First jobs, apprenticeships and graduates · Entry level · UK conventions

Recent graduate applying for a graduate scheme or first professional role: resume example, explained

This fictional example shows a geography graduate applying for operations graduate schemes and junior analyst roles: the degree stated once with its classification, the dissertation written as a project with a method and a result, the placement year treated as the main work experience, and a society treasurer role written as money and trips rather than a title. Each decision is explained, three weak bullets are rewritten from their evidence, and the editable download lets you replace every detail. Nothing here describes a real person, university or employer.

Illustrative example. An illustrative, invented graduate who finished a BSc in Geography at Fictional Northshire University in July 2026 with a 2:1, after a placement year at a fictional parcel carrier and a year as treasurer of the hiking society. Every employer, date and figure is fictional.

Editable version of this example (.docx)

Tomasz Ellery-Nwosu

Geography graduate (BSc, 2:1) · 12-month operations placement · seeking graduate schemes and analyst roles

Sheffield (willing to relocate within the UK) · 07700 900 528 · tomasz.ellery-nwosu@example.com

Profile

Geography graduate (BSc, 2:1, Fictional Northshire University, 2026) with a 12-month operations placement at a fictional parcel carrier, where I built the weekly volume report used by three depot managers. Dissertation mapped surface-water flood risk across 40 postcode sectors in QGIS and Excel. Treasurer of a 90-member hiking society, managing the budget for 14 trips. Available immediately.

Experience

Operations Placement Student — Fictional Carriage Parcels Ltd (regional parcel carrier)

July 2024 – June 2025 · 12-month placement in the regional operations team supporting three depots handling around 30,000 parcels a day.

Built and ran the weekly volume and missed-delivery report in Excel for three depot managers, replacing a manual spreadsheet and cutting the time to produce it from around four hours to under one.
Analysed six months of missed-delivery data by route and found two rural routes accounted for about a fifth of failed first attempts; the depot manager re-sequenced those routes as a result.
Supported peak-season planning, including agency rotas for a 60-person sort floor and a daily volume forecast for the depot managers.

Treasurer, Hiking Society (elected, voluntary) — Fictional Northshire University Students' Union

September 2025 – June 2026

Managed the budget and accounts for a 90-member society across 14 day and weekend trips, presenting the accounts at the annual general meeting with no queries from the union's finance team.
Introduced a per-trip deposit and a shared cost sheet, which cut late cancellations from around a quarter of sign-ups to under one in ten.

Education

BSc (Hons) Geography, 2:1, Fictional Northshire University, 2022 – 2026 (with placement year)
Dissertation: surface-water flood risk across 40 postcode sectors of a fictional city (QGIS and Excel), first-class mark
A levels: Geography (A), Mathematics (B), Economics (B), a fictional sixth-form college, 2022

Skills

Excel (lookups, pivot tables, basic macros) and operational reporting · QGIS and spatial data analysis · Data cleaning and simple statistics · Budget management and basic bookkeeping · Writing and presenting for non-specialists

Why it is written this way

The placement year is the main experience and is written like a job

A graduate scheme assessor reads a graduate resume for evidence that the applicant has already done some of the job. The 12-month placement is the closest thing, so it sits first, carries the most bullets and is described with the size of the operation, the people who used the work and what changed. Writing it as a student role with a list of tasks would waste it.

The dissertation is a project with a method and a result

A graduate resume that lists the dissertation title alone gives the reader nothing to ask about. Here the title, tools and mark appear in education and the scale (40 postcode sectors) is repeated in the profile, so an analyst interviewer can probe the work. The subject need not match the job: it shows the graduate can scope a question, handle data and finish.

The society role is written as money and logistics, not as a title

'Treasurer' on a graduate resume is a line on a form until it becomes what was done: a budget, 14 trips, a change (the deposit) and a measured result (fewer cancellations). Society roles are often the only place a recent graduate has made a decision that affected other people, which is what competency questions at an assessment centre ask for.

The classification is stated once and the A levels take one line

Graduate scheme adverts often state a minimum degree classification and the online form asks for grades anyway, so the resume gives the 2:1 in the headline and education and does not repeat it. A levels stay because some adverts and forms still ask for them. Module lists and GCSE grades are left off; they add length and nothing an assessor will score.

Bullet rewrites, and the evidence behind them

Each rewrite was produced by asking an evidence question and using only the (fictional) answer. No number appears in a rewrite that is not in its evidence.

