How to List Projects on a Resume: Examples and Tips for 2026

Jamie Anderson

• 6 min read
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How to List Projects on a Resume: Examples and Tips for 2026

You have a project you're proud of.

Maybe you built a website, completed a university research project, managed a marketing campaign, created a data dashboard, or worked on something independently.

But there's one problem:

How do you actually put it on your resume?

A project can show an employer what you can do, especially when your work experience doesn't tell the whole story. But simply creating a section called “Projects” and listing a few titles isn't enough.

You need to show what you did, what skills you used, and what the project achieved.

But before you add projects to your resume, you need to know which projects are worth including and where they belong.

Let's break down how to choose, format, and list projects on your resume.

Should You Put Projects on Your Resume?

Yes, if the project helps demonstrate skills that are relevant to the job you're applying for.

Projects can be particularly useful if you're:

  • A student or recent graduate
  • Applying for your first professional role
  • Changing careers
  • Building experience in a new field
  • Working in a project-heavy field such as technology, marketing, design, or data
  • Trying to demonstrate skills you haven't used in a formal job yet

You don't need to include every project you've ever completed.

The goal is to include the projects that give an employer a reason to believe you can do the work they're hiring for.

What Counts as a Project on a Resume?

A project doesn't have to come from a paid job.

Depending on your background, you could include:

  • Academic or university projects
  • Personal projects
  • Freelance projects
  • Professional projects
  • Volunteer projects
  • Open-source contributions
  • Portfolio projects
  • Capstone projects
  • Research projects
  • Hackathon projects

For example, a marketing graduate could include a personal SEO project if it demonstrates keyword research, content planning, and analytics.

A computer science graduate could include a website or application they built.

A business student could include a market research or business analysis project.

The key question is:

Does this project demonstrate something relevant to the job?

If you're unsure what counts as relevant experience, read our guide on relevant work experience and how to include it on your resume.

Where Should Projects Go on a Resume?

There isn't one placement that works for everyone.

Your projects should appear wherever they make the strongest case for your qualifications.

1. Create a Dedicated Projects Section

A dedicated Projects or Relevant Projects section works well when your projects are an important part of your experience.

This is especially useful for students, recent graduates, career changers, and candidates with limited formal work experience.

For example:

PROJECTS

E-commerce Website Redesign | Personal Project | 2026

  • Redesigned a small business website to improve navigation and mobile usability.
  • Created page layouts and optimized product descriptions for search.
  • Improved the site's mobile page experience based on user testing.

2. Include Projects Under Work Experience

If you completed a significant project as part of your job, you don't necessarily need a separate Projects section.

Instead, include it under the relevant position.

For example:

Digital Marketing Specialist

ABC Company | 2024–2026

  • Managed paid advertising campaigns across Meta and Google.
  • Led a landing-page optimization project that increased conversion rates by 18%.
  • Analyzed campaign performance and adjusted targeting based on conversion data.

This makes the project part of your professional experience rather than making it look like an unrelated side activity.

3. Include Academic Projects Under Education

If you're a student or recent graduate, you can include relevant projects underneath your degree.

For example:

BSc Computer Science

University Name | 2022–2026

Final-Year Project: Student Budget Management App

  • Developed a budgeting application that allowed users to track expenses and savings.
  • Used Python and SQL to manage and analyze user data.
  • Tested the application with 20 students and incorporated feedback into the final version.

What Should You Include in Each Project?

A strong project entry should give the employer enough information to understand what you worked on, what you contributed, and what you achieved.

Include:

  • Project name: Give the project a clear, specific title.
  • Your role: Make it clear whether you completed the project independently or as part of a team.
  • Date or duration: Include when you completed the project.
  • What you did: Briefly explain your contribution.
  • Skills and tools: Mention relevant software, technologies, methods, or techniques you used.
  • Results or outcome: Include a measurable result when you have one.
  • Project link: If the project is available online, you can include a relevant portfolio, GitHub, website, or live-demo link.

According to Penn Career Services, projects can be strategically included on a resume to demonstrate relevant technical or practical skills that may not be fully represented by traditional work history.

A simple formula is:

Project + action + skills/tools + result

For example:

Social Media Campaign | Personal Project | 2026

  • Created and managed a four-week campaign using Meta Ads and audience segmentation, generating 3,000+ leads.

That's much stronger than:

Social Media Campaign

  • Worked on social media marketing.

