What goes first?
Think about what you’re basing your job search on. Is it experience from a student job, internship or your education? Use this as a guide as to what goes first.
Education
As a new graduate, you probably apply for jobs that your education qualifies you for. Then it might be a good idea to highlight your education. But remember that most companies don't know your specific educational program, especially if you look for jobs internationally. So, it might be a good idea to elaborate a little on what it's about and what you have done.
You can include points like:
- Special focus throughout your eudcation.
- Bachelor's and master's thesis projects.
- Relevant subjects or projects.
- Skills/competences you have learned.
- Tasks you can solve.
You need to help them see how your education is relevant to them and how it qualifies you for the job.
Experience
Explain and help your audience along the way. That you were a student assistant somewhere doesn't say much.
You can elaborate with points like:
- Areas of responsibility.
- Results.
- Tasks.
- Projects.
- Skills.
of companies say that the most common mistake they see in CV's is a lack of examples of concrete results (Ballisager, 2018).
Think about how to describe what you’ve done. Compare these two examples:
"Maintaining a website"vs. "Responsible for maintaining a website to ensure students have accurate and easily available information."
No. 2 says more than no. 1, but is still short and concise.
Other relevant things you can put on your CV
Volunteer work
Your volunteer work counts as experience and the main question is whether it should have its own section or go under experience? It’s up to you. You might want to put it under experience if you don’t have a lot.
Internships/project-based courses
You decide if this makes most sense under education or experience. If you haven’t had a lot of relevant experience, it might make sense to put it under there.
Courses
If you have taken courses that are relevant to the job, you can describe them. Otherwise, you might just mention them (or leave them out).
IT/languages
Include if it's relevant for the position you're applying for, but remember to state your mother tongue. Also, indicate your Danish level, even if it's very basic. The employer will be happy to see that you're making an effort to learn. You can state your skill level if you think that's relevant as well.