How to write a CV for a graduate programme

Check you're eligible before you write

Graduate programmes set entry rules: the degree or field, the year you graduate, a minimum average, and sometimes citizenship or a driver's licence. Read them first. If you're not sure whether you qualify, for example because you're finishing an Honours year or changed degrees, ask the recruiter.

Don't stretch your CV to fit the rules. Your graduation date and marks are easy to check against your academic record, and a mismatch can end an application that would otherwise have gone well.

Use a layout recruiters can scan

Here is a graduate programme CV layout you can copy, in this order:

1. Name and contact details: cellphone number, email address, city, and a LinkedIn link if your profile is up to date.
2. Profile: two or three lines with your degree, when you graduate, your average and the programme you're applying for.
3. Education: degree, university, expected graduation date, average and the modules that relate to the programme. Matric only briefly, if at all.
4. Experience: vac work, internships, part-time jobs and tutoring, newest first.
5. Leadership and involvement: committees, societies, sport and volunteering.
6. Projects: your final-year or research project, and any others that match the programme.
7. Skills and languages: software, programming, and the languages you speak.
8. References: two people who have agreed to be contacted, such as a lecturer or a vac work supervisor.

Keep it to two pages at most, in one column, and save it as a PDF.

Write every line as action and result

Graduate recruiters read for evidence. Start each line with what you did and end with what came of it, using a number where you have a true one. "Responsible for council finances" tells them little; "Managed a R180 000 budget across 14 societies" tells them the size of the responsibility.

Match the competencies they list

Graduate ads usually name the qualities they screen for: numeracy, communication, problem-solving, teamwork, leadership. Find a true line on your CV for each one, and reorder your CV for each programme. The same tutoring job can show communication to a bank and teamwork to a consultancy.

Vac work and internships you've done count for a lot here. If you're still building them, the vac work CV guide shows how to describe them.

Make the most of your final-year project

If you're finishing your degree, your final-year or research project is often your best evidence of independent work. Give it its own entry: the question, what you did and what you found, in two lines. If it relates to the programme's work, put it near the top.

Only include what you can talk about

Many graduate programmes follow the CV screen with online tests, a video interview and an assessment day. Anything on your CV can come up in an interview, so every line should be something you can explain with an example. That's one more reason never to add what you haven't done.