Fresh Graduate Resume Guide: Turning What You Have Into Evidence

Most graduate resumes describe categories: “Relevant coursework”, “Part-time work”, “Volunteering”. Recruiters are scanning for evidence of things they will have to train you to do. Categories do not provide evidence; specific contributions do.

You almost certainly have more usable material than you think: group projects where you did the work nobody else wanted, a part-time shift where you handled something outside your duties, a society role where you ran an event, a dissertation constraint that forced a decision.

• Group coursework — which module did you lead, and what did you produce?
• Individual projects — what constraint did you work under, and what did you trade off?
• Part-time and retail work — did you handle returns, train anyone, order stock, deal with a complaint?
• Volunteering and societies — did you organise, budget, recruit, or handle a difficult person?
• Care responsibilities — coordination, scheduling, problem-solving under time pressure. Say it plainly.
• Personal projects — anything you built, ran, coached, or maintained.

Write each one as a single sentence in the STAR Result form before you turn it into a bullet. If the Result sentence is empty, dig further — the outcome is usually hiding in a detail you considered obvious.

For most graduate applications, one page is enough and two is a liability. The constraint forces you to choose, and choosing is a signal of judgement.

1. 1Header

   Name, location, email, phone, and a link if relevant. No date of birth, nationality or marital status — they are not asked for and modern UK/EU/US screening does not want them.

2. 2One-line positioning

   What you are aiming for plus the two or three things you can genuinely support. Not a personality statement.

3. 3Experience and projects

   Take the majority of the page. Order by relevance to the role, not by date, and put your strongest evidence first.

4. 4Skills — split into two lists

   Tools and methods you can actually use, and everything else you have exposure to. Keep the split honest; it is very easy to see through.

5. 5Education last, briefly

   Degree, institution, dates, grade if strong. Two or three relevant modules at most.

1. 1Inflating part-time work into a job title you did not hold. “Shift supervisor” when you were “team member who covered the tills” is the kind of thing that ends an interview.
2. 2Listing every module you have ever taken. Choose the ones that support the role, and be ready to discuss any of them — because you will be asked.