A CV is your first contact with the hiring company. It doesn’t just show your potential employer what you’ve done and achieved, but also what you can do. In this article, you’ll be able to find some tips and 15 best student resume examples to land your first job!
Your resume should catch the eyes of the typical recruiter who is wading through scores of applications. It should set you apart from the competitors so you can score the job you’re applying for.
Writing a CV is no easy task, especially when you’re overwhelmed with conflicting advice on the internet about how you should go about it.
But don’t worry! We’ve got you covered – let’s get started!
How Do You Write A Resume If You’re A Student?
Creating a great resume might seem like an overwhelming task. But with the help of our top CV writing tips, you will learn what to incorporate in your document to wow your potential employers.
The Do’s of Resume Writing
Keep It Short
The most effective CV is informative and concise. Get straight to the most relevant points, and don’t use more than two pages.
Tailor Your Resume to the Job
Recruiters are experienced and can identify a generic CV immediately. Instead of trying to fill your CV with achievements, skills, and strengths, focus more on the relevant set of skills, experience, and accomplishments that fit perfectly with the role you are interested in. This way, you can expound more on these attributes and demonstrate to the hiring manager why you will be an excellent addition to the company.
Also, hiring managers love resumes with numbers. For example, “I increased Apple Sale by 300%.” So, ensure you use them whenever possible.
Use the Proper Format and Structure
Before writing your student CV, determine the correct structure and format. Ensure your CV is readable and has a professional look. Although you can be creative with color and heading, don’t go overboard. Use simple and clear font to make your CV easy to read.
Optimize for Applicant Tracking Systems
Today most organizations use applicant tracking systems to discard unqualified applicants. The system scans a CV for keywords and phrases and mathematically scores them for relevance. It then sends out the most qualified applications to recruiters.
To ensure you pass the ATS and secure a chance for an interview, keep your CV format simple and include the right keywords.
Edit and Proofread
There’s nothing worse than a CV full of errors, both typos and grammatical. Such a CV will show the hiring manager you’re careless and don’t pay enough attention to the little details.
After writing your CV, edit and proofread it several times before sending it to your potential employer. Use the many online proofreading tools, but don’t over-rely on them too much. Sometimes, even the best spellchecker can miss a potentially embarrassing spelling mistake.
Alternatively, you can enlist the help of a human proofreader who can offer you constructive feedback about your CV’s content and layout.
The Don’ts of CV Writing
Tell A Lie
Even if you can get away with a lie, it doesn’t mean you should lie. Most hiring managers are diligent than ever before and often perform background checks. Even if you don’t get caught immediately, the lie will eventually come back to haunt you. And when this happens, you will lose your employer’s trust and even your job.
Forget a Cover Letter
One of the most common and biggest mistakes job seekers makes repeatedly is forgetting the cover letter. Even if a job doesn’t require a cover, still send one unless specifically asked not to.
A cover letter can prove incredibly valuable in presenting yourself to recruiters as a well-rounded candidate. This extra effort shows employers you’re more serious about the job and means you’re more likely to secure an interview.
Include Anything Confidential
It seems self-explanatory, but let’s just clarify it. When deciding to leave something on your CV, use the New York Times test. In simple terms, if you wouldn’t want it published next to your credentials on the front page of a major newspaper, get rid of it.
Example of a Good Student Resume:
Here’s a good example to help you get started:
How Can A Student Make A Resume With No Experience?
Is it possible to write a CV when you have no work experience?
Yes! Although It might seem like you have nothing to write about, you shouldn’t let that stop you. Keep in mind sometimes hiring managers are after more than just experience. So, you can use your CV to show them who you are and why you’re the perfect fit for the opportunity.
If you are having difficulty curating a CV because you have no experience, here are five tips to help you out:
Tailor the CV to The Job
When applying for a job with little or no professional experience, try to focus on your skill instead of the experience you don’t have. Employers find your skills more interesting.
