Resume guide for Filipino fresh graduates
A first resume works when it leads with what you can do, not with what you have not done yet. Put education, internship (OJT), projects and leadership roles where experience would normally sit, write specific bullets, and keep it to one page. This guide shows the structure and gives examples you can adapt.
Updated 2026-10-24
What to put first
Recruiters spend seconds on the top third of the page, so use it for the strongest true thing about you. For most graduates that is a short headline and summary, then education. If you had a substantial internship or a relevant part-time job, experience can go first instead.
Example headline and summary
BS Information Technology graduate | Web development and QA
Recent graduate with a 480-hour internship in software QA, where I wrote test cases for a payroll system and reported defects through Jira. Comfortable with JavaScript, SQL and documentation. Looking for a junior developer or QA role in Metro Manila or remote.
A one-page structure that works
- Contact details: name, city, mobile number, a professional email, and a LinkedIn or portfolio link if you have one. Birthdate, religion and parents’ names belong on a traditional biodata only if the employer asks.
- Summary: two to four sentences, as above.
- Education: degree, school, year graduated, honours (cum laude, dean’s lister), relevant subjects or thesis title. Include a GPA only when it is strong or requested.
- Internship and work: OJT, part-time, freelance and family-business work all count. Use the same title, organisation, dates and bullets format as a job.
- Projects: capstone, thesis, hackathons, apps or research, each with what you built and what it was for.
- Leadership and activities: student council, organisation officer roles, event committees, varsity, volunteering.
- Skills and certifications: tools, languages (programming and spoken), TESDA or online certificates, licensure exam results.
Turning school work into bullets
Each bullet should name an action, what it was done to, and, when you know it, a result or scale. Avoid “Participated in” and “Exposed to”. Say what you did.
Before and after
Before: Participated in the thesis project about inventory system.
After: Built the database and reports module of a four-person thesis project, an inventory system adopted by the campus bookstore for stock counts.
Before: Member of the student council.
After: Coordinated logistics for a college-wide orientation attended by about 600 first-year students, managing a volunteer team of 12.
Mistakes that cost interviews
- An objective that is only about you (“to gain experience”). Say what you offer instead.
- Listing every subject you took. Pick the few that relate to the job.
- Unprofessional email addresses and missing phone numbers.
- Skill bars, star ratings and icon-only contact details, which parsers cannot read. See the ATS guide for why.
- Two pages for one year of experience. One page is expected.
- Typos. Read it aloud, then let the AI review catch what you missed.
Building it in bIODATA
The Timeline and Swiss templates are marked ATS-friendly and suit first resumes; Pastel Bento and Color Band are warmer designs for roles where personality matters more than parsing. Start from a template, fill in the sections above, and run the AI review to tighten wording. Everything up to the download is free.
Frequently asked questions
Should a fresh graduate resume be one page?
Yes, almost always. One focused page is easier to read and signals that you can prioritise.
Do I include my OJT if it was not related to the job?
Yes. Internships show reliability, teamwork and workplace habits. Lead the bullets with transferable skills.
Resume or biodata?
Use a resume for most applications. Prepare a biodata only when an employer or agency asks for one. bIODATA has three biodata layouts for that case.
Should I include a photo?
Only when the employer expects one, which is more common for local, walk-in and agency applications than for online applications to large firms.
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