How to write a graduate or early years CV

How you approach writing a CV for your first career role depends very much on what work experience you have already and how aligned your qualifications are to your career ambition.  This is going to vary individually. However, for most graduates or early years careers, you are going to have to present transferable skills and achievements. In writing a graduate CV, it is always important to consider every experience you have – academic, work, voluntary or other interests/projects you have outside of this.

Target your CV to the role you are applying for

A focused CV will invariably outperform a generic CV used for multiple applications. Read the person specification for the role or graduate/intern programme as this will tell you what skills and competencies are required. Your job is to ensure the CV matches this as closely as possible. Use specific examples that clearly demonstrate how, where and when you have shown these skills.

Structure your CV in order of importance

Most attention by a recruiter will be spent at the top of the first page of your CV. Try to get all your strongest sections here. After your contact details should go a short professional profile. This should position you in line with the job you are applying for. If your academic achievements are your greatest strength, then the ‘education’ section could go next. Alternatively, if you have relevant work experience it should be your ‘career history’. However, for many graduates, a ‘key skills’ after the professional profile will help to provide convincing evidence of your ability.

A skills-based CV format

A skills-based graduate CV is often the best structure if you do not have relevant work experience but need to demonstrate transferable skills. Choose 4 or 5 of the skills or competencies required for the role. Then under each skill heading give a brief description of your expertise and 2 or 3 examples of where and when you have demonstrated this. Be descriptive and use specific examples with facts and figures to highlight the outcomes.

You have less than 30 seconds to make an impact

Less than 30 seconds is spent on average reading a CV. So, keep the CV to a maximum of 2 pages. This keeps the format short and portable. Use bullet points as these encourage brevity. Ensure consistent formatting and use white space effectively to prevent the reader being swamped by a sea of words. Write in a punchy and concise way that focuses on the end results of your achievements.

Whilst there is no single solution in how to write a graduate CV, following the above steps will give you a good starting point in making sure your CV works as effectively as possible.

This article is written by Neville Rose, Director of CV Writers. Please do connect with me via LinkedIn.

Check out our graduate CV writing service with details of our packages that include LinkedIn profiles, cover letters and more. You can get things started with a Free CV review. I am also a qualified career counsellor and provide Career Counselling services for people looking to change career paths.