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I am a Computer Science student and I got to that point where I should start looking for jobs (internships/placements, not graduate jobs). During my undergraduate course I had a first year project and I tried to push the exercises in the labs. For example, one lab had a very hard optional part that involved designing an implementing a small processor, which is done by very few students (it doesn't have too many marks associated and it is done by less than 5% of the students).

Are such projects worth mentioning in a job application, considering my circumstances, or they are considered "implicit", as part of the undergraduate sudies?

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  • As an aside, if you ever face a "Competency based interview" then any project you've ever done is relevant, if it displays the competency required. Responsibility, teamwork, initiative: those aren't limited to the commercial world, but are highly valued.
    – Jon Story
    Feb 10, 2015 at 14:19

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Absolutely you should mention them. The purpose of a CV or job application is to make you stand out from the herd and give the potential employer a reason to pick you (or at least bring you in for an interview) instead of any of the other applicants.

Depending on the size of the company and the internship program you may be up against tens, hundreds, maybe thousands of other applicants. All of those are likely to be at a similar stage in their studies to you. All of them will have done similar courses and similar labs. Inevitably your CVs and applications are going to be similar.

But only YOU have done YOUR projects - they're something concrete that sets you apart. It shows your particular interests and how you apply yourself. Doing an optional that few students attempt (and I assume less do successfully) shows that you're serious and not just doing what you need to get by.

This is exactly the sort of stuff that good employers will be looking for; it's the stuff that sets your application apart from the 10, 20, 50 other similar applications the hiring manager has read today. It's the stuff that gets you in the door.

Also, to shamelessly steal from sevensevens' answer, you should seriously consider using GitHub or a similar online repository if you're not already, both as a way of storing your work safely and to build a portfolio which can bolster your applications.

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Yes, you should list the projects - in fact, you should post them for employers to see. With your professor's permission, you should post projects that showcase your skills on GitHub (or some other free site). Put a link to your GitHub repo on your resume. This will let employers see you've actually written code, and know the basics of source control.

I've know several students who initially used GitHub as a way to back-up their work, and ended up using it as a showcase for internships. They also avoided losing assignments if someone spilled coffee on their computer.

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