CourseToJob guide · content date . Tool instructions reflect the CourseToJob service. Editorial method.
Quick answer
Name the scheme or job in the profile, lead with education and one or two placements, and keep most graduate CVs to two pages. Skip generic “eager graduate” openers. Skip this page if you have three years in work already — you are not a graduate applicant anymore.
Other situations: Not for career changers with a decade of history (use the career-change guide) or for academic PhD CVs that need publications.
How do you tailor a CV for a graduate scheme?
Use their job title in line one, mirror the competencies they name (analysis, teamwork, delivery) with proof from placements, societies or research, and follow their page limit. Assessment centres will test the stories, so do not write competencies you cannot illustrate.
If the form has separate competency boxes, do not paste the same essay onto the CV. Point, do not duplicate. Graduate CV example.
How prominent should the degree be?
First after the profile while it is your strongest card. Include classification, relevant modules (three to six), and a dissertation line if it maps to the job. Drop module lists once you have two years of relevant work — they become clutter.
International degrees: add the UK-comparable class if you have a NARIC/ECCTIS statement; otherwise state the award as written and the country.
How do you write a short placement so it counts?
Treat eight weeks like a job: employer, dates, three bullets with scope. “Shadowed the team” is weak. “Reconciled 40 invoices a week under supervision and logged exceptions in Xero” is usable. If the placement was remote, say so once — it is a fact, not a branding exercise.
Internship-shaped page: internship CV.
What should graduates stop putting on a CV?
Stop listing every society membership without a role, every GCSE, and a photo. Stop a personal statement that could fit any scheme. Stop two pages of A-level module notes. The reader is hiring for a job, not marking your UCAS form.
Covering email: cover letter guide.
How does a scheme CV differ from a first job at an SME?
Schemes often demand two pages and competency language that will be tested at an assessment centre. An SME first job wants proof you can do the work next month: tools, a placement, a project. Do not send a competency novel to a ten-person company. Do not send a one-page hobby list to a scheme that published a two-page limit.
| Graduate scheme | SME / first role | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | Follow their page limit; two is common | One or two; proof over padding |
| Profile | Name the scheme | Name the job |
| Evidence | Competencies with stories | Tools and output |
| Form | Often a portal plus CV | Often email plus CV |
Example page: graduate CV example. Covering note: cover letter guide.
What if your degree class is not what you wanted?
Print the real classification. A 2:2 with a relevant dissertation and a strong placement beats a rounded-up 2:1 that HR will check. Lead with proof the class does not capture: a shipped project, a prize, a responsibility. Do not hide the class in a footnote if the advert asked for it — they will look. If the advert requires a 2:1 you do not have, skip that scheme.
International awards: state them as written, with country. Add a UK comparable class only if you have an ECCTIS statement. Do not invent a GPA. Student-shaped files still: student CV guide.