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Andrew Arkley|April 27, 2014

Graduate CV Writing Guide

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You’ve written countless essays, revised until the early hours, passed all your exams and officially graduated! You might not know how you got there, but you did – congratulations! The idea of more research and writing probably doesn’t appeal to you right now, but getting a good job does. Here we share our tips on how to create a CV that will help you stand out from the crowd and start on your path to career success!

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PurpleCV has compiled a guide for fresh graduates on writing their CV. You have just graduated and put together thousands upon thousands of words that somehow was called your dissertation. You don’t know how you got there, but you did. Congratulations! The idea of more research and more writing probably doesn’t appeal to you right now, but getting a job does. Here are a few CV writing tips to help you fresh graduates get on the path to career success.

Before even looking for jobs, take a little time to consider which industry you want to get in and tailor your CV to match what employers are looking for. This can reduce your job search by months and you wont have to drastically alter your CV every time you look apply for a job.  Tailoring your graduate CV and using industry related keywords to put the best of you forward, can help ensure you get into the interview ‘pile’ every time.

When applying for graduate roles, employers don’t expect you to have tonnes of work experience but they do expect you to use what you already have. Were you president of the Students Union or a Class Mentor? Which societies were you involved in? What skills did you learn from them? By putting your education first on your CV and showing employers what you already can do shows you are resourceful and skilled and will be a great asset to the company. It is also advisable to write a few lines about your dissertation and mention how you overcame the most challenging aspects in order to achieve, especially if it is directly related to your industry.

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If you find you haven’t a lot of work experience in the industry you want to be in, or your degree doesn’t relate as well as you would like, try finding some paid internships or voluntary charity work in your field to get you on your way. If you haven’t found a job straight out of graduation, internships can help reduce any potential career gap and an opportunity to create new contacts and learn new skills to put on your brand new CV.

Formatting is also an important aspect to consider when writing your CV. Think about which is more relevant to your career path, your education or your work experience and put that on top. If you have a degree in online marketing, your employer is probably not going to want to know you worked in a bar throughout university. Your CV is only looked at for a few moments so you need to put the most relevant information at the beginning. Your CV is one place you certainly don’t leave the best till last.

If you’re a fresh graduate with a questionable careers office, use professional CV writers like PurpleCV to give yourself the best chance of finding work. Professionals with experience of your industry write every CV from scratch and costs as little as £50 – check out our CV Writing Service for more information. You’ve worked hard for the past three years; treat yourself to a great CV for a great career. 

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