Before
Produced weekly reports for the operations team.
Evidence question
Which report, for whom, in what tool, and what changed?
Evidence (fictional)
Weekly volume and missed-delivery report in Excel for three depot managers; replaced a manual spreadsheet; production time fell from about four hours to under one.
After
Built and ran the weekly volume and missed-delivery report in Excel for three depot managers, replacing a manual spreadsheet and cutting the time to produce it from around four hours to under one.
Before
Treasurer of the hiking society.
Evidence question
How big was the society, what did the budget cover, what did you change and did it work?
Evidence (fictional)
90 members; 14 trips in the year; introduced a per-trip deposit and a shared cost sheet; late cancellations fell from about a quarter of sign-ups to under one in ten.
After
Managed the budget for a 90-member hiking society across 14 trips, introducing a per-trip deposit that cut late cancellations from around a quarter of sign-ups to under one in ten.
Before
Dissertation on flood risk using GIS.
Evidence question
What did you analyse, with which tools, at what scale, and how was it assessed?
Evidence (fictional)
Surface-water flood risk mapped across 40 postcode sectors of a fictional city in QGIS; data cleaned and summarised in Excel; first-class mark.
After
Mapped surface-water flood risk across 40 postcode sectors in QGIS, cleaning and summarising the data in Excel; awarded a first-class mark.

Try it on your own bullets with the bullet workbench, which asks the same questions and never adds a figure you did not supply.

Transferable skills in this example

Turning raw data into a report people use
Evidence: A weekly Excel report relied on by three depot managers, and an analysis that changed two delivery routes.
Where it helps: Analyst and operations graduate roles, planning jobs, and any team that runs on a weekly report.
Managing other people's money
Evidence: A society budget covering 14 trips, with accounts presented at the annual general meeting without queries.
Where it helps: Finance, procurement and project support roles, and any graduate rotation with a budget.
Scoping and finishing an independent project
Evidence: A dissertation across 40 postcode sectors delivered to a deadline with a first-class mark.
Where it helps: Project, research and policy roles, consulting schemes, and self-directed work in a first job.
Explaining technical work to non-specialists
Evidence: Depot managers briefed every morning during peak, and a dissertation summary written for a general reader.
Where it helps: Client-facing roles, and interviews where the panel is not from your discipline.

Occupation notes

Hard requirements

Right to work in the UK. GOV.UK states that you need to prove your right to work in the UK to your employer before you start working for them. Many graduate scheme adverts also say whether applicants who would need visa sponsorship can be considered; check that line before applying, and keep nationality and document details off the resume.
Degree classification where the advert states one. Give yours once on the resume so the form and the resume agree; if the advert asks for A level grades as well, include them as one line.

Vocabulary that belongs on the page

Graduate scheme, graduate programme, rotation, cohort, intake
Assessment centre, competency-based interview, strengths-based interview, situational judgement test
First, 2:1, 2:2 (UK honours degree classifications)
Placement year, sandwich degree, year in industry
Dissertation, final-year project, module, credit
Society committee (president, treasurer, secretary), annual general meeting, students' union

Pitfalls specific to this occupation

Listing modules instead of work: 'modules included Hydrology, GIS and Economic Geography' is a syllabus, not evidence; one project with a method and a result says more than ten module titles.
Describing the placement year in student language ('assisted the team', 'gained exposure to') rather than as a job with a volume, users and an outcome.
Writing society roles as titles ('Treasurer, Hiking Society') without the budget, the trips or anything that changed, which is what competency questions will ask about.
Sending the same graduate resume to an operations scheme and a marketing agency; the headline and profile should name the kind of role, and the placement bullets should match it.

UK and US differences

UK: Most UK graduate schemes use an online form with a resume upload and screening questions, often followed by online tests and an assessment centre; the resume's bullets become your competency examples. The National Careers Service says a resume should include details of any work placements, volunteering and paid jobs you have had.

US: A US new-graduate resume is usually one page with education first, GPA where the employer asks for it, and 'leadership and activities' for society roles. US adverts may call a graduate scheme a rotational program; use the employer's terminology.

Common questions

Should a graduate resume include A levels and GCSEs?

Keep A levels (or equivalents) as one line, because some adverts and application forms still ask for them. Leave individual GCSE grades off unless the advert asks; 'GCSEs including English and Maths' is enough once you hold a degree.

How do I present a dissertation on a graduate resume when the job is unrelated?

Write it as a project: the question, the method and tools, the scale and the result or mark. The reader is assessing whether you can scope, analyse and finish, not whether the subject matches the job.

Sources

Prove your right to work to an employer (GOV.UK)GOV.UK · UK · checked 3 November 2026
How to write a resume (National Careers Service)National Careers Service · England · checked 3 November 2026

Published 6 November 2026 · Every person, employer and figure in this example is fictional. Drafted with AI assistance and checked against Luceria’s editorial standards.