How to Write a Graduate CV

Lead with education — but make it specific

With limited work history, education is your strongest section, so put it near the top. Go beyond the degree name:

• Class of degree, if it helps you
• Three or four courses relevant to the job
• Your final-year project or dissertation title and what you found
• Awards, scholarships or leadership roles

Treat national service as a job

Your national service posting is work experience. Write the role you did, the organisation and the dates, then two to four bullets about your tasks and results. “Prepared monthly payroll summaries for 60 staff” says much more than “worked in the accounts department”.

Count everything that shows responsibility

These all belong on a graduate CV if you describe them properly:

• Internships and industrial attachment
• Part-time and holiday jobs, including family business work
• Student association, hall or church leadership roles
• Volunteering and community projects
• Personal projects: a website, a small business, research, a YouTube channel

A job that isn't in your field still shows reliability, customer skills and time management. Keep it short and focus on the transferable parts.

Write a focused summary

Two or three sentences: your degree, your strongest relevant experience or skill, and the kind of role you want. Avoid generic phrases like “seeking a challenging position in a reputable organisation” — they appear on thousands of CVs.

Example: “BSc Statistics graduate with national service experience cleaning and analysing survey data. Confident with Excel, SPSS and basic Python. Looking for an entry-level data or research assistant role.”

Skills that match the job

Read the job advert and list the skills it mentions that you genuinely have. Be specific about software and tools. If you've completed an online course, add it under Certifications.

See a complete graduate CV example →

Keep it to one page

Most graduate CVs fit on one page. If yours doesn't, remove secondary school details, shorten unrelated jobs to one line, and cut bullets that don't relate to the jobs you're applying for. See the CV format guide for more on length and layout.

Graduate CV checklist

• Name, phone (+233 format), professional email and town at the top
• A specific summary naming the role you want
• Education with relevant courses or project
• National service and any other experience, with results
• Specific skills, not just “hardworking”
• Referees who have agreed to speak for you, or “available on request”
• Saved as a PDF with your name in the file name