Check your graduate CV against the job advert
Graduate adverts ask for skills more than experience. Your job is to give evidence for each one from your degree, work, volunteering and activities.
Start with your advert
Every graduate advert is different. The list below is what adverts for this job usually ask for, not what yours does. So start with your advert:
- Read the advert and copy out every "must have" or "essential" line, then the "desirable" ones.
- For each one, find the line in your CV that proves it. If you can't point to a line, that's a gap.
- Fill the gap with something true: a duty, a setting, a qualification or a result you really have. If you don't have it, say what you have that's closest, or leave it out.
Our guide to matching your CV to a job description goes through this in more detail.
What graduate adverts usually ask for
Your degree and relevant study
Why they askMany schemes ask for a degree classification and sometimes a subject.
How to show itGive your degree, classification (or predicted), and modules or a dissertation relevant to the job.
Example lines: fill the gaps with your own facts- [Degree] in [subject], [university], [classification or predicted], [year].
- Dissertation: [title], using [methods or tools].
Teamwork and communication
Why they askGraduate adverts nearly always ask for these.
How to show itGive one example of each, from study, work or activities.
Example lines: fill the gaps with your own facts- Led a team of [number] on [project], dividing tasks and presenting the results to [audience].
Work experience
Why they askPart-time jobs, internships and placements show responsibility.
How to show itTreat part-time jobs seriously: what you did and what you were trusted with.
Example lines: fill the gaps with your own facts- [Part-time job] while studying: [responsibility you were trusted with].
Skills and tools
Why they askMany schemes name tools such as Excel, Python or design software.
How to show itName them and what you used them for.
Example lines: fill the gaps with your own facts- Used [tool] to [task] for [module, job or project].
Motivation for this employer
Why they askGraduate recruiters want to see you chose them.
How to show itPut this in your statement, briefly and specifically.
Example lines: fill the gaps with your own facts- Interested in [scheme] because of [specific thing about the work or employer] and my [related study or experience].
Only use a line if it's true for you. Swap each [gap] for your own detail: the setting, the number, the tool or the result. If you can't fill a gap honestly, cut that part of the line.
Mistakes that cost graduate applications
- Listing every module instead of the relevant ones.
- Ignoring part-time work.
- A generic statement sent to every scheme.
Questions
Should I put my A level grades on a graduate CV?
If the advert asks, or if they're strong and you have little else. Otherwise a short line is enough.