Finding a job as a student can be challenging… Especially when you have little or no experience
But having a strong student CV will get you noticed by employers and help you to land the interviews you deserve.
This student CV template and 10 student CV examples show you exactly how to create an interview-winning CV, no matter what your current situation is.
There’s also a detailed student CV writing guide at the bottom.
Contents
Student CV examples |
How to write a student CV |
Student CV template (With part time experience)
Why this CV is effective
Writing a school leaver CV is a big challenge, especially when you have no work experience, but all of the job adverts seem to be asking for experienced people.
Here’s how this candidate overcomes this barrier and creates an attractive CV.
The profile/personal statement
This 16 year old candidate doesn’t have any full time work experience in the field they are hoping to work in, so they use their profile to sell their academic achievements and transferable student skills.
The purpose of the profile (or personal statement) is to catch recruiters’ attention as they skim through all of the CVs in their inbox. This profile contains lots of information around highest level of qualifications, subjects that are relevant to their target roles, and extra-curricular activities
They also clearly mention their desire to enter the finance industry, and demonstrate why they have the necessary skills to succeed in it.
Quick tip: If you struggle with spelling and grammar, try our quick-and-easy CV Builder
The core skills and achievements
The core skills and achievements are in the bullet pointed section under the profile, and as you can see, the points are very short and sharp. This ensures that they can be seen from a quick glimpse of the CV and they gives recruiters a snapshot of this person’s skills.
Good skills and achievements to include are things like:
- Highest qualification level
- Skills relevant to the industry you are targeting
- School teams and clubs
- Positions of responsibility
- Awards and recognition
Education section
As a school leaver, your education is going to be of great interest to employers, so you should include details of your subjects and grades.
You can even include details of any coursework or projects that might be relevant to the jobs you are targeting.
Work experience
This teenager candidate’s work experience consists of one part time kitchen role which isn’t relevant to the finance roles they are applying for. However, this doesn’t stop them from using the role to their advantage.
Throughout the role description, the candidate showcases lots of transferable workplace skills such as communication, teamwork, and problem solving.
The role is structured for easy navigation by including an outline at the top, followed by bullet pointed responsibilities.
Student CV (no experience )
Top tips for writing a CV with no experience
- Research your target jobs thoroughly to find out exactly what skills and knowledge you need to highlight in your CV
- Draw out transferable workplace skills from your school work, studies, projects and extra-curricular activities to prove that you have valuable skills that employers are looking for
- If you have any hobbies or interests that are relevant or impressive (such as sports teams, writing, club membership, charity work etc.) add them to your CV to give it a boost
- For a quick way to add experience to your CV, pick up a short term voluntary role in your local area
College student CV
University student CV / Graduate
Why this CV is effective
As a graduate, you are competing against lots of other similar candidates to land graduate jobs and internships – so it’s important to get your CV (curriculum vitae) right and make it stand out from the pack.
The personal statement / profile
As a graduate, it’s vital to make recruiters stick to your CV when they first open the document. This candidate does that by writing a powerful personal statement which summarises all of the skills they have picked up in university, work placements, and personal projects.
It’s short, sharp and punchy, which makes it an interesting read, and it’s heavily tailored to the needs of the candidate’s target employers, by including plenty of relevant terms and key words.
Core skills and achievements
To give readers a quick snapshot of their most in-demand abilities, this candidate has included a bullet pointed list of some impressive skills and achievements which relate to their target roles.
Related projects
As a graduate with limited experience, it’s wise to highlight some relevant projects that you’ve undertaken from university, school, or personal work. It’s a great way to compensate for a lack of work experience in your field.
Education
This candidate is keen to land a product design role, so they have gone into huge detail around the product design elements of their studies. They have highlighted subjects and modules to give recruiters a deep insight into their technical knowledge.
Work experience
Whilst this candidate’s work experience is not relevant to the roles he is applying for, he still uses them to demonstrate his ability to work in a team environment and contribute to an employer. Roles are well structured and broken up into easy-to-read segments so that employers can read them quickly and find the info they need.
You can also check out our example CV for PhD applications
Internship CV
Finance student CV
Law student CV
Masters student CV
Medical student CV
See also: Student nurse CV
How to write a student CV
Writing your student CV is a lot easier when you have sample CVs and CV templates, but it’s still important to understand what recruiters want to see in your CV – and the type of information you need to get across.
These tips will help you perfect your student CV and land a junior role or apprenticeship with a good salary and progression opportunities.
Contents
Student CV structure and format
Firstly, you must structure and format your CV in a fashion that makes it easy to read, and gives it a professional outlook.
Use a word processor like Google Docs to create your CV and check out this overview of how to layout your CV and the sections you need to include.
Formatting tips
- Keep the font simple and clear – don’t be tempted to use fancy fonts that might be tricky to read.
- The colour scheme should be toned down and clear with black text on a white background creating the easiest reading experience.
