If your graduate CV is not getting you interviews, this post is for you. We will be outlining what you need to include in your graduate CV to get shortlisted for interviews.
Tip: As you read through this post, open up your graduate CV in another tab and make improvements in real time. Some pointers may seem obvious but don’t overlook anything. The graduate job market is fiercely competitive. Ensure your CV stands out for the right reasons and gets you interviews.
1: Ensure you’ve Included Relevant Contact Information
This may seem obvious, but to get contacted for interviews your CV must include your details.
Your contact information must be prominent and clear at the top of your CV.
INCLUDE:
-your name (first name and family name)
-email address (a professional email address that you check regularly)
-mobile number
-LinkedIn URL (embed the link with the anchor text “LinkedIn Profile”
AVOID:
– do not include your address. In this day and age, you are highly unlikely to be contacted via post. Therefore, it will take up space unnecessarily.
-do not include your age or date of birth. Again, this is unnecessary and irrelevant. Save the space for content that will get you an interview
-do not add a photo. This is a rare practice in the UK. There’s no need to add a photo to your CV. Save your professional photo for your LinkedIn profile.
Before moving to the next point review the details section of your graduate CV and make sure that only the essential information is included that will allow recruiters and graduate hiring managers to get in touch with you regarding the interview stages.
2: review your professional summary
The summary gives the reviewer a high-level overview of your objective and why you are a good fit for the role. It is also an opportunity to add some relevant keywords that will be picked up by ATS and boost your chances of getting shortlisted for an interview.
INCLUDE: A concise summary (2–3 sentences MAX) that highlights your career goals, key skills, and what you bring to the role. Tailor it to the specific job and highlight why you’re a strong fit.
AVOID: refrain from writing a lengthy paragraph. This is not a bio…or a novel for that matter. Demonstrate your ability to be concise and communicate your objective clearly.
Before you move to the next step, read over your professional summary. If it is longer than 3 sentences, be ruthless and shorten it. Don’t assume that a recruiter or hiring manager will read a lengthy paragraph. The sim here isn’t to tell the recruiter or hiring manager about yourself. That’s what the interview stages are for. This section of to confirm to the reviewer that you are an eligible candidate for the role.
Think of it like this. If this blog post started by saying “If you keep failing graduate interviews, this post is for you” you’d immediately think hmm no this isn’t quite what I’m looking for and you’d click away because you are looking for CV advice. This is exactly what will happen if you don’t make it clear from the beginning that you are a good fit for the graduate role you are applying for. That’s why you should be slightly amending your summary according to each role you are applying for.
3: Check your education section
Your educational background won’t necessarily contribute to you getting an interview as much as you might think so keep it brief and only include the essentials. You must show that you meet the academic requirements for the job. For graduate positions, this is usually a 2:1 degree (although many graduate recruiters have removed their academic requirements). Some graduate jobs specify what type of subject you should have studied.
Note: education is not the be-all and end-all. Graduate recruiters are increasingly aware that academic performance is not the best indicator or predictor of success in the workplace. Instead, work experience and skills are a much more reliable indicator of success. So keep the education section concise and only include information they need to see to confirm you meet the minimum requirements. Furthermore, your education won’t differentiate you much from other candidates. Even if you earned a first-class degree (which is an impressive achievement) thousands of other graduates across the country will have achieved the same.
INCLUDE: your degree subject, grade, university and dates attended. Potentially include 1 or 2 key modules if they are highly relevant to the job you are applying for. For example, if you studied digital marketing and you are applying for a job as a social media executive and you studied a module called “social media strategy” you may wish to include it, especially as this contains keywords that will likely be picked up by an ATS.
AVOID: don’t list all of your modules from the first year to the final year. This takes up far too much space on your CV and won’t boost your chances of being called for an interview.
Don’t include all of your educational history unless specified on the application. If you have a degree, the recruiter may assume you have a decent set of GCSEs and A-levels or equivalent. The companies that want to know your A-level subjects and grades and GCSEs will require you to input it on the online application form.
4: Improve your Work Experience Section
This is the most important section of your CV. This is where you will demonstrate that you have the right skills and are competent to perform well in the role.
This is your opportunity to stand out from the thousands of other applicants by showcasing how you have performed in past workplace settings. Make sure you quantify your achievements by outlining when you increased revenue, reduced costs, improved a process or solved a business problem.
INCLUDE:
-Action words at the beginning of each bullet point e.g improved, built, initiated, created
-Keywords relevant to the role you are applying for. Hint: use the job description to pick out the most important keywords such as skills and attributes required for the role.
-Metrics to quantify your achievements. E.g. increased sales by 40% in 3 months.
AVOID: Simply listing what you did in your previous roles. This doesn’t make it clear to the reviewer how well you performed.
5: Review
Now that you have gone through the previous steps and made great improvements to boost your chances of getting interviews, the next thing to do is to review your CV.
Review your CV through the lens of the recruiter or hiring manager.
-Is your contact details prominent and easy to find and contact you for an interview?
-Does the summary make it clear that you are the right type of candidate for the role?
-Is it clear that you meet the minimum academic requirements for the role?
-In the work experience section, have you quantified your achievements and included metrics?
Next, review it through the lens of an ATS
-Take a look at our blog post on how to review your CV before sending it.
-Does your CV contain keywords relating to the job description?
-Is the CV formatted correctly? Can it be parsed by an ATS?
Conclusion
Here at Graduate Coach, we help students and graduates to turn their degrees into a career.
We’ve seen thousands of graduate CVs over the years many of which have been sub-optimal for getting interviews.
To stand a chance of getting shortlisted for interviews your graduate CV must include information that demonstrates your skills and competencies for the role. This includes quantifying your achievements with metrics to make it clear how well you’ve performed in a work environment in the past. This enables the reviewer of your CV to predict how well you will perform in the role you are applying for.
If you’d like your CV reviewed by a Graduate Coach, get in touch with us today!
Featured image by Resume Genius on Unsplash
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