Graduate Student CV Example (Academic CV Template for Grads)
Graduate Student CV Example (Academic CV Template for Grads)
You’re a 7-minute read away from learning how to craft a standout CV for fresh graduates. Welcome to the guide that will answer all the questions you have.
Writing a graduate CV is one of the toughest things you’ll ever have to do in your career.
‘How to start? What to include? What about all those other candidates who have way more experience than me?’
We’ve all been there.
Luckily, there are proven techniques you can use to write an effective graduate CV and land job interviews (even if you have no professional experience whatsoever).
This guide will show you:
Graduate CV examples and ready-to-use templates better than 9 out of 10 others.
How to write a graduate CV step by step.
Actionable expert tips on writing a good graduate CV that will land you any job you want.
Just came to see a sample and get a good template? Seek no further.
Here’s a sample graduate CV created with our CV maker.
Graduate CV Example
Want to save time and have your CV ready in 5 minutes? Try our CV builder. It’s fast and easy to use. Plus, you’ll get ready-made content to add with one click. See 20+ CV templates and create your CV here.
This article will teach you how to write a graduate CV for regular, non-academic employment.
If you want to learn how to write an academic CV for post-grad admissions, doctoral studies, research grants, or scholarships, check out: Academic CV: What to Include & How to Write It
Hiring in 2019 is a fast-and-furious business. A recent study by The Ladders showed that recruiters spend an average of 7.4 seconds on a single CV they review. (Flabbergasted? That’s actually up from 6 seconds in 2012.)
Recruiters don’t read every CV they get. They look for reasons not to.
Sloppy graduate CV formatting could be that reason. Remember: other candidates might have more job experience than you do. A neat CV that’s easy to read can give you an upper hand.
Here are the most important rules of a good graduate student CV format:
Your LinkedIn Profile and, optionally, other social media handles: but not all of them. For instance, if you use Twitter to discuss stuff related to your industry, link to your profile from your graduate CV. Techie position? Link to GitHub. Seeking a creative job? Behance, Pinterest, Tumblr, or even Instagram.
Also called a CV profile, a personal statement for a graduate CV is a short paragraph (2–4 sentences) at the top of your graduate CV. Its purpose is to outline your best skills and show how well you’ll fit into your prospective role. Think of it as an elevator pitch or a summary of the rest of your CV.
Here’s how to write a graduate CV personal statement:
Start with who you are and what your education is.
Use the name of your target company and the position you’re targeting.
Add 2–3 of your key skills.
Make an offer: explain what you hope to achieve for your prospective employer.
See the graduate personal statement CV example below to get a grasp of how it works in practice.
Sample Graduate CV Personal Statement
Highly motivated King’s College BA in Marketing and New Media graduate (who you are + your education) looking to fill a position as a Junior Marketing and PR Assistant at Acme (name of the company and position you’re applying to). Wishing to use strong data-analysis and creative storytelling skills (your skills) to help Acme create compelling marketing campaigns tailored to the needs of your customers (your offer).
When making a CV in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building your CV here.
Always put your current or most recent educational institution at the top. Follow it with the previous ones. That means, if you have a Master’s degree, include your Bachelor’s right below it. Either way, omit your high school.
In each entry, list:
Your degree
The name of your institution
Year graduated
Your major and minors (if applicable)
But that won’t be enough to impress recruiters. Hey! It’s time for those courses you’ve slaved over for years to pay off!
See this marketing and business graduate CV example for reference.
Marketing Graduate CV: Education Section
2019 BA in Marketing and New Media King’s College, London, UK 1st Favorite fields of study: Global Media Systems, New Perspectives on B2C Marketing, Macroeconomy Basics, Film Theory, Marketing of the Media Thesis title: ‘The Paradox of Luxury Goods Marketing—Examined’ Key achievements and extracurricular activities:
President of the undergraduate student board from 2017 until 2018
Dean’s List 2016 and 2018
Started and run a discussion club on new trends in AI and Virtual Reality
If there’s just one thing you need to keep in mind when putting skills on a graduate CV, it’s relevance. Instead of listing all skills you think you have, enter those that will help you perform well in the job.
How to put skills on a graduate CV?
Start with a spreadsheet, enter all your professional skills there.
Read the job ad carefully. Look for skill-related keywords such as ‘attention to detail,’ ‘verbal communication,’ ‘adaptability,’ or specific job skills.
How many of these skills match the ones in your spreadsheet? Quite a few, right? Presto. List those skills on your graduate CV skills list.
Don’t stop there, though. Mention one or two skills in your CV heading statement and experience sections—make your CV read naturally, avoid CV keyword stuffing.
And what skills are best to include in a graduate CV today? Let’s consult that with data.
A recent survey showed what skills employers seek in graduate candidates. Here are the top 10 skills they listed:
Personal statement? Check. Education, work experience, skills? All check. That’s a decent CV. It might even get you an interview. But—
You don’t just want an interview. You want the interview with this company. So let’s punch up your graduate curriculum vitae a notch. Add some extra sections that will prove you’ve got another string to your bow.
Graduate CV Additional Section Ideas
Awards and honors (scholarships, honors societies, dean’s lists, etc.)
Almost half of employers won’t review your graduate CV if there’s no cover letter attached. In other words, job ads reading ‘cover letter optional,’ mean ‘cover letter mandatory.’
Michael, a Certified Professional Résumé Writer (CPRW) is a career writer and the newsletter coordinator at Zety. Apart from sharing his own resume-writing expertise, Michael reaches out to recruitment and hiring gurus to help you learn the most effective strategies for managing your career.
How to email a resume to get more job offers? Writing a great resume might not be enough. You have to know how to send it! Check out a sample email to send with a resume, see great resume emailing hacks and get tips from HR pros. Learn the best strategy to send a resume email and start getting more interviews!
Even though writing a resume with no experience seems like mission impossible, there is a certain way of making your document look awesome. And you’re about to see how.