CV Tips for Graduates in Recruitment

Top Tips for graduates to focus on when applying for recruitment roles.

Recruitment can be a fantastic career for graduates who enjoy working with people, building relationships and being rewarded for their performance. But your CV doesn’t need to show years of experience – it should simply demonstrate the behaviours that make someone successful in the industry.

Most companies hiring entry-level recruiters are looking for potential, resilience and signs that you’ll succeed in a fast-paced, target-driven environment.

Your CV should focus on demonstrating those traits.

Here are my Top Tips for graduates to focus on when applying for recruitment roles.

1. Keep your CV clear and easy to read

Recruitment is a busy industry and hiring managers often review a lot of applications. Your CV should ideally be one page and very easy to scan.

Use clear headings, short bullet points and simple formatting. Avoid large blocks of text. The aim is that someone can quickly understand your background and what you bring to the table.

2. Show evidence of communication skills

Recruitment is fundamentally a people business. A big part of the role involves speaking to candidates, clients and internal teams every day.

On your CV, highlight any experience that shows you are comfortable communicating with people. This could include:

• Customer facing roles in retail, hospitality or events (people underestimate the sales and people skills you learn in these roles!)
• Roles in societies, sports teams or student committees

3. Highlight resilience and work ethic

Recruitment can be very rewarding, but it also requires persistence. Not every call turns into a placement and not every process works out.

Hiring managers will look for signs that you’re comfortable working towards targets and staying motivated when things are challenging.

Examples that help demonstrate this include:

• Part-time jobs while studying
• Competitive sports or team leadership
• Sales or customer service roles
• Situations where you worked towards goals or targets.

4. Focus on achievements, not just responsibilities

Rather than simply listing what you did in a role, try to show the impact you had.

For example, instead of writing “worked in a retail store”, you could say something like:

• Assisted customers in a fast-paced retail environment
• Consistently met daily sales targets
• Handled high volumes of customer interactions during peak hours

Small details like this help demonstrate the behaviours that are valuable in recruitment. Adding numbers or metrics also helps employers quickly understand the scale of what you were doing and the results you achieved, for example “Increased society membership from 35 to 70 members in one year through outreach and events”.

5. Explain why recruitment interests you

A short personal profile at the top of your CV can help explain your motivation.

Many graduates fall into the trap of writing very generic summaries. Instead, briefly explain:

• What you studied
• Why you’re interested in recruitment as a career
• What appeals to you about a performance-driven environment

Hiring managers want to see that you’ve thought about why this career path suits you.

6. Check the basics

Attention to detail matters in recruitment. Your CV is often the first example of your professional communication.

Before sending it, make sure you:

• Check spelling and grammar carefully
• Keep formatting consistent
• Make sure dates and job titles are clear

And please always check you’ve tailored the CV to the role you’re applying for, CV’s stating they are looking for Finance roles when applying to a job in recruitment can often be a quick no to hiring managers.

By Isabella Morrison, Internal Talent Acquisition Manager, Skills Alliance