Getting a part-time job is a great way to earn some spending money as a student or generate extra income as a professional with a full-time job. But before you can reap the financial rewards of a part-time job, you’ll need to write a CV that makes your target employer interested in hiring you.
Example CVs for a part-time job
Here are two CV examples for a part-time job so you can see what yours should ideally look like.
1. For students and teenagers with no work experience
Here’s an example of a skills-based CV for a part-time job written by a university student, who has no work experience, looking for restaurant work:
The student above chose the skills-based CV format, which substitutes a robust skills section for work experience. But if you do have relevant work experience, try to highlight that over your skills, as it will give you an advantage over applicants who have no professional background.
2. For applicants with professional experience
The person who wrote this CV for a part-time retail job has previous work experience to highlight:
When you write a CV for a part-time job, take a look at examples of good CVs written for the specific industry you want to work in. Seeing what skills and experience other applicants highlight on their applications helps you decide what to include in your CV.
How to write a CV for a part-time job
Whether you copied one of the part-time job CV templates above or are starting with a blank page, read on to find out how to format your CV to get UK employers’ attention in 6 quick steps below.
1. Get the details right
A great part-time job opening attracts a lot of applicants. So taking time to perfect your CV’s details is important to help you stand out as qualified.
Details to optimise include your CV’s:
- font: Use a professional CV font set between 10 and 12 points for easy reading.
- margins: Typically, the default margins in your writing program are fine, but if you need to adjust them to better fit the content on your part-time job CV, change them within 1.27 to 2.5 cm.
- spacing: The spaces between your text should be 1–1.5 lines. Anything above that range looks like university coursework, and anything below it makes your CV hard to read.
- scannability: In addition to following the above points, use headings, bullet points, and CV icons to help your important information stand out to skimming recruiters seeking to fill part-time roles.
2. Write an engaging personal statement
Regardless of what structure you use for your part-time job CV, your 3–5 sentence personal statement always goes at the top, under your CV header. This quick overview, if written well, encourages employers to take a close look at your application.
So carefully write your personal statement to include:
- your reason for applying for that particular part-time job
- your most role-relevant skills, experience, and achievements
- CV keywords from the job advert
This is an example of an engaging CV personal statement for a part-time job:
Energetic university student studying hospitality and looking to gain practical experience in the field. Regularly prepare meals for family gatherings of 30+ people, and recently received top marks in a food safety class. Excited to apply my amateur cooking skills as a Part-Time Cook at Phil’s Fish & Chips.
3. Describe your relevant work experience
If you’ve got relevant work experience, great! Using hard numbers to show your impact in the role, list your:
- company name and location
- dates worked there
- job title
- responsibilities and achievements in 2–5 bullets
If you don’t have work experience, describe any relevant internship or voluntary experience you have.
And if you don’t have any internships or voluntary work to write about, create a skills-based CV to show the employer your relevant skills.
Here’s an example of how to write your experience entries:
Intellicorp, York
Part-Time Receptionist, June 20XX–March 20XX
- Efficiently managed the front desk operations by greeting 20+ visitors and handling 25+ incoming calls daily
- Demonstrated strong organisational skills through scheduling appointments and ensuring timely distribution of correspondence
- Assisted with administrative tasks such as data entry, filing, and managing office supplies
4. Highlight your education
Even if you’re just applying for part-time work, employers in the UK want to know what level of education you’ve received. That information is a good indicator of whether you’re trainable or not.
So make an education section for your CV that lists your:
- degree and year you graduated (or the expected date)
- university name and location
- relevant modules
- secondary school name and location
- A-levels and GCSEs
- other education-related accomplishments — e.g., your extracurricular activities, awards, or class projects — if they’re relevant to the part-time job you want
This is how your education section might look on your CV for a part-time job:
Lancaster University, Lancaster | 20XX – 20XX
BSc (Hons) Business Economics (Industry)
Key modules studied: International Trade & Logistics, Industrial Operations, International EconomicsOur Lady’s Catholic College, Lancaster | 20XX – 20XX
A-Levels: Maths (A), Physics (A), Business Studies (B)
GCSEs: 10 9–4 including English, Maths, and IT
5. List the right skills for your target part-time job
In addition to describing your job-specific skills in your personal statement and work experience section, list your skills — those that match the requirements listed in the job advert — in a dedicated section.
Employers want to see such a section on CVs they review because it’s easy to skim through to verify that you’re qualified for their part-time role. If they like what they see in your skills section, they’ll look carefully at the rest of your CV and your cover letter.
This is a good skills section for a part-time graphic design job:
Relevant Skills
- Photoshop and Figma (expert)
- Font design and pairing (expert)
- Premiere and Final Cut (intermediate)
6. Include your hobbies and interests
Even though you’ll just be a part-time worker, employers want you to fit well into their work culture. A good way to show that you’re a good culture fit is by making a hobbies and interests section that shows you’ll be an interesting addition to the team.
So before you list your interests, research the company’s website and social media profiles to get an idea of what type of culture they’re cultivating. Then, think about which of your leisure-time activities would best help you fit in.
For instance, if the company seems fun and relaxed, you could list your love of board games. But if your target employer presents a formal front, go with your professional interests, like blogging about your field of work or listening to industry-specific podcasts.
This is an example of a hobbies and interests section written for a part-time restaurant job CV:
Hobbies & Interests
- Cooking for family and friends
- Meeting new people at networking events
- Learning about fermentation
- Reading foodie blogs
