Science Graduate CV example

Whether you’re aiming for a role in research, data, quality control, or something outside the lab entirely, your CV needs to present you as more than just a recent grad. It should showcase your potential and your ability to contribute meaningfully in a working environment.

This guide covers the essentials when it comes to writing a CV, to help you go from degree-holder to interview-getter.

Your CV is a professional document, not a dissertation – and no recruiter wants to wade through a dense wall of text. A structured layout helps them pick out your qualifications, skills, and relevant experience quickly and easily. You’re competing against a huge job market, so anything that makes life easier for recruiters is going to be a plus.

Here’s the structure to follow:

• Name and contact details – Keep these personal details – and an optional photo – at the top so a potential employer can reach out to you.
• Profile – Immediately draw in the recruiter with a brief summary of your skills and experience.
• Core skills – Briefly highlight those qualities which make you the best candidate.
• Work experience – List any previous roles you’ve held in reverse chronological order, with your most recent first.
• Education – Detail the key modules and courses which have prepared you for the world of work.
• Additional info – This optional section can include professional memberships, awards, or hobbies that showcase your suitability for the role.
  

Formatting might feel boring, but in CV terms, it’s pure chemistry – the right structure gets the right reaction, so follow these tips to make your CV as readable as possible. Make use of bullet points in your experience section to break things up. Keep your font clear and professional – no novelty typefaces – and label sections with bold, easy-to-spot headings. Two pages is your upper limit when it comes to length. Good presentation shows attention to detail, and in the sciences, that counts for a lot.

Your personal statement (or CV profile) is a short introductory paragraph to your CV. It’s your first opportunity to connect the dots between your degree, your experience, and your future ambitions. Employers know you’ve just graduated – but they still want to see relevance and value.

The tone should be forward-looking and tailored to the type of job you’re targeting. If you’re applying for lab work, public health, scientific sales, or something totally outside your field, steer your CV profile accordingly. 

Include the following:

• Where you studied – Mention your university and degree title to give immediate academic context.
• Your top qualifications – Highlight your highest level of education or any additional certificates you earned during or after your degree.
• Essential skills – Summarise transferable skills like research, analysis, data handling, or report writing.
• Technical knowledge – Briefly mention any relevant specialisms or scientific areas you covered, if applicable to the role.
• Value delivered – Indicate how your academic background, placements, or projects make you a capable candidate in a real-world setting.
  

This section gives recruiters a quick scan of your most job-relevant abilities. Focus on hard skills and technical strengths – things that match up with what employers are actually asking for in job ads.

These might include data analysis, report writing, lab techniques, software tools like Excel, Python, or SPSS, or even things like quality assurance or statistics, depending on the path you’re pursuing. 

The aim is to reflect the tangible, useful skills you can bring to a team or company, not soft descriptors like “team player” or “quick learner.”

As a recent graduate, this is one of the most important sections on your CV. Include your most recent degree first, and keep the information concise but relevant. Mention the course title, the institution, and the dates attended.

You should also expand on relevant modules, projects, or dissertations – especially if they relate directly to the job you’re applying for. You need to compensate for your lack of real-world experience, so make it obvious how your education has contributed to your suitability.

Example education sections

What to include in your education section

For each qualification, add the following info:

• Qualification & organisation – Name the institution, for example the university, where you earned the qualification.
• Dates studied – Give the start and end month and year of each course.
• Extra details – Expand upon a select few specific modules which are especially relevant to the roles you’re applying for.

Whether you’ve had part-time roles, internships, or placements during your degree, your experience section should show evidence of responsibility and initiative. Even unrelated jobs can support your application if they show transferable strengths: don’t leave anything out.

List each work experience in reverse chronological order. Start with a short paragraph summarising the role and the context (what the company did, what your position was), followed by bullet points that detail your responsibilities and achievements. If you completed a placement as part of your degree, this can also go here.

• Outline – Describe the organisation, your role, and the general focus of your work – whether it was lab-based, customer-facing, or admin-heavy.
• Responsibilities – Use action words like “assisted” and “analysed.” For example: “assisted with sample preparation in compliance with safety protocols” or “analysed survey data using Excel and produced graphs for reporting.”
• Achievements – Include any results, contributions, or improvements you made – even small wins like improving processes, helping with audits, or speeding up a task.

For science graduates, the Additional Information section adds value by showcasing broader skills and interests that don’t always fit under academic or lab experience. It helps demonstrate your curiosity, creativity, communication skills, and commitment to continued learning – all of which are attractive to employers, especially in research, technical, or analytical roles.

Good additional info for Science Graduates

Additional info example