How to Write a Graduate CV With No Experience (UK)

Recruiters on graduate schemes do not expect a long employment history. They are assessing potential, usually against a published set of competencies or strengths such as teamwork, communication, problem solving, commercial awareness, resilience and leadership. Your CV needs to show evidence of those, from any part of your life.

Check the entry requirements before you apply. Many schemes ask for a 2:1 or above, others accept a 2:2 or set no minimum classification, and some specify UCAS points or particular degree subjects. Requirements are set by each employer, so read the advert.

• Name and contact details: phone, a professional email address, town or city, and a LinkedIn profile if it is up to date.
• Personal statement: three or four lines on your degree, your strongest relevant skills and the type of graduate role you want.
• Education: above experience, because it is your most significant and recent achievement.
• Experience: placements, internships, part-time and vacation work, and volunteering.
• Projects and positions of responsibility: society committee roles, sports teams, course representative, student ambassador work.
• Skills: software, technical skills, languages and relevant certificates.
• Interests: optional, and only if they add evidence.

Give your degree title, university and dates, then your classification. The UK classifications are first-class honours (a 1st), upper second-class (2:1), lower second-class (2:2) and third-class (3rd). If you have not yet graduated, write 'predicted 2:1' or 'on track for a 2:1', provided that reflects your marks so far.

• List four to six relevant modules, especially for roles that draw on your subject. Include marks if they are strong.
• Describe your dissertation or final-year project in one or two lines: the question, the method and the result. 'Dissertation: analysed five years of local air quality data using R to assess the impact of a low-traffic scheme (awarded 72)' shows research, analysis and software skills at once.
• Mention academic prizes, scholarships and study abroad.
• Add A-levels with subjects and grades, and summarise GCSEs in one line, including English and Maths, as some employers set minimum requirements.

What if your classification is lower than you hoped? You do not have to list it, but employers will usually ask, so omission only delays the question. A better approach is to state it and let stronger evidence surround it: high marks in relevant modules, a good dissertation result, or substantial experience alongside your studies. If there were genuine mitigating circumstances, many employers provide a place on the application form to explain them.

Most graduates have more evidence than they realise. The task is to describe it the way you would describe a job: what you did, at what scale, and what came of it.

• Placement year or sandwich placement: treat it exactly as a job, with job title, employer type, dates and achievement bullets. It is likely to be the strongest item on your CV.
• Internships, vacation schemes, insight days and spring weeks: include them, even short ones, with what you worked on and learned.
• Group projects: 'Led a team of five on a consultancy-style project for a local business, presenting recommendations to the owner.'
• Society roles: 'Treasurer, Hiking Society: managed a budget for 120 members, introduced online payments and ended the year in surplus.'
• Sports teams: captaincy, organising fixtures and coaching all show leadership and commitment.
• Course representative or student ambassador: evidence of communication, reliability and representing others.
• Volunteering and fundraising: state the cause, your role and any result.

Bar work, retail, hospitality, tutoring and warehouse shifts all count. Graduate recruiters value them because they show reliability, customer contact and the ability to balance work with study. Focus on responsibility and trust, not on a list of tasks.

• 'Served customers in a busy city-centre bar, handling cash and card payments and resolving complaints.'
• 'Trusted as a keyholder, opening and closing the shop and cashing up at the end of the day.'
• 'Trained four new team members on till procedures and food hygiene standards.'
• 'Worked 16 hours a week throughout second and third year while maintaining a 2:1 average.'

Keep it specific to the role. For example: 'Economics graduate (2:1) with a strong grounding in statistics and a final-year dissertation using regression analysis in Stata. Developed client-facing and teamwork skills through two years of part-time retail work and as treasurer of a student society. Seeking a place on a graduate analyst programme in financial services.'

Avoid phrases such as 'recent graduate looking for an opportunity to develop my skills'. Employers know you want to develop. Tell them what you bring.

List the practical skills you can genuinely use: statistical or design software, programming languages, laboratory techniques, spreadsheet skills, foreign languages with your level, and a full UK driving licence if relevant.

Then tailor. Graduate employers publish the competencies or strengths they assess, and your CV should offer at least one clear example for each. Many large schemes also use online application forms, psychometric tests, video interviews and assessment centres. Your CV needs to be consistent with the answers you give on the form, and the examples on it will often be the ones you expand on later in the process, so choose ones you can talk about comfortably.

Finally, use your university careers service. Most offer CV reviews and mock interviews, and many continue to support graduates for a period after graduation.

• Leading with a thin employment section and burying the degree on page two.
• Listing every module studied, instead of the relevant few.
• Describing society and project roles in one vague line with no outcome.
• Stretching to two pages with wide spacing. A single full page is stronger.
• An unprofessional email address or an out-of-date LinkedIn profile.
• Sending the same CV to every scheme without reflecting the employer's competencies.
• Spelling errors, which suggest a lack of care to a recruiter reading many similar applications.