École 42 is unlike any other computing programme: no lectures, no teachers, no diploma required for admission, selection through an intensive "piscine", then a curriculum entirely based on projects evaluated by other students. Tech recruiters generally know the school, but many cannot read a 42 path in detail: what a level corresponds to, what a given project proves, what came before. Your resume has to do this translation work. This article explains what recruiters look at, how to present the piscine and the common core, which projects to highlight and how to showcase internships and work-study.
What recruiters read
A recruiter who receives a resume from a 42 student asks four questions.
- Where are you in the curriculum? Common core in progress, completed, specialisation started: these are not the same, and the resume must say so clearly.
- What have you built? Projects are the only material assessed at 42; they are also the only proof of your skills on paper.
- Can you work in a company? A pedagogy without lectures or teachers develops autonomy, but an employer wants to know whether you are comfortable with a team, a product, deadlines and code review by professionals.
- What did you do before? Many 42 students had a first path, in studies or work. It is part of your profile, not a detail to hide.
The school is open without a diploma, as its campuses point out when presenting the curriculum, such as 42 Lyon on its programme page 🔗. Learning there is described as "peer-to-peer": students evaluate one another using scales defined by the teaching team, and no model answer is ever provided. This way of working is an asset to explain in one sentence, because it proves an ability to learn on your own and to review other people’s code.
The piscine and the common core
The piscine
The piscine is the selection period: a few weeks of intensive immersion in programming, with daily exercises, exams and evaluations between candidates. For a recruiter, it proves your capacity for work and your resilience in the face of difficulty, but it remains an admission stage.
Present it in one line in the education section, as part of the 42 entry: "Admitted after the selection piscine (intensive immersion in C and Shell)". There is no need to give it its own section or to list it as experience.
The common core
According to the school, the common core lasts between one and two years depending on each student’s progress. It covers basic programming, classic algorithms, Unix systems and process management, an introduction to networking and systems administration, object-oriented programming, a client-server project and web development basics. It ends with a large team project, ft_transcendence, presented by 42 Lyon as the last one to validate before leaving the common core.
On your resume, state whether you have completed the common core and, if not, where you are. "Common core completed in eighteen months" or "common core in progress, systems and networking projects validated" places your level immediately.
Specialisations and RNCP titles
After the common core, students choose areas to deepen (artificial intelligence and data, security, DevOps, web and mobile, systems and networks, graphics and video games, among others) and prepare for qualifications listed in the French national register of professional certifications (RNCP). 42 Lyon mentions in particular the titles of Concepteur développeur de solutions informatiques (level 6) and Expert en architecture informatique (level 7). If you have obtained or are preparing one of these titles, state its exact name and level: it is the reference point every recruiter understands, including those who do not know the school.
Presenting your projects
42 project names (Libft, ft_printf, minishell, cub3D, Inception, webserv, ft_transcendence) mean something to alumni, not to recruiters. Every project you mention must be described by what it does and what it proves.
Before: "Projects: libft, get_next_line, push_swap, minishell, philosophers, cub3D, Inception."
After:
- "Command interpreter in C reproducing the behaviour of a Unix shell (parsing, redirections, pipes, signal handling), built in a pair."
- "Infrastructure of several containerised services with Docker Compose (web server, database, website), configured from scratch on a virtual machine."
- "Real-time online game web application, in a team of five: authentication, WebSockets, PostgreSQL database; responsible for the back end in TypeScript."
Choose three or four projects, depending on the role you are targeting:
- for a systems, embedded or low-level role: the C projects, the shell, the concurrent programming projects;
- for a DevOps or infrastructure role: the systems administration, container and networking projects;
- for a web or full-stack role: the final team project and the web specialisation projects;
- for a data or AI role: the algorithm projects and those from the corresponding specialisation.
Always state your role in group projects, and add a link to the code if the school’s rules allow it. Our article on personal projects on a developer resume details how to describe a project in three lines, and the one on the GitHub link explains what a lead looks at in a repository.
Internships and work-study
Internships are essential for a 42 student: they show that the autonomy acquired at school translates into a contribution to a professional team. According to 42 Lyon, internships last four to six months and can start at any time of the year, and work-study is possible over twelve or twenty-four months.
For each internship or work-study contract:
- the type of company and the size of the team;
- the stack and practices (code review, continuous integration, agile method);
- two or three deliverables, with an order of magnitude.
Before: "Back-end developer internship — 6 months."
After: "Six-month internship in a software vendor’s platform team: developed two services in Go, wrote the integration tests, set up the monitoring dashboards; code reviewed and released to production every week."
If you are looking for a work-study contract, state the schedule offered and the possible start date in the summary: these are the first pieces of information an employer looks for.
Common mistakes
- Listing internal project names without a description.
- Not saying where you are in the curriculum: a recruiter cannot guess whether you have completed the common core.
- Presenting the piscine as professional experience.
- Showing the level reached in the curriculum without explanation: an internal level number means nothing outside the school.
- Hiding your earlier path: a previous programme or job explains your trajectory and can be an asset.
- Neglecting the RNCP title when you have obtained it: it is the most readable reference point for a recruiter.
- Piling up languages without hierarchy: at 42 you see many; on the resume, keep those you could defend in an interview.
Example
Structure of a resume for a 42 student looking for a back-end developer work-study contract:
- Summary: "Student at École 42, common core completed, looking for a twenty-four-month back-end development work-study contract starting in September. Practice of C, C++, TypeScript and PostgreSQL; a six-month internship in a product team."
- Education: 42, with a mention of the piscine, the completed common core, the specialisation followed and the RNCP title being prepared; the earlier path in one line.
- Experience: the internship, described by its deliverables.
- Projects: the final team project, the shell, a specialisation project, possibly a personal project.
- Skills: languages, tools, practices, in three lines.
- Languages and interests.
The junior developer resume template offers a structure that adapts to this profile. For finding your first job after school, our article on the first developer job offers a complete method. And if you are comparing with another project-based school, the article on the Epitech student resume shows the differences in presentation.
As for form, the TechCV editor saves you time on layout: it produces a plain page that recruitment software reads without losing your projects or dates. You can create your resume and adapt it to each internship or work-study ad.
Frequently asked questions
Do recruiters recognise 42’s training without a state diploma?
Many tech recruiters know the school and appreciate its students’ autonomy. For employers more attached to degrees, the RNCP titles prepared at 42 give a recognised level reference: mention them with their exact name.
Should I state my level in the curriculum?
Not as an internal number, which only means something to the school’s students. State instead the stage reached (common core completed, specialisation followed, title obtained) and the projects carried out.
What if I have not finished the curriculum?
Present honestly what you have achieved: the stage reached, the projects validated, the skills acquired. A completed common core and solid projects already form a serious basis for a first job or a work-study contract.
How do I talk about my path before 42?
In one or two lines in the education or experience section, rewritten to show what it brings (knowledge of a sector, management skills, rigour). Many 42 students have unusual paths, and recruiters are used to it.