How to Write your Graduate CV

Writing a graduate CV can be tough especially as it may well be the first time you are applying for a job out of university. Your graduate CV should focus mostly on your degree, that CV you wrote to get your part time job at school will not cut it when it comes to applying for graduate jobs.

Personal Statement / Skills

Each of the three years you spent at university should be clear on your CV, think about the experiences and opportunities you undertook whilst at university. In your personal statement focus on transferable skills you gained at university and modules that lead you to your current career path. You should also consider including your skills from your studies, for example if you are going for a design role you should clearly outline your technical skills such as; Photoshop, InDesign and illustrator.

Education/ Employment History

On your graduate CV you should have the education section before your work history, this will make it clear to the potential employer that you have studied a degree. The section about your degree should have the most detail so that the main focus on your CV and following this you should be your employment history.

Make sure your work experience is in date order with the most recent at the top. You may not think all of your employment history is entirely relevant, but you should still include it on your CV, a few lines will suffice. Focus on your main achievements and keep your employment history brief. Think of your CV as a limited space, a potential employer will not want to read it for too long, and what they do read needs to be in easy to digest chunks. A two-page CV is the perfect length. 

We recommend that you emphasise any industry related experience you may have gained during university. Any summer internships, work experience or volunteer work will work in your favour, especially if you did a year in industry whilst studying.

Additional Tips

Be honest, if you are dishonest on your CV at graduate level you will be caught out. The interview process is usually lengthy and therefore if anything on there isn’t true they are more than likely to find out.

Formatting your CV correctly is a great way to give a great first impression, it should be consistent with spacing and font size throughout. Your CV is the first impression your employer will get of you, so you have to get it right. Especially for the competitive market of graduate jobs.