Congratulations, you’ve graduated! Now it’s time to get out there and start your career.
The problem is, a degree doesn’t guarantee your CV will get noticed.
But don’t worry; we can teach you how to make your qualifications and transferable skills work for you with our helpful writing guide.
Check out our new graduate CV example below for those without experience.
This example CV demonstrates how to structure and format your own CV as a new graduate, so that it can be easily digested by busy hiring managers, and quickly prove why you are suitable for the jobs you are applying to.
It also gives you a good idea of the type of skills, experience and qualifications that you need to be highlighting in your CV.
First impressions count, so a sloppy, disorganised CV may cause your CV to be overlooked..
Instead, perfect the format and structure of your CV by working to a clear logical structure and applying some simple formatting tricks to ease readability.
Don’t underestimate the importance of this step; if your CV lacks readability, your written content won’t even be seen.
Quick tip: Creating a professional CV style can be difficult and time-consuming when using Microsoft Word or Google Docs. To create a winning CV quickly, try our quick-and-easy CV Builder and use one of their eye-catching professional CV templates.
When writing your own CV, break up your CV content into the following key sections:
Now, let’s take a closer look at what you should include in each section of your CV.
Write your contact details in the top corner of your CV, so that they’re easy to find but don’t take up too much space.
You only need to list your basic details, such as:
Your CV profile (or personal statement, if you’re an entry-level applicant) provides a brief overview of your skills, abilities and suitability for a position.
It’s ideal for busy recruiters and hiring managers, who don’t want to waste time reading unsuitable applications.
Think of it as your personal sales pitch. You’ve got just a few lines to sell yourself and prove you’re a great match for the job – make it count!
CV profile writing tips:
Passionate and driven BA (hons) Digital Marketing graduate with significant academic and practical experience managing digital content across multiple platforms. Skilled at website and SEO optimisation, campaign analysis and digital copywriting. Seeking a digital marketing graduate internship at a leading London marketing agency.
Quick tip: If you are finding it difficult to write an attention-grabbing CV profile, choose from hundreds of pre-written profiles across all industries, and add one to your CV with one click in our quick-and-easy CV Builder. All profiles are written by recruitment experts and easily tailored to suit your unique skillset.
Next, you should create a bullet pointed list of your core skills, formatted into 2-3 columns.
Here, you should focus on including the most important skills or knowledge listed in the job advertisement.
This will instantly prove that you’re an ideal candidate, even if a recruiter only has time to briefly scan your CV.
Customer Service – highlighting experience of working with the public to resolve queries and encourage them to purchase products.
Event Organisation – highlighting experience of managing projects such as taking responsibility for organising and holding an event.
Silver D of E Award – highlighting achievements such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, which is often awarded for helping the community/environment, becoming fitter, developing new skills, planning, training for and completing an expedition.
Team Leader – evidencing experience of leading others to achieve a goal.
MS Office – evidencing use of key technologies and software programs which will be used in your future career.
Quick tip: Our quick-and-easy CV Builder has thousands of in-demand skills for all industries and professions, that can be added to your CV in seconds – This will save you time and ensure you get noticed by recruiters.
Now that recruiters have a good overview of your skills and abilities, you need to jump into the detail of your career history.
Give them a more thorough insight into what you can do by creating a detailed list of your relevant experience.
Start with your current role, and work backwards through all the relevant positions you’ve held.
This could be freelance, contract or voluntary work too; as long as it’s related to the role you’re applying for.
Lengthy, unbroken chunks of text is a recruiters worst nightmare, but your work experience section can easily end up looking like that if you are not careful.
To avoid this, use my tried-and-tested 3-step structure, as illustrated below:
Outline
Provide a brief overview of the job as a whole, such as what the overriding purpose of your job was and what type of company you worked for.
Key responsibilities
Next, write up a punchy list of your daily duties and responsibilities, using bullet points.
Wherever you can, point out how you put your hard skills and knowledge to use – especially skills which are applicable to your target role.
Key achievements
Lastly, add impact by highlight 1-3 key achievements that you made within the role.
Struggling to think of an achievement? If it had a positive impact on your company, it counts.
For example, you might increased company profits, improved processes, or something simpler, such as going above and beyond to solve a customer’s problem.
Outline
Working for the Oxford Street flagship store of an international fashion retail business. Responsible for creating enticing merchandise displays, providing exceptional customer service and achieving a weekly and monthly sales target.
Key Responsibilities
Quick tip: Create impressive job descriptions easily in our quick-and-easy CV Builder by adding pre-written job phrases for every industry and career stage.
After your work experience, your education section should provide a detailed view of your academic background.
Begin with those most relevant to graduate jobs, such as vocational training or degrees. If you have space, you can also mention your academic qualifications, such as A-Levels and GCSEs.
Focus on the qualifications that are most relevant to the jobs you are applying for.
The hobbies and interests CV section isn’t mandatory, so don’t worry if you’re out of room by this point.
However, if you have an interesting hobby, or an interest that could make you seem more suitable for the role, then certainly think about adding.
Be careful what you include though… Only consider hobbies that exhibit skills that are required for roles as a Fresh Graduate without experience, or transferable workplace skills.
There is never any need to tell employers that you like to watch TV and eat out.
Creating a strong CV as a Fresh Graduate without experience requires a blend of punchy content, considered structure and format, and heavy tailoring.
By creating a punchy profile and core skills list, you’ll be able to hook recruiter’s attention and ensure your CV gets read.
Remember that research and relevance is the key to a good CV, so research your target roles before you start writing and pack your CV with relevant skills.
Best of luck with your next application!
