Example CVs and Covering Letters
The following examples of CVs and covering letters may give you ideas about content
and layout. However, please don’t slavishly copy any particular CV or letter! Instead,
choose a style and layout you feel comfortable with which will allow you to present
your information effectively.
If you’ve learnt anything from reading this booklet, it should be that your application
should be personal and specific to you!
One Page CV: Lauren McKenzie (Page 20 - 21)
Skills-based CV: Sarah Nicholson (Page 24 - 26)
CV for a job directly relevant to degree subject: Daisuke Ishihara (Page 22 - 23)
This applicant is applying for a graduate trainee position in a public relations
consultancy. Early in her covering letter she outlines what she has to offer the company,
providing evidence for her claims. She has managed to produce a one page CV by
conveying only the relevant detail (e.g. detail about her degree is confined to the
subject and grade and her dissertation). Significantly, she includes her voluntary
experience as a student publicity officer in the work experience section, as this is
relevant to her application.
This CV belongs to a finance and investment student applying for a graduate trainee
post with an investment bank. The student highlights specific modules within his
Masters and focuses on relevant work experience, also mentioning relevant personal
interests. In addition to subject-specific skills, he also mentions transferable ‘soft’ skills,
such as communication and time management.
This mature final year student is applying for a job unrelated to her degree subject and
her previous work experience. She uses a skills-based CV to tailor her experience to a
job in human resources (HR).
In her covering letter she clarifies her interest in HR and the organisation to which
she has applied. She shows how she has gained an insight into and understanding
of various HR roles. She also explains her motivation for returning to education as a
mature student, despite holdin