Graduate curriculum vitae (CV) writing

The lecture on how to write a good graduate curriculum vitae (CV) was given by Clare Brass, who is an expert in recruitment and employability coordinator in Bangor University.

Information that employers & universities are looking for

A graduate CV is an indispensable tool for applying the first job or further studying such as postgraduate degrees after the graduation. Therefore, it will be important for us to understand the information that needs to be transferred to different people through CV.

• To employers or companies (skill-based CV)

  When you try to apply for a job, the employer will usually check whether you have the desirable qualifications or skills for the job. They will focus on your work experiences and want to see your good work ethic, your potential and enthusiasm for the role and your good understanding for the applied job.

• Touniversities and research centers (academic-based CV)

  Unlike job application, the universities and research centers will mainly focus on the academic achievements. For instant, the education level and prizes achieved during your studying career. It will be important to show your research interests, experiences and professional trainings you have if you are trying to apply for a research position.

Structure for a CV

  According to the data from National Citizen Service, recruiters from big companies will usually spend 8.8 seconds on each CV. So, it is important for us to post a well formatted, informative CV to make sure our information and desire to the job or research position are efficiently delivered.

A good structured CV should have:

• Covering Letters (Only for a specific job)

• Personal details

• Academic education and qualifications

• Work experiences (with several detailed explanation or describing)

• Additional information (e.g. Interests, voluntary activities, skills, achievements, etc.)

• Referee (if required)

Type of language should be used

  Apart from the format, it will also be helpful to use engaging languages during the CV writing. Because you need to show a positive, professional characteristic to employers. For instant, when describing personal qualities, words like hard-working, experienced, versatile, practical should be used.

Also, when we try to apply for a job that require teamwork or management abilities, using words like motivated, supervised and managed in previous work experiences section or skills section might be helpful.

Personal thoughts

  The lecture about how to write graduate CV is quite detailed and helpful, it helped me to modify my CV for postgraduate degree and summer internship application and clearly demonstrated the key elements required for a good CV. The structure being mentioned in the lecture content helped me to organize my personal details and information better. Also, the suggestions about adding descriptions and details in work experiences section helps me to make the content well-supported and explanatory.

Short video about how to write a powerful CV