Graduate CV Tips: How To Write A CV That Stands Out

Your CV is often your first opportunity to make an impression, and employers make that judgement quickly. Therefore getting the basics right, matters.

A typical CV for an entry level role will look like:

• Personal profile
• Your education, including:
  • Institution, qualification, grade (if relevant) and dates attended)
  • Any relevant modules, research projects, dissertations, industry-related coursework. Professional certifications, online learning, and additional qualifications should also be included here.
• Relevant work experience

Other basics to consider when you're writing include: 

• Keep your CV to 1–2 pages
• Focus your experience to those have relevance to the role you’re applying for, not everything you have ever done
• Use a clean, professional format with a clear font such as Arial or Calibri (11–12pt)
• Include your name, professional email address, contact number and your LinkedIn profile
• Many organisations use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), so tailoring your CV can make a significant difference

Your personal profile is one of the first things recruiters will read. Keep it short, specific and relevant to the role you're applying for.

The best graduate CV profiles answer three questions:

• Who are you?
• What can you bring?
• What are you looking for?

Avoid: Hardworking graduate seeking opportunities.

Try this instead: Curious Life Sciences graduate with experience delivering research projects and collaborating across diverse teams. Interested in healthcare innovation and using data-driven insights to improve outcomes for patients.

Many students worry they don't have enough experience. But experience can come from:

University projects; Part-time jobs; Placements; Internships; Volunteering; Student societies; Research projects; Personal projects.

It is how you take these experiences and show your learnings that the strongest CVs demonstrate. 

When thinking about writing these, recruiters don't just want to know what you did. They want to know:

• What challenge you faced
• What you contributed
• What happened as a result

Avoid: Worked on a university group project.

Try this instead: Collaborated with a team of five to research and present recommendations on a healthcare industry challenge, helping achieve a first-class project outcome.

This shows collaboration, communication, analytical thinking and impact in a single sentence.

This can also be applied to specific key words or job requirements:

Avoid: Excellent communicator.

Try this instead: Presented research findings to an audience of 40 students, translating complex information into clear recommendations.

Avoid: Strong teamwork skills.

Try this instead: Worked across a multidisciplinary team to plan and deliver a student fundraising event attended by more than 200 people.

Specific examples make your CV more credible and memorable.

One of the biggest mistakes candidates make is sending exactly the same CV to every employer.

Before applying, carefully review:

• The job description
• Essential skills
• Desired behaviours
• Industry-specific language

Then look at your own experiences and ask:

Which examples best demonstrate what this employer is looking for?

A tailored CV is more likely to stand out than a generic one.

AI can be a useful tool for improving structure, grammar and clarity. But it shouldn't replace your own experiences and personality.

A common mistake is creating a CV that sounds polished but generic.

Before submitting your application, ask:

• Does this sound like me?
• Could anybody have written this?
• Have I included specific examples?
• Have I tailored it to the role?

If your CV could be sent to any employer without changing a word, it's probably not tailored enough.