Graduate TalentSign In

How to write the best CV for graduates

| 11th July 2024

It’s common to hear that the best CV for graduates is one that makes you stand out from the crowd – but exactly how do you achieve that?

You could be wondering what is classed as ‘essential’ information for a graduate CV, what the best structure is and how long it should be. On top of this, you might also be grappling with the question that’s popular among a lot of graduates – how do you write a CV when you have little to no work experience in your chosen sector?

Get answers to these questions and more in our guide to the best CV for graduates.

What information should a CV for graduates include?

Personal details and summary

Your CV needs to include your personal details and a short summary at the top of the document. This should include:

Education history

Next up is your education history. You worked hard during your studies, so show off your qualifications by putting them right after your personal statement!

Follow the reverse-chronological order rule, where your most recent education/qualification sits at the top of the list. For each institution you’ve studied at, list the grades you achieved or are predicted to achieve and the dates you attended. For example:

The University of Warwick (September 2021 – July 2024)
Graduated with a First Class Honours in Biological Sciences (BSc).
Modules included Animal and Plant Biology and Environmental Biology.

Trinity High School and Sixth Form (September 2014 – July 2021)
A Level Biology – A. A Level Maths – A. A Level Applied Science – B.
10 GCSEs at grades 5 – 9.

If the graduate job is within a specific field, why not include related modules that you studied at university? Using the Biological Sciences example above, if this person was applying for a role in zoology, then adding the extra detail that they studied modules on animal and plant biology could be the thing that makes them stand out.

Your skills and experience

After your education, it’s time to highlight the things that make you perfect for the role.

You might be thinking ‘But what if I don’t have any relevant work experience?’ and, trust us, there will be lots of other graduates looking at their CVs and wondering the exact same thing. It’s easy to talk yourself out of applying for a vacancy because you don’t think you’ve got the ‘right’ sort of experience – but try not to let that thinking stop you from even applying.

Skills and experience can be gained anywhere: your studies, group projects, the societies or sports teams you are part of, part-time or temporary jobs in an unrelated sector, volunteering, hobbies, plus anything else you can think of.

A business hiring for a graduate role won’t be looking for someone with years of experience. Instead, they’ll be looking for someone who can show the skills needed for the job – so all you need to do is make sure the experience you include on your CV matches what’s needed for the role.

What format and structure should a graduate CV follow?

The format and structure of the CV you create depends on your situation, but we would recommend choosing one of the following: a standard chronological CV, a skills-based CV, or a creative CV.

Chronological CV

A chronological CV is the most common type of CV and is usually accepted for any role or industry.
After your personal details, summary and education, go on to list your work experience or employment history. This can be a combination of paid and unpaid/volunteering experience. For example:

Retail Assistant – Tesco, Cannon Park, Coventry (October 2023 – present)
Serving customers, handling cash and card payments, assisting with queries or complaints, replenishing stock, maintaining a clean and tidy store.

Bar Staff Member – Slug and Lettuce, Birmingham (June – September 2023)
Serving customers, pouring drinks and making cocktails, handling cash and card payments, assisting with customer queries or complaints, maintaining a clean and tidy venue.

Event Steward – Godiva Festival 2023, Coventry (30th June – 2nd July 2023)
Traffic management and crowd management for people entering and leaving the site, liaising with colleagues to maintain good flow of traffic and people, dealing with customer queries.

Event Volunteer – Race for Life, Birmingham (June 2023)
Supporting the set up of the course and marquees, ensuring water was available at the finish line, dealing with queries from attendees and race participants, packing down and cleaning up after the event.

Typically, you should follow the reverse chronological rule, with your most recent experience first (like the above example). But feel free to break the rule if your most relevant experience isn’t your most recent. For example, if the person above was applying for an events role, they might tweak the order to put the event positions they have held first even though they are not their most recent work experience.

Skills-based CV

A skills-based CV is great for graduates who have limited work experience but have picked up lots of skills throughout their studies. Rather than having a section titled ‘Work experience’ or ‘Employment history’, follow on from your education history with a ‘Skills’ section and list the skills you have that the recruiter is looking for.

For inspiration on what skills you might have developed at university, take a look at the transferrable skills section in our list of Do’s and Don’ts at the bottom of this article.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: it’s really important that the skills you list are related to the specific job you are applying for. Don’t send the same CV with the same list of skills to every job. Instead, take the time to adapt your skills and remove any that are irrelevant. This takes slightly longer but is ultimately worth it, as it makes you much more likely to be invited to interview.

Creative CV

A creative CV is a less commonly used CV, normally found in creative industries such as web design, graphic design, film and TV, marketing and photography.

As roles in these industries generally require an eye for design, a creative CV is a nice way to showcase this skill to a potential employer. When it comes to format and structure, a creative CV follows the same layout as a standard chronological CV, but incorporates some visual elements – for example, different fonts and colours, or occasional infographics such as icons.

The important thing with a creative CV is to not distract the reader from the text. Your education and skills are the essential information you are trying to communicate to the reader, so any design elements you include should be used to enhance this information, rather than becoming the main focus of the document.

Looking to step into a creative career after graduation? Check out Canva and Adobe for inspiration for your creative graduate CV.

How long should a CV for graduates be?

Most hiring managers are looking for a CV that is one page long, but don’t worry about going onto a second page if you’ve got lots of information to include. Keep your CV succinct and related to the vacancy by checking it against the job description and removing anything that isn’t relevant.

Use bullet points and short sentences/phrases when listing your skills and experience. These can be elaborated on further in your cover letter and in the interview stage.

Do's and don'ts for writing the best CV for graduates

Don't send the same CV for every job

If you’re sending the same generic CV to every vacancy, you’re not going to get as many invites to interview as you would if you took the time to adapt it for the role in question. It’s better to submit 10 high quality CVs than 50 standard ones.

Don't rely on AI

It is becoming increasingly common for recruiters and hiring managers to receive CVs that have been generated through AI. While AI software can be good for certain things, like suggesting a basic structure/layout and proofreading, you shouldn’t rely on it to create your CV from scratch.

If you are going to use an AI tool when crafting your CV, remove your personal details before uploading it to the software as there are still some questions around how AI uses the data it receives.

The best CV for graduates market you and your unique skills, and the likelihood of an AI tool generating something distinctive is very low. So while it might take the hard work out of creating a CV, the chances are it won’t benefit you in the long run.

Do some industry research

Check that you’re following best practice for the sector you’d like to go into. Do some research online, talk to your university tutors or the careers team, or even the team at Graduate Talent, to make sure your graduate CV is following industry guidelines.

Do consider your transferable skills

Things like written and verbal communication, managing multiple deadlines, public speaking, working independently and within a team, creative thinking, being solution-driven – these are all transferable skills that students gain throughout university.

If you see criteria like this listed in the job description, think back over your time at university and generate a couple of examples where you’ve put these skills into practice. Now you’ve got the evidence needed to include them on your CV!

Do check it thoroughly or get someone else to proofread it

You would be surprised at the number of CVs that are submitted without being checked properly. Maybe you’ve been working on your application for a while and are struggling to spot errors? It’s time to step away from your laptop for a couple of hours.

Returning to your CV with fresh eyes makes you much more likely to spot any mistakes. If you have time before the job closing date, come back to your CV the day after you have written it to ensure it reads well and you’ve not missed anything. Alternatively, get a friend or family member to read over it, as it’s a lot easier to notice mistakes in someone else’s work.

Got everything you need to submit a good CV for graduates? At Graduate Talent, we help graduates secure ambitious job opportunities within exciting UK businesses. Contact the team to start your career with us.

Written by