Graduate CV advice

Graduate CV advice

Your CV is your opportunity to showcase yourself to potential recruiters. Its your shop window so make sure its clear, relevant, innovative and personal to you. Also consider that your CV should act as an advert for YOU. Think of creative ways of making sure your CV jumps off the page.

Getting Started:
You have to start somewhere. Consider playing around with various drafts before creating the final masterpiece. Bear in mind the following before putting anything down on paper.

• Keep it upbeat, communicate with positive statements and an enthusiastic tone.
• Think about ways of demonstrating success in a particular role rather than just stating your role and the amount of time spent there. For example, "I worked in the advertising sales division and increased revenue for my section by 17%". A short sentence or a bullet point should suffice.
• Stand out from the crowd. Avoid bloated, bland content - if you have "good communication skills" demonstrate how you have used them effectively to get something done. If you are "determined to achieve at the highest level" demonstrate how you have done this to date.
• Your most relevant experience and skills will be of most interest to an employer make sure they are easy to find, i.e. on the first page.
• The amount of space you devote to a topic implies the importance you give to it. Don't use half a page listing your GCSE's and two lines describing the three years you spent at University.
• Make sure there are no big unaccounted for gaps in your dates. If there are the reader may think you're hiding something.

Standard Content Elements:

Personal Details:
This bit is pretty simple. The employer simply needs to know who you are and how to get in touch with you - that's it! But make sure that all the information you give is still up-to-date. And is that email address still live?

Key skills:
Some people like to have a statement at the start of their CV which provides the employer with a quick effective summary about what they have to offer. If you choose to include this, it must be very focused, not woolly and vague! The reader must be able easily to find evidence of the skills you are claiming in the body of the CV. They must also be able to see a link between these skills and the requirements of the job. If in doubt, leave out!

Education:
This is where it starts to get a bit more complex! Ask yourself what the employer needs to know and remember that the beauty of a CV is that you are in control - you decide what to include and what to omit.

Start with your most recent education - degree or postgraduate qualification. And make sure you're not saying more about what you did at school than at university! Include dates, names of universities /colleges /secondary schools attended, courses/ subjects studied. Grades are commonly included, but are not compulsory.

Unless you want to bore the employer to death, don't list every single subject you've studied. Think about what's relevant - it might be your final year subjects, it might be particular subjects you've chosen throughout your degree. For school education, Highers/A Levels are enough - and if you have come to university as a mature entrant, you might want to omit school education altogether. But it's always wise to include education which took place immediately before you came to university (e.g. access courses, other college courses).

Remember your education has been about more than individual subject knowledge and the employer will be interested in all aspects - so you could think about including brief information about projects, group work, presentations, time spent abroad as part of your course, Young Enterprise or whatever.

Employment:
This is one of the most important parts of your CV - employers expect students and graduates to have some experience of working. But they are also realistic and know that often you have to settle for part-time and summer jobs which don't relate particularly to what you hope to do after graduation. However, they will still want you to be able to show that you got something useful (apart from the all-important money) out of your experience, so you need to do some thinking about this.

The most common way to present your employment is to do it in reverse chronological order. But other ways are fine too. For example, you might want to put the most 'relevant´ first, or if you have had a number of jobs, you might want to highlight those you see as the most important and just have a sentence indicating that you've had other jobs as well. As with education, it's normal to include dates, company name and job title. Include some information about what you did, but remember that the employer will also be looking for an indication of the skills you used and developed. In particular they are looking for links between your experience and skills and the requirements of the job.

Interests:
Employers want to know about your interests because that can give them more insight into your skills and personality. But relax! They don't expect everyone to have had positions of responsibility or to have been members of numerous clubs and societies. They just want a bit of evidence that you're a well-rounded individual.

Don't just write a list - this tells the reader very little. Try to give some indication of your level of involvement, what you feel you gain from the activity (remember, this can include simple enjoyment as well as skills), any particular achievements. Don't worry if your time for leisure activities is limited because of other commitments such as part time jobs, family responsibilities - but don't apologise either! Simply mention any leisure pursuits you do have time for, maybe with a positive statement which says something like: 'Despite the pressures of a demanding part-time job/family commitments, I still manage to…´

Additional Information:
This section, if you choose to include it, allows you to provide other important information which you haven't been able to mention anywhere else on the CV. But remember, it is for other information which you really feel will make a difference, so if you're happy that all the important material is already in your CV, it's absolutely fine to leave this out. However, if you do decide to have a section like this, you might want to include topics such as language skills, IT skills, driving licence.

Referees:
It's important that you have referees and that you've asked their permission to use their names! It is very common to give the details of the referees on the CV, but it is also acceptable to state: 'References available on request'. Usually two referees are required - an academic (e.g. tutor, project supervisor, adviser of studies) and one other, often an employer. Give their names and contact details. It is helpful to both you and the referees if you give them a copy of your CV and some indication of the type of work you are applying for.

Other Factors to Consider:

Target your CV:
You may like to think about taking some time to target your CV to a particular type of work or type of employer, stressing the facts that are most relevant to the job you want. If you intend to apply for completely different types of job, you may want to develop more than one CV, each with its own emphasis. In order to successfully target your CV it is essential to know exactly what skills, experience and personal qualities the employer is looking for. If this information has not been provided on the advert or on a person specification you will need to undertake some research to ensure that your CV has the right focus. Please refer to you Careers Advisior for more tips and information on CV targeting.

Some Tips on Layout:

• Your CV should look neat and tidy with all the information easy to find. Use headings such as EDUCATION to make it easy for the employer to find the information they are looking for. Most employers will expect a CV to be laid out in a conventional way, but others (particularly those in creative areas of work) might like one that looks more unusual.
• When using a word processor, use CAPITALS and bold print to separate out different sections. Bold print and italics can be useful for highlighting important points. Underlining is probably best avoided as it can give the CV a rather old fashioned look. Don’t go overboard with special effects: use them sparingly.
• Use the tab key (rather than the space bar) to indent information to create a neat effect. Placing the dates on the left hand side, with the rest of the information ‘tabbed’ in an inch or so, is often an effective way of setting the information out neatly and makes the details easy to pick out.
• Use a good quality paper and a printer which produces a clean output. White paper is usually best. Sometimes light shades of other colours can be attractive, but avoid bold or fluorescent colours.

Finally:

• Compare your CV with a job description for the work you’re applying for. Have you shown you have developed the skills the job needs?
• Remember that a CV should give evidence, from what you have done in the past, that you have the skills to carry out the job to which your CV is targeted.
• Give your CV a final check.
• Is it neat and tidy, and pleasant to look at?
• Is it clear and logical, so that the information is easy to find?
• Get a friend to look at your CV and give you a second opinion. Arrange to see a Careers Adviser who may be able to suggest improvements.
• Remember that your CV will need a covering letter, to introduce yourself and summarise the main points which you hope will attract the employer.
• Covering Letters for further advice.

This information is provided for general reference ONLY. We strongly suggest you consult you local or University Careers Service for professional advice.