It’s wise to have a pre-written list of skills and examples. When writing your CV, you can cross-reference different experiences to create several examples under each heading, with evidence to support your claims. By using examples, you can make your skill CV more powerful, attractive, and believable.
Scan and research your targeted job thoroughly to identify what skills and knowledge you can highlight in your CV.
Leverage Your Transferable Skills
Most hiring managers understand that most students have transferable skills. They don’t always expect them to have skills relevant to the job.
If you have no work experience, you can draw transferable workplace skills from your studies, class projects, and extracurricular activities. This allows you to show that you have valuable skills the employer is searching for.
You can also mention skills you might have learned in another job or industry that are relevant across the board.
Add a Cover Letter
Utilize a cover letter to provide your potential employer with more details about yourself and why you be a valuable addition to their team. Keep your cover letter professional, concise, and lead with a great opener.
Add Some Personality
Always show employers your personality and enthusiasm for the job through the CV, even when you don’t have work experience. Recruiters receive many job applications. Standing out from the competition might help you secure an interview.
Remember, besides work experience, employers are looking for individuals with the right personality to fit with the company culture.
Utilize the Right Keywords
As we mentioned earlier, most recruiters use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to find qualified applicants. The system looks for a specific set of keywords in the CV. Therefore, it’s important to mention skills and qualifications that contain keywords relevant to the job so you can pass the ATS.
If you’re looking for CV templates with no experience to design your CV, look at the example below.
15 Best Student Resume Examples to Land Your First Job
Here, you will find 15 student CV examples to help you design and focus your resume on a specific job. If you have already created your CV, use our CV templates for students to get new ideas and customize your document.
Simple Student Resume
From this example, you can see the student has used a simple and clear structure. The coloring and font are perfect, meaning the recruiter can read the document with ease. The student uses the personal statement section to sell himself to the employer in a short but attractive way. He also highlights the skills that match the job his applying for.
College Student CV
In this example, Michelle Evans uses her personal profile to introduce herself. She also describes herself and her ambition. In the work experience section, Evans describes the job she had already done. She mentions the primary responsibilities she undertook and some of the transferrable skills she gained.
University Student CV
Internship CV
Doing an internship is incredibly beneficial to a student’s career development. But often, these positions are very competitive. So a student might need to create a resume that stands out. Resume Templates for students might help you get an idea of how to structure your CV professionally.
In the example, you can see the student has expressed his desire to intern for the company. The student mentions what he will deliver if he secures the internships. When writing an internship CV or resume, it’s wise to sell yourself. You can also throw in some extracurricular activities, though drinking high amounts of alcohol doesn’t count.
M.A. Student Resume Example
Doing an internship is incredibly beneficial to a student’s career development. But often, these positions are very competitive. So a student might need to create a resume that stands out. Resume Templates for students might help you get an idea of how to structure your CV professionally.
In the example, you can see the student has expressed his desire to intern for the company. The student mentions what he will deliver if he secures the internships. When writing an internship CV or resume, it’s wise to sell yourself. You can also throw in some extracurricular activities, though drinking high amounts of alcohol doesn’t count.
Medical Student CV Example
Student Support Officer CV Example
Account Executive Student Resume Example
Lab Assistant Student Resume Example
Secondary Teacher Student CV
A good teacher-student CV should include all the education, certification, and relevant experience. Also, don’t forget teaching and social skills that show you’re a qualified educator.
If you’re currently a student teacher and you possess no certification yet. Clarify that by the time you’re done with your education, you will have your teaching certificate.
Keep in mind that the purpose of your CV is to convince your potential employer that you are the perfect candidate for the job. So list all your relevant experience and skills that make you the ideal candidate for the teaching position.
If you are having a hard time creating your student teacher CV, check out CV templates for students like the one above to get new ideas on how to write your document.
Clerk Typist Student Resume Example
IT Graduate CV Example
Entry Level Student CV Example
Personal Assistant Student Resume Example
Nursing Student CV Example
If you’re writing a nursing CV, make sure you include your education, licenses, certification, clinical work experience, and relevant technical skills related to the specific nursing field.
