Craft a Harvard resume that highlights your prestigious credentials.

Harvard College is ranked the number one college among many prestigious colleges worldwide. As a top college, Harvard had over 50,000 applicants for its 2028 class, with less than 2,000 of those applicants being accepted and under 1,700 actually enrolling. 

All that to say, if you graduated from Harvard, then it's something to brag about on your resume. You're in a position to create a Harvard resume that shows off your degree and easily sets you apart from others. 

What is a Harvard resume format? 

There are three standard resume formats: 

  • Chronological or reverse-chronological resume format 

  • Hybrid or combination resume format

  • Functional resume format

The chronological and hybrid versions are the most common and popular formats of these three options. However, as a Harvard graduate, it's sometimes best to create a Harvard resume that falls a bit outside of any of these formatting norms. 

A Harvard resume still includes the pertinent sections that other resume formats do, including a resume summary, work experience, education, and skills. However, as a Harvard graduate, you want your education and accomplishments while at Harvard to be front and center, meaning you generally emphasize your education and experience at Harvard over your work experience. 

What to include in a Harvard resume

Here are some of the most important sections to include in your Harvard resume:

  • A compelling resume summary

  • Your core competencies and skills

  • Your Harvard education and experiences 

  • Your relevant work experience

  • Additional sections as needed 

Create a compelling resume summary

Your resume summary is your elevator pitch to keep the reader interested. Yes, you graduated from Harvard, though you still want to summarize all that you have to offer with a bang. Include three to five key skills and at least one key accomplishment in your resume summary. 

Related reading: 27 Great Resume Summaries to Get Hired

Showcase your core competencies and skills

As a Harvard graduate, you want to emphasize the relevant skills you have both from your work experience and experience from your Harvard experience. It's typical to include a core competencies list right after your resume summary. You can create an additional skills list near the end of your resume if you have more technical skills to highlight that are different from what you include in your core competencies list.  

Emphasize your education and Harvard experience

This is where your resume might look slightly different from your peers. It's common for those with little work experience to include their education before their work experience since they don't have much relevant experience to showcase. Otherwise, you include your work experience first, followed by your education. 

As a Harvard graduate, it's common to include your education section first, regardless of how much work experience you have. The exception might be if you have experience working in a higher-level position with a well-known organization, like Amazon or Google. In that case, your work experience aligns with the notoriety of graduating from Harvard, so you might include it first.

In your Education section, you must include your degree and where you graduated. From there, you can also opt to include your GPA and honors you received. It's also worthwhile to include the following:

  • Special projects

  • Coursework related to the job

  • Extracurricular activities 

  • Thesis

These are all optional, regardless of where you graduated from. However, they can have greater weight for a Harvard graduate, especially if they are relevant and related to the job you're seeking. 

Incorporate your work experience

After you've included your education, it's time to incorporate your relevant work experience. In your Work Experience section, you'll highlight the relevant jobs you've held that relate to the job. Here, you'll include the following for each position:

  • Your job title

  • Name and location of the company

  • Dates of employment

  • Three to five bullet points highlighting key accomplishments

Include additional sections

Being a Harvard graduate will indeed help you land an interview. However, you may find that you don't have much relevant experience for a position you're applying to or they are seeking more experience than you have. In that case, you might opt to include additional sections to your resume. Including sections like Special Projects, Hobbies & Interests, and Volunteer Experience can help to fill skills gaps and increase your chances of landing an interview or the job. 

Harvard resume writing tips

Now that you know what sections to include in your Harvard resume, below are some additional tips to help to create content for your resume that says you're the best fit for the job.

  • Use power verbs. Power verbs help to make your resume more attractive. Each work accomplishment you include should start with a strong action verb that showcases your achievements in a powerful light. 

  • Emphasize results with quantifiable data. You want hiring teams to be able to visualize how you can succeed at their organizations. Using quantifiable data helps to do this, so use as many numbers as possible to emphasize the level of results you've achieved in the past. 

  • Incorporate the correct formatting elements. There are standard formatting elements to consider. For example, use a half-inch to one-inch margin all around and keep your font size between 10 and 12 for text and 14 to 15 for headings. And if you're asking, “How many pages should a resume be Harvard?” it's best to stick to one or two pages. For additional formatting tips, refer to “Modern Resume Formatting: A Visual Guide.”

  • Optimize for the ATS. Even with a Harvard degree, if your resume isn't optimized to get past an employer's ATS, then you're wasting your time. For tips to ensure you have an ATS-optimized resume, refer to “How to Make an ATS-Friendly Resume.”

A Harvard resume gives you an upper hand

As a Harvard graduate, you already stand out compared to the competition. That said, you still want your resume to represent you in the best light possible. Use the tips above to create a Harvard resume that allows you to get past an ATS and into the hands of a hiring manager. From there, you're sure to land a job-winning interview. Good luck! 

Are you confident your Harvard resume showcases you in the best light possible? Submit it for a free resume review to find out! 

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