Politics Graduate CV example

Congratulations, you’ve graduated! Now it’s time to jump into the working world and put your knowledge to good use.

The great news is a politics degree can open doors to a variety of exciting career paths. The problem is, you need to sell it effectively on your CV if you hope to get started.

To help you do this, we’ve created a step-by-step guide that will show you how to write a persuasive and engaging application, complete with a politics graduate CV example.

 

 

CV templates 

 

Politics Graduate CV example

CV templates 

CV templates 

 

Use this CV example as a guide to formatting and structuring your Politics Graduate CV, so that busy recruiters can easily digest your information and determine your suitability for the role.

It also provides some insight into the key skills, experience and qualifications you need to highlight.

 

 

Politics Graduate CV layout and format

Your CV is the first impression you’ll make on anybody who reads it.

A disorganised, cluttered and barely-readable CV could seriously decrease your chances of landing interviews, so it’s essential to make sure yours is slick, professional and easy to navigate.

You can do this by using a clear structure and formatting your content with some savvy formatting techniques – check them out below:

 

 

Tips for formatting your Politics Graduate CV

• Length: If you want to hold the reader’s attention and ensure your CV isn’t yawn-worthy, it’s best to stick to two sides of A4 or less. This is more than enough room to highlight why you’re a good match for the role – anything more can quickly become tedious!

• Readability: To help recruiters quickly skim through your CV, it’s important to format your section headings with bold or a different colour font and break up lengthy paragraphs into short sharp bullet points. This enables them to easily identify important information and assess your suitability.

• Design: When it comes to CV design, it’s best to keep things simple and sleek. While elaborate designs certainly command attention, it’s not always for the right reasons! Readability is key, so whatever you choose to do, make sure you prioritise readability above everything.

• Photos: Profile photos or aren’t a requirement for most industries, so you don’t need to add one in the UK – but if you do, just make sure it looks professional

 

Quick tip: Creating a professional CV style can be difficult and time-consuming when using Microsoft Word or Google Docs. To create a winning CV quickly, try our quick-and-easy CV Builder and use one of their eye-catching professional CV templates.

 

 

CV templates 

 

CV structure

Divide your CV into the following major sections when writing it:

• Name and contact details – Head your CV with your name and contact details, to let the reader know who you are and how to contact you.

• CV profile – A brief paragraph which summarises your skills and experience and highlights why you’re a good match for the role.

• Core skills list – A snappy, bullet-pointed list of your most relevant skills.

• Work experience – A structured list of your work experience in reverse chronological order.

• Education – A summary of any relevant qualifications or professional training you’ve completed.

• Hobbies and interests – An optional section, which should only be used if your hobbies are relevant to the jobs you’re applying to.

 

Now you understand the basic layout of a CV, here’s what you should include in each section of yours.

 

Contact Details

 

Write your contact details in the top corner of your CV, so that they’re easy to find but don’t take up too much space.

You only need to list your basic details, such as:

• Mobile number
• Email address
• Location – Don’t list your full address. Your town or city, such as ‘Norwich’ or ‘Coventry’ is perfect.
• LinkedIn profile or portfolio URL – Remember to update these before listing them on an application.

 

Politics Graduate CV Profile

Your CV profile is basically a short introductory paragraph, which summarises your key selling points and highlights why you’d make a good hire.

So, write a well-rounded summary of what you do, what your key skills are, and what relevant experience you have.

It needs to be short, snappy and punchy and, ultimately, entice the reader to read the rest of your CV.

 

 

CV profile writing tips:

• Make it short and sharp: Recruiters have piles of CVs to read through and limited time to dedicate to each, so it pays to showcase your abilities in as few words as possible. 3-4 lines is ideal.

• Tailor it: If recruiters don’t see your suitability within a few seconds, they may close your CV straight away. Your CV profile should closely match the essential requirements listed in the job ad, so make sure to review them before you write it.

• Don’t add an objective: Want to talk about your career goals and objectives? While the profile may seem like a good space to do so, they’re actually much better suited to your cover letter.