The second example tells the recruiter almost nothing about what you actually accomplished.

How to Write Project Bullet Points

Treat your project bullets like work-experience bullets.

Start with a strong action verb:

  • Built
  • Created
  • Designed
  • Developed
  • Analyzed
  • Managed
  • Led
  • Researched
  • Launched
  • Improved
  • Tested
  • Implemented

Then explain what you did and, where possible, show the result.

Weak:

Created a website for a school project.

Better:

Built a responsive website using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, creating five core pages and testing the site across desktop and mobile devices.

The second version gives the employer evidence of your actual work.

Resume Project Examples

Marketing Project

SEO Content Strategy Project | Personal Project | 2026

  • Researched search intent and identified 30 relevant keywords for a career website.
  • Created a three-month content plan based on search demand and topic relevance.
  • Used Google Search Console to monitor impressions, clicks, and ranking performance.

Data Analytics Project

Retail Sales Dashboard | Academic Project | 2026

  • Cleaned and analyzed 5,000+ sales records using Excel and SQL.
  • Built a Power BI dashboard to track revenue, product performance, and monthly sales trends.
  • Identified the three highest-performing product categories.

Software Development Project

Task Management Web App | Personal Project | 2026

  • Developed a task management application using React and JavaScript.
  • Added task creation, editing, deletion, and status-tracking functionality.
  • Tested the application across multiple screen sizes and fixed usability issues.

Business Project

Customer Satisfaction Research | University Project | 2025

  • Designed a survey to collect customer feedback from 150 respondents.
  • Analyzed responses to identify the main factors affecting customer satisfaction.
  • Presented recommendations based on the research findings.

How Many Projects Should You Put on a Resume?

You don't need to fill your resume with projects.

A few strong, relevant projects are usually more useful than a long list of weak or unrelated ones.

If you're a student or recent graduate with limited work experience, you may include more projects to demonstrate your skills. If you already have substantial professional experience, you may only need one or two projects that add something your work history doesn't already show.

Choose projects that:

  • Match the job you're applying for
  • Demonstrate useful skills
  • Show meaningful work
  • Have measurable results where possible
  • Are recent enough to remain relevant

If a project doesn't strengthen your application, you probably don't need it.

Should You Include Personal Projects?

Absolutely.

A personal project can be valuable when it demonstrates skills relevant to the role.

For example, if you're applying for a content marketing position, a personal blog where you've researched keywords, created content, and tracked organic traffic could be relevant.

If you're applying for a software development position, an application you've built independently can demonstrate practical ability.

Just make sure you explain what you actually did.

Don't call something a “project” simply to make your resume look fuller.

How to Tailor Projects to Each Job

You shouldn't necessarily use the same project section for every application.

Read the job description and identify the skills the employer is asking for.

Then prioritize projects that demonstrate those skills.

For example, if a job requires:

  • SEO
  • Google Analytics
  • Content strategy
  • Keyword research

your SEO project should be more prominent than an unrelated graphic design project.

This is also where Preplink.ai Resume Scan can be useful. Before submitting your resume, you can use it to identify areas that may be missing or need improvement.

If you're building your resume from scratch, Preplink.ai Resume Builder can also help you structure your experience, projects, education, and skills into one resume.

Read How to Tailor Your Resume to a Job Description in 5 Minutes (2026 Guide)

Common Mistakes When Listing Projects

1. Listing Only the Project Name

“Portfolio Website - 2026” doesn't tell the recruiter enough.

Explain your contribution.

2. Writing Long Paragraphs

Recruiters need to scan your resume quickly. Use concise bullet points instead of large blocks of text.

3. Listing Every Project You've Done

More isn't automatically better.

Prioritize relevance.

4. Focusing Only on Tools

Knowing that you used Python, Canva, Excel, or Figma is useful, but the employer also needs to know what you accomplished with those tools.

5. Making Up Results

Never invent numbers to make a project sound more impressive.

If you don't have a measurable result, explain the deliverable, scope, or outcome honestly.

Final Thoughts

Projects can give your resume something that job titles alone can't: evidence of what you can actually do.

Whether the project came from university, work, freelancing, volunteering, or your own initiative, the same principle applies.

Choose relevant projects, explain your contribution, mention the skills you used, and show the result whenever you can.

You don't need to fill your resume with projects. Choose a few that are relevant to the role, clearly explain your contribution, and show the skills you can bring to the job.