Are you looking to create a fantastic CV that will impress employers? Our graduate CV template is the perfect place to start and it’s completely free.
Your CV is critical to the success of your graduate job hunt, however, it’s not easy to write a CV. It needs to sell your skills, personality and experience and convince employers to pick up the phone and give you an opportunity to impress them at interview. Without a well-structured and convincing graduate CV, you’re not going to get very far in the highly competitive graduate job market.
Our CV template download is in Microsoft Word format so that you can easily amend it. The template is also structured in a way that makes it easy for employers to read. We’ll also give you advice on what to include in various sections of your CV including your personal profile, education, work experience, key achievements and results and personal interests.
Once you’ve downloaded our template CV, these are the sections that you will need to carefully tailor:
Use your personal profile to entice the reader and set a professional tone for the rest of your CV. Talk about what you are looking for and sell your most relevant work skills, knowledge and experience, whilst avoiding clichés such as “hard-working” and “team-player”. This should be a short paragraph (4-6 lines). If you’re finding it difficult to get started and need some inspiration, take a look at some CV personal statement examples here.
List your education starting with your degree and universities you have attended. If you have little work experience you should include more information about your education, detailing key skills developed and responsibilities you undertook.
Present your grades truthfully but in a good light – perhaps disclosing that E in A2 level General Studies isn’t necessary.
Interests and hobbies should add value to your application. Use this section to sell your strengths, skills, attributes and personality. Interests tell employers a lot about you! For more insight, have a go at our interests quiz.
Our Consultants have received thousands of CVs from graduates in their time, so we caught up with them to discover their top CV tips. Before getting started on customising our downloadable CV template, listen to what they had to say.
Make it personal. Make the most of your personal profile section to write details about yourself, you career aims and aspirations.
Tailor your CV. Take a look at a number of job adverts within the industry you are applying for. Pick out the key personality traits and skills that are listed consistently. Then insert these keywords into your resume. Remember, you can always tweak these things to each job application.
Be clear and concise. Don’t waffle. Your CV should be no more than two pages long no matter how much work experience you have. Be clear, concise and sell your best points.
Include your hobbies and interests. This is a great way to showcase your personality and it allows the reader to envision how you will fit into their team and the role. Your hobbies and interests are also an additional opportunity to explain more about your skills and attributes.
Don’t forget the basics. You must include key information including contact details, phone number, email address and location. Triple check that this information is correct. You’d be surprised by how many people miss out these things or get a digit wrong in their phone number.
Once you’ve perfected your CV, we’ve got a fantastic cover letter template for you here >
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