How to Showcase Your Skills in a Student CV.

Whether you’re applying for a part-time or full-time job as a student or at the end of your education, nailing your CV is key. Learning how to write an effective CV as a student also equally applies to people at the early stages of entering the workforce, and mature-age students looking for a new role following restraining or further study.

Your CV or resume should be in a document format that recruiters and potential employers can easily read, share, and see who you are and what you have to offer — and that’s where a PDF resume or CV can help you get your dream job using Adobe Acrobat.

What you’ll learn

• Write your CV to show what you bring to a role
• Format your PDF CV like a pro
• Save and send your CV PDF securely

Write your CV to show what you bring to a role.

Work through our step-by-step guide on how to write a CV as a student. When you are job hunting, your CV is often your potential employer’s first impression of you. Create a compelling and concise professional-looking document that lets prospective employers know what you can bring to their business and the role. You need to highlight your skills, education, and experience clearly and effectively.

Tailor your CV to the company you are applying to work with. Show the employer you have the knowledge, skills, and motivation to work with them. Your CV is a dynamic document, and you should update it regularly as you gain new experiences and skills. Be honest. Never exaggerate or provide false information on your CV. Everything you include needs to be verifiable.

• Contact information.
  Include your full name, address, contact phone number and email address. Use a professional email address, preferably your name. For example, firstname.lastname@emailprovider.com. If you have a professional online profile, such as LinkedIn, include that as well.

• Introduction or Personal Professional Statement.
  Write a brief introductory statement that outlines your career goals and key attributes. What makes you the best fit for the job?
  

• Education and training.
  List your educational background, starting with your most recent or current program. Include any degrees, diplomas, and certificates you have obtained at universities, TAFE institutions, colleges, and high schools. Include —
  • The name of the institution
  • The city and state
  • The dates you attended
  • The qualifications you achieved

• Awards and Honors:
  Include any academic or non-academic awards, scholarships, or honours you've received.

• Relevant projects, coursework, or assignments.
  If you have completed coursework or assignments that are particularly relevant to the job you are applying for, list them. This will help to show your interest and understanding of specific aspects of the role.

• Skills.
  Highlight your relevant skills in bullet points. For example —
  • Technical skills — experience with software and specific systems
  • Language skills — other languages spoken, read, or understood
  • Soft skills — communication, teamwork, problem-solving abilities

• Work experience.
  Include any full-time or part-time jobs, internships, or volunteer experiences you've had. For each position, provide the following details —
  • Job title
  • Name of the organization or company
  • Location
  • Start and end dates of employment
  • Key responsibilities and accomplishments — focus on any transferable skills that are relevant to the role you are applying for.

• Referees.
  Include your referees’ names and contact details and your relationship with them. For example, Jo Blogs, Manager at XYZ employer. Remember to ask your referee first if they are okay to be contacted. You can also say "References available upon request" at the end of your CV and then be prepared to provide references when asked.

Format your PDF CV like a pro.

Keep your CV clean, organized, and easy to read. You can find academic CV templates online, and free editable CV and resume templates in both Adobe Stock Templates and Adobe Express Templates to help you get started.

Keep these principles in mind —

• Use clear and clean formatting.
  Use a professional font and a simple but clear layout. Columns and bulleted lists can make information more readable and scannable.

• Use keywords.
  Tailor your CV to match the keywords and phrases used in the job description. This can help your CV get noticed in the application process.

• Add links.
  Add links to your email and addresses for any online professional profiles to make it easier for people to contact you via email or go directly to your online profile.

• Proofread — twice!
  Check for typos and grammatical errors. Make sure any spellchecking software is set to the location of the job you are applying in — Australian English, for example. Ask someone to proofread as well if you can. An error-free CV demonstrates attention to detail.

Save and send your PDF CVs securely.

PDF CVs and resumes are widely requested and accepted by employers for many very good reasons. They are safe and secure to send and receive, and —

• You can convert files to and from PDF.
  You can convert a wide range of document formats to and from PDF – including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and image files. If you’ve used a CV template, just drag and drop to convert a file to PDF online or convert files via an Adobe Acrobat application.

• You can easily email and upload your CV.
  You can quickly and easily attach PDFs to emails and upload PDFs online. If you’ve got a large PDF file, it’s simple to compress a PDF to make it a smaller size.

• Your CV is accessible.
  You want to be sure to use a file format that your recipients can open. Anyone with a free Adobe Acrobat Reader can read and review a PDF resume or CV — whether that be someone helping you proofread your document or the people you are hoping will hire you.

• Your formatting stays the same.
  Your fonts, layout, and overall CV presentation will look as you intended it to be seen. PDFs retain their formatting no matter what device or system they are opened on, and if they are then printed in hardcopy.

• Your CV is scannable and searchable.
  You want people to be able to find your key skills and qualifications. PDF files are scannable and searchable — by human eyes and the digital scanning systems and techniques that many recruiters use.

FAQs.

Is there a difference between a CV and a resumé in Australia?

In Australia, the terms resumé and curriculum vitae are usually used interchangeably, and you may see either used in job advertisements. In some countries, a CV might be more detailed and a resumé more of a summary of key points. In Australia, it’s generally considered okay to use either term.

How long should a student CV or resumé be?

No matter what stage of your career, a CV should always be concise. Remember that recruiters and employers may be receiving large volumes of applications to review and shortlist. Many recruiters use digital scanning software to search for key points. Keep your CV to a maximum of three to four pages. As a student, if you have limited work experience, one to two pages is fine.

How much personal information should you include in a CV?

Personal information such as your age, date of birth, marital status, religion, and ethnicity should not be included in a CV in Australia. Privacy and discrimination laws in Australia protect the use of certain personal types of information being used to screen prospective employees unfairly — so you do not need to include it. You should include your contact details, qualifications, skills, and experience.

Related content.

Related content to explore for how to use PDFs as a student, and in your career, include —

• Land your dream job with PDF resume templates
• PDFs in the Cloud: Accessing your documents anywhere, anytime
• How to compress a PDF file for email