• Avoid generic phrases: Cheesy clichès and generic phrases won’t impress recruiters, who read the same statements several times per day. Impress them with your skill-set, experience and accomplishments instead!

 

Example CV profile for Politics Graduate

 

What to include in your Politics Graduate CV profile?

• Experience overview: Showcase your aptitude for the job you are aiming for by giving a brief summary of your past work history, including the industries you have worked in, the kinds of employers you have served, and the roles you have held.

• Targeted skills: Ensure that your profile highlights your key skills that are most relevant to your Politics Graduate, and tailor them to match the specific job you are applying for. To do this, refer to the job description to closely align your skills with their requirements.

• Key qualifications: If the jobs you are applying to require candidates to have certain qualifications, then you must add them in your profile to ensure they are seen by hiring managers.

 

Quick tip: If you are finding it difficult to write an attention-grabbing CV profile, choose from hundreds of pre-written profiles across all industries, and add one to your CV with one click in our quick-and-easy CV Builder. All profiles are written by recruitment experts and easily tailored to suit your unique skillset.

 

Core skills section

Create a core skills section underneath your profile to spotlight your most in-demand skills and grab the attention of readers.

This section should feature 2-3 columns of bullet points that emphasise your applicable skills for your target jobs. Before constructing this section, review the job description and compile a list of any specific skills, specialisms, or knowledge required.

 

 

Important skills for your Politics Graduate CV

 

Quick tip: Our quick-and-easy CV Builder has thousands of in-demand skills for all industries and professions, that can be added to your CV in seconds – This will save you time and ensure you get noticed by recruiters.

 

 

Work experience section

Next up is your work experience section, which is normally the longest part of your CV.

Start with your current (or most recent) job and work your way backwards through your experience.

Can’t fit all your roles? Allow more space for your recent career history and shorten down descriptions for your older roles.

 

 

Structuring each job

Recruiters will be keen to gain a better idea of where you’ve worked and how you apply your skill-set in the workplace.

However, if they’re faced with huge, hard-to-read paragraphs, they may just gloss over it and move onto the next application.

To avoid this, use the simple 3-step role structure, as shown below:

 

 

Outline

Firstly, give the reader some context by creating a punchy summary of the job as a whole.

You should mention what the purpose or goal of your role was, what team you were part of and who you reported to.

 

Key responsibilities

Use bullet points to detail the key responsibilities of your role, highlighting hard skills, software and knowledge wherever you can.

Keep them short and sharp to make them easily digestible by readers.

 

Key achievements

To finish off each role and prove the impact you made, list 1-3 stand out achievements, results or accomplishments.

This could be anything which had a positive outcome for the company you worked for, or perhaps a client/customer.
Where applicable, quantify your examples with facts and figures.

 

Sample job description for a Politics Graduate CV

 

Quick tip: Create impressive job descriptions easily in our quick-and-easy CV Builder by adding pre-written job phrases for every industry and career stage.

 

CV templates 

 

Education and qualifications

Although there should be mentions of your highest and most relevant qualifications earlier on in your CV, save your exhaustive list of qualifications for the bottom.

If you’re an experienced candidate, simply include the qualifications that are highly relevant to Politics Graduate roles.

However, less experienced candidates can provide a more thorough list of qualifications, including A-Levels and GCSEs.

You can also dedicate more space to your degree, discussing relevant exams, assignments and modules in more detail, if your target employers consider them to be important.

 

Hobbies and interests

Although this is an optional section, it can be useful if your hobbies and interests will add further depth to your CV.

Interests which are related to the sector you are applying to, or which show transferable skills like leadership or teamwork, can worth listing.

On the other hand, generic hobbies like “going out with friends” won’t add any value to your application, so are best left off your CV.

 

Creating a strong Politics Graduate CV requires a blend of punchy content, considered structure and format, and heavy tailoring.

By creating a punchy profile and core skills list, you’ll be able to hook recruiter’s attention and ensure your CV gets read.

Remember that research and relevance is the key to a good CV, so research your target roles before you start writing and pack your CV with relevant skills.

Best of luck with your next application!