CV template: School leaver

If you’ve just left school, now’s the time to spruce up your CV and upload to job boardssuch as CV-Library.

A CV might seem like a foreign concept if you’ve never written one. That’s why we’ve worked with the experts at StandOut CV to craft a school leaver CV template for you to download and learn from.

Remember the purpose of this template is to guide you through structuring your CV, covering sections such as your personal statement, grades and interests. Therefore, make sure you don’t copy the bullets word-for-word.

Check out our full guide on how to write a CV or carry on reading for a few tips on using this school leaver CV template.

Detail soft skills you’ve picked up from school

We recommend focusing on soft skills you’ve developed from your time in education. Soft skills, or ‘transferable skills’, are skills used in all industries and day-to-day life, such as organisation and communication.

You may have built your organisation by studying for your exams, or perhaps you developed communication skills by reviewing coursework with your teachers. These are skills all jobs require, so you can get ahead by mentioning soft skills in connection with your time at school.

Focus on results

Our next tip for success is to focus on school results in your CV. Many school-leaver roles will entail an emphasis on results and working to targets. Therefore, showing a focus on results will demonstrate how you can concentrate on a task and get the results.

If your grades weren’t quite as good as you’d have liked, briefly touch on what you’ve learned from this and how motivated you are to increase your capacity for learning and achieving.

Take advantage of your interests section

Finally, it’s a good idea to make your interests shine on your CV. If you’re up against an applicant with the same grades as you and similar experience, an exciting hobby or interest could help to win you a job interview.

We recommend writing about interests which show unique sides to your personality and your capacity for learning new skills. This will demonstrate to recruiters that you’re keen to develop yourself outside of school.

For more tips on how to write a CV, see our guide