Graduate CV Example

Putting together a strong job application as a recent graduate is tough because it’s difficult to impress employers when you have little or no work experience.

To get a good position after graduating from university, you need to know how to write a graduate CV that properly displays your qualifications and experience.

We’ll help you do just that by explaining exactly how to write a great graduate CV, section-by-section:

1. Add your contact information

In your CV’s header, tell employers how to contact you. You can write a great CV, but without any contact information employers won’t be able to reach you about potential job offers or interviews.

There’s no need to get creative with this bit. Simply list your:

• name
• phone number (mobile is preferred)
• location
• professional email address
• LinkedIn profile URL (if you have one)

2. Write a personal statement

A personal statement is a brief paragraph located at the top of your CV that explains to employers who you are, what your qualifications are (with examples for context), and why you’re interested in the position.

Writing a convincing graduate CV personal statement is essential to your job search because it’s a chance to explain why you’re passionate about the role or a particular career path. This passion can help make up for a lack of formal work experience and win over employers by showing them you’d be a dedicated employee.

Spend a little time thinking about what to say, as you don’t want to sound too generic. Remember, a personal statement is valuable, as it’s the first thing a recruiter sees on your CV.

Here’s an example of a graduate CV personal statement that’ll grab the target employer’s attention:

3. List your key skills

Including a bulleted skills section on your CV is a great way to catch the eye of employers.

In fact, as a recent graduate, you likely have more skills to list on your CV than you might think. You can develop valuable hard and soft abilities by working on course projects, volunteering, and participating in extracurricular activities (such as being the leader of a university club).

Here are some examples of hard and soft skills that you’ve probably picked up throughout university:

Hard Skills

• Microsoft Office
• Research
• Google Drive Suite
• Writing
• Copyediting

Soft Skills

• Organisational skills
• Collaboration
• Time management
• Leadership skills
• Interpersonal traits

4. Describe your education

If you have little or no work experience, your education section should be the most robust part of your CV. You can use this section to prove why you’re qualified for the job.

For your qualifications, include your:

• university name
• degree
• degree classification (Hons)
• relevant modules
• dates attended
• A-Levels and GCSEs

Because you’ll likely have taken around 10 GCSEs, you only need to abbreviate them — for instance, as:

‘GCSEs: 10 including Maths and English’

Most employers will, at a minimum, want to know you’ve acquired GCSEs in Maths and English. This leaves more room for your A-Levels, which are what really count.

Here’s an example of a properly formatted education section on a graduate CV:

King’s College London (2019–2022)
BSc (Hons) Geography — upper second-class honours

Relevant Modules: World Geography, Sustainable Development, Extreme Climates, Geographies of the Anthropocene, Water Governance and Management, Land Surveying
A-Levels: English (A), Maths (A), Geography (A)
GCSEs: 10 A–C, including Maths & English

5. Include relevant work experience

When including your prior work experience on your CV, don’t make the mistake of thinking you can only include experience from previous jobs.

Relevant experience acquired while doing work placements, voluntary work, or even taking part in competitions such as Young Enterprise is also great to include and shows employers that you have crossover skills.

For each role you list, include the:

• company or organisation
• dates of employment
• position title
• bullet points summarising your responsibilities, key achievements, and skills developed

Below is an example of a good graduate CV work experience entry:

6. References

Finally, include a section for references at the bottom of your graduate CV. Usually, putting two references on your CV is ideal: one academic referee and one prior work referee.

Especially if you have minimal work experience, references can confirm some of your positive traits and further convince employers that you’d make a strong addition to their company.

Example of a reference on a graduate CV

Dr Nicole Teenman
Professor of Computer Science
University of Birmingham
32 Castle Road
Birmingham
B36 9JX
07325 963 852
nic.teenman@birmingham.ac.uk

Relationship: Dr Teenman was my Computer Science professor.

Unless specifically told otherwise in the job posting’s requirements, you can choose to either include your reference’s contact details or not. If you’re not including your references’ contact information, be sure to write ‘available upon request’ so that employers know you’re willing to provide the information later.