First impressions count. Your CV and your LinkedIn page are your introduction to any employer. Get it wrong, and there’s likely a whole pile of others for them to check out instead.
So, how can you make your CV and LinkedIn page stand out from the crowd?
It’s worth remembering, for a start, that they have complementary but different purposes. Elaine Daly, a careers consultant with DCU’s career services, says the vast majority of employers still value and require CVs.
“LinkedIn is important in its own right,” she says. “It forms part of your professional brand. If you have a profile, you should populate it so that it is a good representation of you. The CV is not going anywhere though.”
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LinkedIn should not be a regurgitation of your CV. Instead, it’s an opportunity to expand on your strengths while also connecting with a wider network of peers and developing connections in your industry.
Graduates won’t have extensive work experience, so what should their CV and LinkedIn focus on?
“Focus on what you have to offer,” says Daly. “Employers are not just focused on your degree or your qualification, but on your skills. So it is important that you can articulate those skills.
“You may have worked in a bar, shop or another part-time job. Employers will also look to see if you have done a work placement, perhaps as part of your college course. Have you volunteered? Were you involved in clubs and societies? Use this to show your relevance and how your skills are transferable.”
What might this look like, and should you provide a list of skills?
“It’s about being explicit about your skills – but don’t list them,” Daly advises. “Contextualise them. Instead of listing, for instance, communications and teamwork, explain how you acquired them and how you used them.
Examples:
- “I demonstrated leadership by deputising for the manager during peak shifts in my part-time job.”
- “I delivered high-level customer service in a busy bar environment.”
What if they’ve never worked in college or been involved in college life, and their CV and LinkedIn are relatively bare?
This is more common than many realise, and often comes up in Daly’s work with college students and graduates. Some students will attend lectures, go home and keep their focus on, for instance, playing for a local sports club.
“Here, you can focus on making the most of your qualification,” says Daly.
“If you have ever volunteered or been involved in sports or extracurricular activities outside of college, this counts. If you don’t have work experience, or you were not involved in clubs and societies, include more detail about your qualification. This should include certain modules that are relevant to the job you’re applying for, dissertations, group or individual projects.
“If you have any hard, technical skills that you gained from your degree, and they’re relevant to the job, they can be included too.”
Hobbies, too, might be worth including, and these could include coding, blogging or perhaps content creation. What’s key is to frame what you do have in a way that demonstrates your relevance to a potential employer.
Recruiters and employers get dozens of CVs per day – how can a graduate make theirs stand out?
It’s very tempting, and significantly easier, to fire out a load of CVs for any job you’re vaguely interested in – especially as the job hunt goes on and you start to feel disheartened with the lack of responses.
But it’s a waste of time, and it’s even likely that an AI filter will bin your CV before it gets anywhere near the eyes of a recruiter.
Daly explains: “Research shows that a growing percentage of employers use applicant tracking systems to screen possible employees. This is not completely new, but has intensified with the growth of AI.
[ Employers increasingly concerned about job candidates using AI to write CVsOpens in new window ]
“A good recruiter is looking for a tailored application to see how well the applicant matches the job requirements. Focus on your skills but also the key words in the job advertisement. Make sure that they are in the cover letter, application form and CV.”
Key words matter, but so do structure, layout, punctuation and spelling. Remember, employers are looking for reasons to narrow down the pile of CVs to just a handful of people worth interviewing and, although we all make mistakes in our day-to-day lives, they look sloppy on a CV.
If spelling isn’t your forte, or you are neurodivergent and struggle with literacy or organisation, ask someone to help you by proofreading your application for spelling, grammar and consistency. Once you get past this hurdle, you’re on track.
At graduate level, Daly says that a CV is usually two pages, but one page is okay if you don’t have experience and content to fill it out.
“If it is one page, ensure that it is clear, concise and has attention to detail. If anything, a focused CV can show interest and motivation.”
Example:
- “Motivated marketing graduate with proven leadership skills, demonstrated by co-ordinating a campus fundraiser that raised €5,000.”
