.
• Problem-solving and critical thinking. Any computer scientist worth their salt are problem-solvers. Try going deeper by listing risk analysis, research skills or any data analytics software you know.
• Adaptability. The IT world is ever-changing and evolving. If you can go with the flow while staying on top of changes, you’re much more likely to succeed in the long run. Also try curiosity or resourcefulness.
• Emotional intelligence. The umbrella term for managing your emotions and understanding those of others not only helps you function better in the office, but it may guide your software development or ideas for a great new game.

Detail your education & relevant computer science certifications

You may be  looking for a post-graduation internship to boost your chances of getting a great job or adding a skill. In that case, the education section of your resume for a computer science internship is a listing of your latest achievement: your newly-minted degree.

If you are still working toward your degree, whether it be undergraduate or graduate level, list your major, minor or concentration and your expected graduation date.

In either case, you can move this section up above your employment history if it is appropriate. Also, remember to consider a hybrid resume format that will allow you more flexibility among sections.

Should your academic record include your GPA? Only if it’s a 3.5 or higher, and even then, it depends on the employer.

One definitely worthy achievement to list here are certifications. The computer science field is full of certifications you can earn outside the classroom. If you have any at all, or are working toward one, include it in this section.

Pick the right resume layout and design for a computer science internship resume

When a user calls up a web page, they will make a decision about whether to click anywhere within 10-15 seconds. That decision is based mostly on looks. Imagine the user is the recruiter reviewing resumes. They, too, will make a quick decision.

The internship coordinator is looking for professionalism and you want to make sure they remember you and read your entire resume. Because ou want to stand out, but for the right reasons, choose a layout for your computer science internship resume that opts for clarity and ease-of-use over fancy design. We suggest one of our modern or professional resume templates. A web page or game designer may lean toward a creative template instead.

All our resume templates are expertly-designed and vetted and can be personalized. Avoid minimizing the margins or text size to fit in more information. Big blocks of black type are difficult to read and you don’t want to test the eyesight of the recruiter. The same goes for adding too much color. Garish displays can be distracting and memorable for the wrong reasons.

While we would never suggest that you rush through the development of your resume, we do suggest that you spend your time crafting the perfect message instead of on the details of formatting. 

Computer science internship text-only resume example

Key takeaways for building a computer science internship resume 

1. Computer science is a broad field with many specialties. An internship can give you the experience you need to find your path.
2. Internship coordinators don’t expect you to have expert-level skills, but they do want to see that you have the soft skills necessary to make the most of the opportunity.
3. A resume for a computer science internship should integrate passion, skills and experience throughout the document
4. The online resume builder is the perfect tool to ease the resume creation process and get your application out there faster!