Resume template · Updated October 2026
Resume template for a fellowship application
Short answer
Meridian suits most professional fellowship applications: it opens with a summary you can tie to the fellowship's focus, then skills, experience and a project, with education near the end. The fictional sample is a public policy graduate finishing a national service year and applying to a city government fellowship in housing. Research fellowships that want an academic CV need a different document.
Download the fellowship application sample
Malik is a fictional public policy graduate. Replace every detail with your own before you send it.
The files are made in your browser by Resumity's own exporters, from this sample. The builder opens it as your own resume: click any line to replace it. Free plan, no watermark.
Why Meridian suits a fellowship application resume
Meridian prints the summary first and projects before education, so a statement of focus, a service year and a policy capstone lead the page while the degree supports them. It uses no colour, so the page stays clean if a selection panel prints application packets.
Second choice: Leslie. Leslie keeps a summary but puts experience ahead of skills; choose it when your service or work record is the core of the application.
What goes in each section, in Meridian's order
Meridian prints its sections in a fixed order, the same in the PDF and the Word file. Here is that order for this sample, and what to put in each section.
- Professional Summary. Two or three sentences that connect your record to this fellowship's stated focus, in your own words. Name the issue you work on and the evidence behind it, so a panel reading dozens of applications can place you.
- Skills. Government and nonprofit placements draw on research, writing and data skills, plus languages spoken in the community. Keep each row to what the projects and jobs below show.
- Work Experience. A service year, a campaign job or a policy internship goes here with your title, the organization and outcomes. Include one bullet on something you started or changed; initiative is easier to show than to claim.
- Projects. A policy memo, capstone or research project shows how you think. Give the question, the client or audience, the method and what happened to your recommendations.
- Education. Degree, school, year and honors. A thesis title fits in the detail line if it connects to the fellowship's focus.
- Leadership and community. Leadership and community roles print last under one title. Choose roles with responsibility and a time span, such as a clinic you co-founded or a board seat.
The sample resume as text
The same content as the files above, so you can copy a line or compare it with your own.
Malik Thompson
Public Policy Graduate, Housing and Community Development
Philadelphia, PA | malik.thompson@example.com | (215) 555-0104 | linkedin.com/in/sample-malik-thompson
Public policy graduate finishing a service year at a community development nonprofit, coordinating home repair grants for older homeowners. Writes clear policy memos backed by public data and resident interviews, and works easily with residents and city staff. Applying for a city government fellowship in housing policy.
Experience
Service Year Member, Housing Programs (AmeriCorps), Kensington Homes Partnership, Philadelphia, PA (09/2025 to Present)
- Screen applications for a home repair grant program and guide about 25 older homeowners a month through the paperwork.
- Built a tracking spreadsheet that cut the average wait from application to inspection from about nine weeks to six.
- Organized four neighborhood information sessions with the city housing office, reaching about 200 residents.
Policy Intern, Delaware Valley Housing Coalition, Philadelphia, PA (06/2024 to 08/2024)
- Compiled eviction filing counts by ZIP code from public court records for the coalition's annual report.
- Drafted two briefs comparing rental assistance programs in peer cities.
Projects
Senior capstone: vacant lot reuse options for a city redevelopment office: Four-person policy capstone for a public-sector client, spring 2025.
- Interviewed 12 residents and staff and mapped 300 vacant parcels with public data.
- Presented three options to the client, which piloted the side-yard program the team recommended.
Leadership and community
- Co-founder, Schuylkill University Tenant Rights Clinic, 2023 to 2025: trained 20 student volunteers to answer lease questions.
- Board member, Elm Street Block Association, 2025 to Present.
Education
Bachelor of Arts, Public Policy, minor in Urban Studies, Schuylkill University (05/2025). Magna cum laude. Thesis: Who uses home repair grants? Evidence from three Pennsylvania cities
Skills
Policy research, Memo writing, Program evaluation basics, Survey design, Excel, Tableau, QGIS, Running community meetings, Plain-language writing, Spanish (professional working proficiency)
How to make the sample yours
Mirror the focus areas, not the slogan
If the program places fellows in housing, transportation and budget offices, make sure your summary and projects name the area you fit. Repeating its tagline adds nothing.
Follow the application's format rules
If the instructions set a page limit or a format, follow it exactly. Cut the oldest job before shrinking the font.
Line the resume up with your essays
Panels read the resume next to your statements. Every project you describe in an essay should appear here with the same title and dates.
Make your writing sample findable
If the fellowship asks for a writing sample, list the piece it came from under Projects so the panel can place it.
Research fellowship? Use a research CV
Graduate and postdoctoral research fellowships often want an academic CV with publications. The research CV page in this series shows that structure.
Keywords to keep where they are true
Terms this kind of resume is usually searched for. Use the posting's exact wording, and only for work you have done.
- public policy
- policy research
- policy memo
- program evaluation
- data analysis
- community engagement
- stakeholder interviews
- housing policy
- Excel
- Tableau
- QGIS
- national service
- Spanish
Mistakes to avoid
- A summary built from the fellowship's own marketing language. Panels recognise their own words.
- Projects with no outcome. Say whether the recommendation was adopted, presented or shelved.
- Dates that differ between the resume, the application form and your recommenders' letters.
- Every campus club you joined. Two or three roles with real responsibility make a stronger case.
How the sample PDF reads in text extractors
We exported this sample with Resumity's PDF exporter in Chrome on 2026-10-29 and read the file back with three open-source text extractors. This shows whether software that turns a PDF into text can recover it; it is not a test of any commercial applicant tracking system. How we test templates.
| Extractor | Name, email, phone | Headings | Bullets intact |
|---|---|---|---|
| pdf.js 4.10.38 | All found | 6 of 6 | 7 of 7 |
| pdftotext (Xpdf) 4.00 | All found | 6 of 6 | 7 of 7 |
| pypdf 6.13.0 | All found | 6 of 6 | 7 of 7 |
Frequently asked questions
Should I send a resume or a CV for a fellowship?
Follow the instructions. Professional and public service fellowships tend to ask for a resume, while research fellowships often want an academic CV with publications.
How long should a fellowship resume be?
One page for applicants within a few years of graduating, unless the program says otherwise. A longer record can justify two.
Should my fellowship resume match my essays?
Yes. Projects and roles you describe in the essays should appear on the resume with the same titles and dates, so the panel can connect the two.
Can I list a service year as work experience?
Yes. Use your service title, the host organization and the dates, and write results-focused bullets as you would for a job.
Should I include my thesis on a fellowship resume?
If it relates to the fellowship's focus, add the title to the degree entry. Otherwise keep the space for projects with outcomes.
Will applicant tracking systems read this Meridian PDF?
The sample PDF read back with its contact details, all 6 section headings and all 7 bullets intact in three open-source text extractors (pdf.js, pdftotext and pypdf). Commercial systems such as Workday, Greenhouse or Taleo were not tested, and each employer configures its own.
Guides and templates for this resume
- Volunteer Work on a Resume: How to List It, With Examples
- How to Write a Resume for Graduate School Applications
- Resume Summary Examples and How to Write a Professional Summary
- Accomplishments on a Resume: Examples, a Formula and the Awards Section
- Research CV template in a resume-style layout
- Resume template for a scholarship application
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