How to Write a Graduate CV in South Africa

Quick answer

Open with a short graduate profile tied to the role. Then give the qualification, relevant modules, projects, internships or vacation work, skills and two referees who know the work. Cut anything that does not help the reader see a match.

The graduate profile

Two or three lines are enough. State the qualification, the kind of role, and one piece of evidence. Example: Final-year BCom Accounting student seeking a graduate trainee role. Vacation work in a creditor's clerk team, plus a third-year project on monthly reconciliations.

If you have already graduated, say so and give the year. If you are in your final year, say final year and the expected completion date. Do not write qualified if the certificate has not been issued and the employer asked for a completed qualification.

Education and modules

List the institution, the exact qualification name, the student status and the year. Add modules only when they match the advert. A software role may need the programming modules. A municipal finance role may need public finance or auditing. A full transcript pasted into the CV is harder to read than six relevant modules.

• Use the qualification name as it appears on the academic record.
• Include the average or individual marks only if the programme asks for academic performance.
• Mention work-integrated learning, clinical hours or teaching practice as study requirements you completed, with the organisation and dates.
• A second qualification, such as a short course, goes below the main degree and only if it is finished or officially in progress.

Projects, vacation work and internships

Treat a substantial project like a piece of work. Give the module or client, the year, what you produced, and the tool you used. Vacation work and an internship get the employer name, the dates and the tasks you actually did.

• Intern, human resources, June to July 2025. Filed leave forms, sat in on two interviews and updated a spreadsheet of applicants.
• Vacation work, retail, November 2024 to January 2025. Closed the till and resolved customer returns.
• Capstone project, 2026. Built a simple stock list for a campus tuck shop using a spreadsheet and a short written report.

If the vacation job was unrelated, keep it short. It still shows that you arrived on time and followed a supervisor. Do not stretch a one-week job into a year.

Skills, achievements and references

Skills should be checkable: a language, a software package, a laboratory technique, a driver's licence, or a writing sample. Achievements need a result you can explain, such as a dean's list, a published student article, or a society you chaired with a named event.

Graduate programmes often phone referees. A lecturer who marked your project and a supervisor from vacation work are stronger than a family friend. Ask them before you apply, and give them the job title so they know what you are claiming.

Tailor it to the graduate programme

1. Read the essential requirements and the work the trainee will do in the first year.
2. Put the matching module, project or internship on the first page.
3. Use the programme's words where they accurately describe your work. Do not paste the advert into your profile.
4. If the programme asks for a transcript, an academic record or a cover letter, attach those as separate files. Do not hide them in the CV.
5. Remove school leadership from the top of the CV once you have university evidence, unless the advert values it.

Some programmes use an online form and do not want a CV. Complete the form. A beautiful CV does not replace unanswered questions.

What graduate recruiters look for first

On a first screen, a recruiter is usually checking four facts: the qualification, whether you finish in the year the programme recruits, whether you meet a stated average, and whether anything in the CV matches the work of the first year. Put those four facts on the first page.

A vacation job in a different field can stay if the dates are honest and the description is short. Move it below the project that matches the programme. Academic prizes can stay if they are real. A list of every society you joined, with no task, can go.

If the programme uses an application form with its own questions, answer the form in full even if the CV already says the same thing. Some employers never open the attachment when a required form field is empty.

Common mistakes

• A profile full of adjectives and no qualification.
• Every first-year module listed, including those unrelated to the role.
• A group project described as if you did every task alone.
• An expected mark written as a final result.
• The same CV sent to an engineering programme and a marketing programme.

Checklist

• Qualification name and year match the academic record.
• At least three modules or one project speak to the advert.
• Dates of vacation work and internships are accurate.
• Referees know they may be called.
• The file is a PDF unless the portal asks for another format.

Information can change

Rules, forms, closing dates and programme requirements change. Treat this guide as a way to prepare and to know what to check. The official page for the institution, employer or funder is the version that applies to your application.

Official sources

• Compiling a curriculum vitaeOfficial guidance on what a CV should cover and on changing it for each job.