If you are a school leaver seeking your first job, you are probably worried that your lack of work experience will hinder your chances against other candidates. A further obstacle you may encounter as a school leaver writing a CV is not having enough content to create even a one-page CV.
Here we show you how to build an effective school leaver’s CV that demonstrates your professionalism, abilities, and skills, setting you up for the application, interview, and job offer success. We also encourage you to check out our school leaver CV template for inspiration, layout, and formatting.
Write a personal statement
The best school leaver CVs begin with a personal statement bespoke to the job role in question. You don’t necessarily need to rewrite your personal statement completely, but making a few adjustments, edits, and tweaks can make all the difference and, most crucially, achieve relevancy.
Your personal statement should contain information on who you are, what you can offer, and your professional aspirations. If you include examples that quantify your skills and abilities, you will pass the first CV writing hurdle with flying colours.
What to include within a personal statement on a CV
Highlight your skills instead of a minimal work history
Your work history may be minimal or non-existent, but that doesn’t mean that you haven’t learned valuable and transferable skills. You should pick out the skills the employer is mentioning in their job description and create examples of how you have utilised these in the past. Hard skills, such as IT proficiency, and soft skills, such as problem solving and communication, are often high on an employer’s checklist.
How to identify the skills I should include on my CV
-> DOWNLOAD A FREE SCHOOL LEVER CV TEMPLATE
Expand upon your education with modules and projects
You should start with your most recent educational achievements and work back to your GCSEs. Essential information includes grades or predicted results. Within your education, you will have developed work and interpersonal skills. You can demonstrate their practical application by expanding upon the modules and projects of your degree, A-levels, GCSEs, or diploma.
What education and qualifications should I include on my CV?
Include relevant interests & hobbies
Your interests and hobbies can demonstrate your personality, mindset, and abilities. If you haven’t partaken in extracurricular activities, you could write a blog on topics relevant to your intended career. It could be a DIY how-to if you want to work in construction or the latest fashion trends if you want to work in design or retail.
If your hobby or interest does not make a case for why you would be an excellent candidate and employee, it is okay to leave it out.
Should I include hobbies on my CV?
Include minor work experience
Even short, part-time, or seasonal work experience is a superb CV addition. However, if you have no work experience, you could be proactive and volunteer to work for a local business or charity.
How much job history should I include on my CV?
-> DOWNLOAD A FREE SCHOOL LEVER CV TEMPLATE
References on request
Stating references are available on request is perfectly fine and the modern standard. It would help if you prepared for reference requests by considering credible sources, such as a career coach, teacher, or close family friend.
Should I include references on my CV?
Further CV advice
Our free CV templates and career advice provide an excellent opportunity to prepare yourself for writing a CV, attending interviews, and starting a new career. We recommend researching each company and carefully reading their job description to create a bespoke CV that hits all the right notes. Spending a few moments and editing your CV to the opportunity will significantly improve your chances of being called in for a job interview.
CV template examples
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