How to Write a Graduate CV That Gets Interviews (UK)

For Final-year or recently graduated from a UK university, applying for graduate schemes, internships or your first full-time role. Most first-CV mistakes come from writing about modules studied instead of what you actually DID at university: projects shipped, internships completed, societies you ran. Here's how to write a Graduate CV that gets read, plus a free tool that builds one for you in a few minutes.

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What counts as experience on a Graduate CV

The first CV question is always “what do I have to put on it?” The honest answer is: more than you think. For a graduate, everything on this list earns its place on the CV when described properly.

University internships, summer roles and sandwich-year placements
Dissertation or final-year project: name the topic, the methodology and the skills used
Society leadership: treasurer, marketing lead, society chair (with budget or headcount where applicable)
Part-time work held throughout university
Volunteer commitments that ran over months, especially in your target sector

What recruiters look for in the top third

A recruiter spends seven seconds with the top third of your CV before deciding whether to read on. For a graduate, the top third has to answer these questions instantly:

Your degree subject, classification (predicted or achieved) and university
One internship, placement or substantive project with named outcomes
Your target sector or function: graduate recruiters screen on this in the first 5 seconds

Words and phrases a Graduate CV should include

Applicant Tracking Systems and recruiters scan first CVs on exact-match terms. Hand-curated for this audience:

degree
dissertation
internship
placement year
research project
society leadership
group work
university
transferable skills
sandwich year

Before and after: one graduate claim

Weak

Studied for a degree and got involved in university life.

Strong

BSc Computer Science (predicted 2:1) at the University of Manchester, including a 12-week summer internship at a Manchester fintech building React components for the customer dashboard, plus 18 months as treasurer of the Student Tech Society managing a £4,000 annual budget across 9 events.

The weak version is what every graduate writes. The strong version names the degree classification, the university, the internship company, the work you actually did, the duration and the society role with budget responsibility. Four checkable facts a recruiter can act on instead of three vague phrases that any of 2 million UK graduates could write.

Build your Graduate CV in a few minutes

TAILOR’s CV Builder asks 13 simple questions about your school, experience, strengths and what you’re looking for, then builds a UK-format CV in a Word document for you to download and edit.

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Graduate CV FAQ

I haven't graduated yet. When can I start applying?

Start 6-12 months before you graduate. Most graduate schemes open in September-December for the following September intake, with rolling deadlines for assessment centres. Apply to your top 5-10 schemes early, save 5-10 more for the spring rounds and have a CV ready for non-scheme roles that hire year-round (smaller firms, agencies, startups).

Do I include school grades on a graduate CV?

A-Levels yes, in your education section under your degree. GCSEs as a single line ('8 GCSEs grades 6-9 including English and Maths') is enough. Recruiters check the headline academic story; once you have a degree, the GCSE detail no longer earns its own block.

What if I haven't done an internship?

Society leadership, dissertation work, group projects and part-time jobs all count when framed properly. A dissertation that involved primary research is interview-grade material. A society treasurer role with a real budget is interview-grade material. Don't apologise for the absent internship; lead with what you actually did.