Resume for International Students (US, UK, Canada, Australia)

The line that matters most on an international student's resume depends on the country. These are the rules as published by each government (checked 13 October 2026). Always check the conditions on your own visa or permit.

Translate the row into one resume line: F-1 OPT, EAD valid through June 2027; eligible for STEM OPT extension, Graduate visa, valid until September 2027, Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485), full work rights until March 2028. For every status in one place, see how to write visa status on a resume.

Your current degree goes first, with the expected graduation month — recruiters filter on it. Your earlier degree follows, written exactly as awarded.

Grades. Do not convert a grade into the local scale yourself. A US recruiter cannot verify “3.7 GPA (converted from 8.6/10)” and may read it as a misstatement. Give the grade on its own scale — CGPA 8.6/10 — or leave it out. If an employer needs an equivalence, use an official evaluation: a credential evaluation service such as WES for the US and Canada, or a UK ENIC statement of comparability for the UK.

School results. Leave out 10th/12th marks, A-levels from home or national exam scores unless you are applying for a first job and they are strong. One line is enough.

Coursework. List three or four relevant courses only if you have little experience, and only courses an employer would recognise (“Econometrics”, not “ECO-302”).

Honours and scholarships. Name the award and how selective it was, if you can state it truthfully.

Part-time hiring — retail, hospitality, campus jobs, tutoring — is fast and practical. Managers want to know three things: when you can work, whether you can deal with customers, and whether you will turn up.

• Availability on the page. “Available weekends and two weekday evenings; full time in December–January” — within your visa's limit.
• One page, no summary paragraph. A two-line profile at most.
• Customer-facing evidence. Any work with people counts: volunteering at events, student societies, family business, tutoring.
• Reliability signals. Length of time in previous jobs, punctuality awards, keys or cash-handling responsibility.
• Local phone number and address area. Shift managers hire nearby.

Keep a separate, fuller resume for internships and graduate roles; the two documents do different jobs.

Every international student has more evidence than they think. Write it in the same action–result shape as a job:

• Course projects: “Built a forecasting model for a campus café; manager used it to reduce waste by about 15%.”
• Student societies: “Treasurer, Indian Students' Association — managed a budget of $6,000 and ran ticketing for a 300-person event.”
• Volunteering: “Food-bank volunteer, 4 hours a week — sorted and logged 2 tonnes of donations over a term.”
• Research or teaching assistance: list as employment if paid.
• Home-country internships and family business: name the industry and what you did, in local currency or clearly labelled figures.

Avoid listing soft skills on their own (“good communicator”). Show them inside a bullet instead.

This page covers what international students share. For destination detail:

• United States: the OPT and CPT resume guide covers EAD timing and the sponsorship questions on US application forms; the US resume format covers layout.
• United Kingdom: the UK CV format guide covers personal statements and degree classifications.
• Canada: the Canadian resume format guide covers permit lines and volunteer sections.
• Australia: the Australian resume format guide covers referees and working-rights lines.
• Ireland and New Zealand: the Irish CV format and New Zealand CV format.
• Still applying to study? A CV for a university or visa application is a different document — see the student visa CV guide.

Before you apply, run the file through the free ATS resume checker; campus recruiting at large employers is screened by the same systems as experienced hiring.