Do graduates need to be active on LinkedIn?
Should you use LinkedIn’s easy “apply” tool to send in your CV? Daly advises caution. “Yes, you can, but if you are doing this, then do make sure that your LinkedIn is populated and that your profile is tailored to suit the jobs you are applying for and, broadly, the industry you are in.”
It is, she says, a good idea to be active on LinkedIn. “Lots of students and graduates ask what they should be doing on LinkedIn. Should they post? What if they have nothing to post?
“Ultimately, think about what you want LinkedIn to do for you. If it is to build and expand your network, it may be worth commenting on posts, reaching out and messaging people and having conversations. It is a social media site with lots of different uses, but do remember that it is your professional brand here, so you need to be authentic.”
Example:
Make sure to populate the “about” section on LinkedIn. If you’re an arts graduate aiming at event management, for instance, you could say:
- “Arts graduate with a focus on cultural events and community engagement. Experienced in managing logistics, marketing, and volunteer co-ordination for exhibitions and performances. I believe the best events combine creativity with precision, and I bring both to my work. Excited to build a career in event management, creating experiences that connect people and ideas.”
Can graduates use AI to build their CV or LinkedIn profile?
It can seem a little unfair that employers are using AI, but rejecting applications developed with AI. But it’s not that straightforward, Daly says. “Generative AI tools are really helpful, but you have to personalise the content that it gives you.
“Employers can tell straight away when a CV or application has AI-generated content, so if you use it as a tool, make sure to personalise the information. It has to sound like you. You have to stand over the content. The person that the employer sees at interview has to match the person on the CV, so be careful in how you use it.”
Avoid copying and pasting the AI content. Instead, if you’re using it, either print it out or have it open as a window on one side of your computer screen as you write the CV.
There are also certain spelling and punctuation tells. The large language models (LLMs) behind AI are mostly American, and so they’ll contain US spelling, such as using the letter z instead of s or dropping the letter u (Irish and British spelling: colour; US spelling: color). The longer dash, or em-dash (—) appears more often in AI than the shorter, more common single dash (–).
“Another tell is stray pronouns, such as when the AI refers to ‘you’, the person interacting with it, and the job applicant doesn’t change it to ‘I’,” says Daly.
What are the most common mistakes in a CV and LinkedIn page?
Besides spelling and grammar errors, it’s a mistake not to tailor your CV to each job description. Indeed, think of the job description as your friend, as it’s giving you all the information and clues you need.
“Employers spend hours writing a job description, so it’s a strategic mistake to ignore it,” says Daly. “Another mistake is not to put in enough information. Make sure you focus on what is most recent and most relevant, so at graduate level, if you’ve got relevant skills and experience, your transition-year work placement details may not be needed.”
Don’t be afraid to “back yourself”, says Daly.
“As a graduate, you have so much to offer, including up-to-date knowledge, skills and research. Zoom out a little, reflect and identify the skills that got you through the degree – everything from time management in meeting deadlines to written communications in assignments and projects, and research and analytical skills. Articulate these in your application.”
What about a cover letter?
Unless you’re specifically told not to, include a cover letter, Daly advises. “It puts your CV in context and explains why it is there in front of the recruiter. Your CV can be limited in detail but this is extra space to get into more detail, and to further tailor your application.”
A cover letter should be structured as a formal letter, not too text heavy and broken into three to four paragraphs.
“Like a short essay, it needs an introduction, development and a conclusion or summary,” says Daly.
“The intro is what you are applying for and where you saw it advertised. Then, a few paragraphs on your most relevant skills and experience, referring to the words in the job application. Your cover letter allows you to be more descriptive of your relevant skills.”
Cover letters show interest and motivation, so this is where you may refer to why the company goals, values and culture appeal to you.
Where can graduates get more support?
There’s a wealth of excellent career advisers out there, including many featured in this week’s Irish Times graduate coverage.
But, for most graduates, the best bet is their college careers service, which is usually accessible for one or two years (or sometimes longer) after graduation.
