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I would be doing unpaid work for an IT company for 3 months as a developer as a part of my university coursework. Basically, the course's professor reached out to a bunch of companies for student projects. So, does this count as coursework, or can I put it on my CV as a part of work experience since technically I will be doing this project for a company (while being guided by a few members from that company)? At this point, I do not know if the company will give me a certificate of employment/project completion. Most of the companies insist on making the work from these student projects public on github.

Sorry for the details. Hope to find an answer to this soon!

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    There is no global standard which defines whether something is "work experience" or not.
    – Philip Kendall
    Commented Jan 25 at 16:51

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Does it count? is the wrong question. The right question is What's the best way to frame this to my advantage?

As others have said, put it on your CV or resume. However, be very clear that this is done through the university, and that you weren't directly employed by the company.

On one hand, claiming or leading on that you were employed by the company might prompt the interviewer to check if that's true, and you could be caught in a lie (even an unintentional one).

On the other hand, hiring managers might see it as you only holding the position for 3 months, which is a red flag for them. Of course, if they ask then you can clarify the situation, but most don't bother to ask, especially for entry-level positions.

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Put it in your resume as internship. Let the company decide whether they want to file that as coursework or employment. (Unless it's at least a full year, I'd consider it more the former than the latter; others may feel otherwise. But it does indicate you have had at least done exposure to the industrial environment, and aren't entirely trapped in the academic mentally)

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I would put it on the CV. But don't volunteer that it was unpaid. If asked, don't lie.

This still counts as experience.

  • Until you have more experience, this may have a non-trivial impact
  • The subject matter you dealt with may of interest to the hiring company
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