Don’t forget to include the relevant job position you have held before in the medical field. Your work experience section should also include key responsibilities and mention your achievements.
Example of a Generic CV Template
Why It’s a Great Template?
The template you select for writing your CV depends on your experience, education, and position you’re applying for. Dayjobs template provides you with all the must-have sections in a CV. The font and color make it easier to read the CV. The structure of the template allows students to present information in a professional and easy-to-read manner.
How You Can Customize it
This template from dayjob.com presents you with a simple, clear, and concise way to display your information. It contains a section on the bottom right where you can add your contact information. Your contact information is essential because if you qualify for an interview, the recruiter will want to contact you.
The template’s personal statement section on the top allows you to tell your potential employer about who you are and why you think you’re perfect for the position.
You can take advantage of the career history section to talk about your work experience and key responsibilities or duties relevant to the job.
In the education section, list your schools and the dates you attended them, or you expect to graduate. To personalize it, add three or four bullet points on your achievement, qualifications, or memberships while in college or university.
On the right side of the template, you can list your relevant professional and personal skills relating to the position you’re interested in. Students looking for CV templates with no experience might also use this template to create their documents.
Should You Include A Picture on Your CV?
Hiring managers always scrutinize all the elements of your CV. Therefore, the decision of including your photo is important. The truth is, there’s no right answer to this question. But generally, it’s considered a bad decision to add pictures on CVs.
A photo in your CV can entice recruiters to skim your document. But it can also create an ambiguous unprofessional look on your CV. There’s also a high chance you might get discriminated against based on your race, gender, age, etc.
For some individuals, including a photo on a CV is standard practice. But for others, it’s entirely foreign.
The decision to put a photo on your CV can depend on the country you are applying to work in. Don’t include a CV photo if you’re applying for a job in the U.S., U.K., or Ireland since these countries have strict anti-discrimination and labor laws. But also, this depends on the job you’re applying for. If it’s modeling and acting jobs, you might have to add a photo.
If you’re applying for a job in Austria, France, Germany, Spain, etc., you can add your photo to your job applications.
To help you decide whether to add a photo to your CV, let’s look at some pros and cons of including CV pictures while applying for a job.
Pros of Including a Picture on your CV
You will save employer’s time
Most employers will search for your photo through the internet. By including your image in your CV, you can save them time. However, remember, they might still review your LinkedIn or Facebook account.
It can show you’re well-presented
The employee’s look reflects the employer’s business. In theory, most employers favour candidates who’re well dressed and neatly groomed. But this is a stretch since a CV photo can’t assure an employer that a candidate will always be well dressed and neatly presented.
CVs with photos receive more attention
As humans, it’s our nature to get attracted to images and other visual elements. So, a professional-looking CV photo can capture the attention of the recruiter and lead to your success.
Cons of Including a Picture on your CV
It can be used to discriminate
A picture on your CV could cause discrimination based on your age, gender, race, etc. Your CV should help you secure a job interview. It should not offer your employer a reason to ignore your skill or experience by focusing on how you look.
It’s unnecessary
Your CV accommodates all your skills, experience, and qualifications within one of two pages. When you add a photo, it will take up room and make your CV look unprofessional. Use the room in your CV to sell your abilities and expertise instead of your appearance.
Images are not ATS-Friendly
Many companies and organizations use the applicant tracking system to manage and filter CVs. Photos in CVs could confuse the ATS, which only reads text, preventing it from highlighting you as a top candidate.
Closing Thoughts
A great student CV is valuable since it’s your first and maybe only direct communication with your potential employer. Therefore, it should be thought-out, designed, and written so it can make an immediate positive impact on hiring managers.
You can customize existing templates to match your profile and create a CV or resume that spells out your experience and skills and help you stand out from the competition. If you desire more information and additional resources on creating a great CV, consider visiting GrabJobs. At GrabJobs you can also find student jobs in Singapore that might be suitable for you to apply for.