- Text should be broken up as much as possible to ensure that busy recruiters and hiring managers can digest the information quickly
- Use big bold headings to clearly define sections and break the information up further
Do your research
Before you start writing your CV it’s crucial to find out what your target employers want to see in a candidate.
Without knowing the skills and knowledge that are required for the jobs you are applying for, it will be difficult to know what you should populate your CV with.
I would advise heading over to the job sites and scanning through plenty of adverts to find out what the most important skills in your niche are.
CV personal statement/profile
Your personal statement or profile is an introductory paragraph which sits at the top of your CV, and is designed to give employers a high-level summary of what you can offer them
The personal statement is arguably the most important part of your CV because it is the first part of the CV that a recruiter’s gaze will be drawn to – if it’s weak, they may skip on to the next CV in their inbox.
So, ensure that your personal statement is packed with relevant skills and gives a good overview of your abilities – this way it will persuade recruiters to read the rest of your CV.
What to include in your student CV profile
- Summary of your education – Being a student, your education is going to be of great interest to hiring managers, so add a high-level overview of your education to your profile, focusing on your highest levels of achievement and qualifications that are relevant to your target jobs.
- In-demand skills – To ensure that your CV gets noticed by recruiters, you need to pack your profile with skills that are important to the jobs you are applying for. Read the job descriptions of the roles you are applying to and include as many of the essential skills as you can (you could have gained these through studies, work experience or even personal achievements)
- Work experience – As a student you might not have much (or any) work experience, but anything you have done should be included in your profile because recruiters love to see it. This could include school work placements, internships, freelancing or even volunteering.
Your education section
As a student it’s unlikely that you will have a lot of experience to write about, so your education section will provide you with more opportunities to write about your skills and knowledge.
Add your education section near the top of your CV, unless you have some highly relevant work experience that will be more interesting to employers (e.g. a work placement within the industry you are applying to)
Formatting your education section
Your education needs to be easy for recruiters to navigate, so break it down into clear sections for each qualification, using bullet points and bold headings.
Head each entry with;
- Name of qualification and subject (e.g. GCSE in Maths)
- Institution studied at (school, college, university etc.)
- Dates Studied
And for your most recent and relevant qualifications you should expand by adding details on:
- Modules
- Grades
- Coursework
- Projects
- Awards and achievements
This will allow you to provide employers with plenty of detail on the skills and knowledge you picked up, along with the achievements you made.
For older and less relevant qualifications you don’t have to provide as much detail because employers will be less interested. For example, if you have a marketing degree and are applying to marketing roles, it will be important to add lots of information on your marketing degree, but your primary school studies will not be as interesting to readers.
Adding your work experience (paid or unpaid)
As a student, it can be difficult to find experience to place in your CV or resume. – especially if you don’t have any paid work experience.
But the key to adding work experience to your student CV is being creative.
The work experience that you include in your CV doesn’t have to be limited to full-time paid jobs only.
Think outside of the box and include any instances where you have shown initiative outside of your studies, such as:
- Volunteer work – Volunteering for a local or online business in your industry can be a great way to learn relevant skills and add them to your CV.
- School/University work placements – If you have done any work placements within your studies these will give you a great chance to prove your skill set and work ethic.
- Freelancing – Getting freelance work is easier than ever now, thank to sites like Fiverr and PPH. Set up a profile and start offering freelance work, then add some of your projects to your CV.
Writing about these types of activities will give you plenty of opportunities to showcase workplace skills and prove you are a motivated candidate.
How to structure work experience in your CV
Use the structure below to write about your work experience and provide recruiters with a pleasant reading experience, whilst highlighting your skills and achievements.
Hobbies and interests
When you don’t have much work experience, your hobbies and interests can be used to demonstrate lots of workplace skills and qualities.
Add interesting and constructive hobbies that will demonstrate a range of skills and personal traits, like the following
- Playing for a sports team – Shows teamwork, dedication, leadership…
- Being a member of a club – Shows organisation, passion, consistency…
- Writing a blog – Shows writing skills, pro-activity, tech knowledge…
- World travel – Shows confidence, coordination, people skills …
Avoid common passive hobbies like…
- Watching TV
- Eating out
- Going to the cinema
They are unlikely to impress anyone.
Check out my video on how to add hobbies and interests to your CV..
Using your student CV template
Once you’ve written a winning student CV (or student resume) it’s time to start landing job interviews.
Apply for jobs on multiple job websites with a strong cover letter, as well as searching for your target companies and sending them emails speculatively. You can learn how to write a cover letter with my detailed guide.
You would also benefit from attending jobs fairs locally and in major cities.
Job hunting is never easy, so don’t give up if you don’t get responses straight away. Be patient, keep making applications and adjust your approach based on feedback.
Stay positive and you’ll be in your dream job in no time.
You can also try our editable CV template.
Good luck with the job search!
PS. You can also use an online CV creator or a blank CV template.