FINAL WORD
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essentials for a graduate CV
Peter Panayotou reveals his top tips for selling yourself on your graduate CV
ou’ve no doubt heard it said that your CV is one of the most important documents you will ever write. If you are about to graduate or have
recently graduated, you will be well on the way to writing that all-important document. While there is probably a lot of conflicting information for you to consider, there are also a number of reliable constants for you to include for a really effective graduate CV.
State your objective
The opening paragraph of your CV is a short introduction, sometimes called a summary or an objective, but I prefer profile. This should contain a brief introduction about who you are and what you are trying to achieve. Ensure that you mention the subject of your degree right here at the outset. It sets the focus of the CV straight away, establishing you as a graduate or postgraduate. If you are selling yourself as a graduate, make sure you also say what roles you are targeting, whether that is graduate training schemes or otherwise.
Skills You have probably heard that it is best to tailor your CV to the role you are applying for. Well, this is the bit you can tailor by matching it to the employer’s requirements. But, as a recent graduate, you may not have had much experience in your target industry. For this reason, you can draw examples of your skills from anywhere: your work, your studies, extracurricular activities at university, even your interests and hobbies in your spare time. Every skill counts, regardless of how or where it was acquired.
Sequence
Think about how the information appears in your CV and give priority to your degree. The order and sequence of this information is important, as well
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as the amount of space you allocate to it. So, if you are a recent graduate, your degree may be the most relevant information and the biggest selling point. Therefore, it makes sense to ensure that it is listed before any work experience.
Highlight your degree As a graduate, if you fail to sufficiently emphasise your degree, you are missing a big opportunity to sell yourself. Your degree is a key selling point, especially in cases where you have little or no work experience in the field that you are targeting. Therefore, emphasise the degree as much as possible. You can give your degree more prominence by including a list of subjects or modules to provide some information about the course contents. Don’t forget to add information about your dissertation, or any special projects or assignments that were part of your studies.
Use everything you’ve got If you have little or no experience in your chosen field, don’t worry. You can demonstrate that you have been active in other ways. For example, include any voluntary work, memberships of clubs or societies, projects you were involved in, or even your extracurricular activities. Don’t ignore these or underplay them – they are just as relevant as anything else.
Stick to these general rules and you will have created a carefully crafted graduate CV, which should help to get you to that all-important interview. n
Peter Panayotou is the senior CV consultant at The Write Stuff
thewritestuff.co.uk info@thewritestuff.co.uk
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