CV Example for a Fresh Graduate

Employers look for evidence of seriousness: internships, delivered projects, and skills built outside the lecture hall.

Skills employers screen for

• Internships and the tasks you owned
• Final year project and its goals
• Additional courses and certificates
• Domain-specific technical skills
• Teamwork and organisation
• English or a second language
• Fast learning and adaptability

Keywords an ATS would look for

• recent graduate
• internship experience
• final year project
• transferable skills
• immediately available
• academic average

CV section order

1. Summary leading with specialism and availability
2. Education and graduation year
3. Internships and practical projects
4. Skills and courses
5. Activities and interests

Fresh Graduate resume example

Business Graduate — analysis and process improvement

Recent business graduate with a 4.18/5 GPA, a summer internship in operations and a capstone project on performance measurement. I am looking for a first role in operations analysis or business development in a fast-learning environment.

Intern — Operations — National Logistics Co. — Chicago, IL | Summer 2025

• Produced a weekly analysis of 3 operational metrics that the operations team used in its weekly meeting.
• Documented 6 operational procedures into an internal guide used to onboard new staff.
• Analysed 4 months of delay records and proposed a change that cut order processing time 15% on the sample.

Capstone Project — Performance Measurement — State University — Chicago, IL | 2025

• Built a 12-metric dashboard for a small business and linked it to its quarterly goals.
• Interviewed 9 employees across three departments and documented gaps between current and required metrics.
• Presented the findings to the assessment panel; the project was graded excellent.

Education: BSc Business Administration — State University, 2026 | GPA 4.18/5

Core skills: data analysis, advanced Excel, Power BI, process analysis, report writing, communication, teamwork, English, time management

Ready templates that suit this profession

• Emerging Professional — Designed for a graduate with internships and projects but a still-short employment history. Use this template
• Graduate Ready — It orders education, projects and skills the way a fresh graduate's profile actually reads. Use this template
• ATS Friendly — For large employers screening by software, where all your content must be machine-readable. Use this template

Tools that help in this profession

• Resume Template Recommender — Start from a template matched to an early-career profile, not a ten-year career.
• AI Resume Summary Writer — Draft a clear summary that connects your degree to the skills employers are screening for.
• CV Score Checker — Walk the 22 criteria before sending, especially project clarity and transferable skills.

Frequently asked questions

How do I make an internship stand out?

Write it as a full work experience, not a one-liner: tasks, numbers, outcome. Saying your report was actually used by the team is far stronger than intern in the operations department.

Should I include my capstone project?

Yes — it is the strongest item on a new graduate's CV because it proves you can own a complete piece of work. Give the problem, your role and the result, and tie it to the skills in the target role.

How does a graduate CV differ from a student CV?

A student CV foregrounds education, activities and the search for an internship; a graduate CV foregrounds internships, the capstone and job-ready skills. Once you graduate, condense education and move internships and projects to the top.