are skill based cv's okay for grad schemes / entry level jobs?

hey im doing a software engineering degree, and was looking at more broad grad schemes/jobs in like audit / accounting or data analytics

but the thing is i dont have much / any work experience - just tutoring , which i guess is still better than nothing, develops communication, organization etc

but i was wondering...due to my lack of experience i was going to make a skill based cv rather than the traditional one, with examples from uni life / societies and extra curriculars

also if i dont get a grad role i thought id use the cv to get entry level admin roles or something while i keep searching

is this gonna be looked down on in any way by employers? i feel a bit ashamed of not having the kind of part time job experience as anyone else but idk if that screws me over when looking for placements or jobs in final year

Reply 1

Al3x235

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Reply 2

Lancaster Student Ambassador

Official Rep

Original post by Al3x235

hey im doing a software engineering degree, and was looking at more broad grad schemes/jobs in like audit / accounting or data analytics
but the thing is i dont have much / any work experience - just tutoring , which i guess is still better than nothing, develops communication, organization etc
but i was wondering...due to my lack of experience i was going to make a skill based cv rather than the traditional one, with examples from uni life / societies and extra curriculars
also if i dont get a grad role i thought id use the cv to get entry level admin roles or something while i keep searching
is this gonna be looked down on in any way by employers? i feel a bit ashamed of not having the kind of part time job experience as anyone else but idk if that screws me over when looking for placements or jobs in final year

Hi

Firstly, I think your experience of tutoring is definitely valuable and something you can highlight in your CV. As a law student applying for jobs in the legal field, I used unrelated experience that I had but explained how the skills I developed, could be used in the job I was applying for. I think as long as you do something similar to this, employees would not look down on this as they understand how difficult it is to get experience whilst at university because everything is so competitive.

I would suggest that if you could try and get an internship, or even a week's work experience at an accounting firm this would be really beneficial and boost your CV. (Literally just ask around, call firms up or go into their offices to organise something) It would just show that you are interested in the sector, which is what they are more bothered about usually. As well as this, if you show that you have developed the skills that they are looking for, they will be happy enough. I am unsure of what year you are in currently, but I would try and get some experience prior to having to apply for jobs if possible, although if you are unable to, like I said above, they would be happy if you can show that you have developed the skills in a different environment. For example, something like working within a team can be shown if you were part of a sports team. So just use what you have, to show how you can use your skills to work successfully in a different role, as many skills are transferable.

Getting an entry level role is always a good idea, especially one at an accounting firm, because this allows you to work within the industry and get your foot in the door. Putting this on your CV would again show that you are keen and want to work within the financial sector.

Hope this all makes sense and good luck for your future!
Katie (Lancaster University Student Ambassador)

Reply 3

Al3x235

Original post by Lancaster Student Ambassador

Hi
Firstly, I think your experience of tutoring is definitely valuable and something you can highlight in your CV. As a law student applying for jobs in the legal field, I used unrelated experience that I had but explained how the skills I developed, could be used in the job I was applying for. I think as long as you do something similar to this, employees would not look down on this as they understand how difficult it is to get experience whilst at university because everything is so competitive.
I would suggest that if you could try and get an internship, or even a week's work experience at an accounting firm this would be really beneficial and boost your CV. (Literally just ask around, call firms up or go into their offices to organise something) It would just show that you are interested in the sector, which is what they are more bothered about usually. As well as this, if you show that you have developed the skills that they are looking for, they will be happy enough. I am unsure of what year you are in currently, but I would try and get some experience prior to having to apply for jobs if possible, although if you are unable to, like I said above, they would be happy if you can show that you have developed the skills in a different environment. For example, something like working within a team can be shown if you were part of a sports team. So just use what you have, to show how you can use your skills to work successfully in a different role, as many skills are transferable.
Getting an entry level role is always a good idea, especially one at an accounting firm, because this allows you to work within the industry and get your foot in the door. Putting this on your CV would again show that you are keen and want to work within the financial sector.
Hope this all makes sense and good luck for your future!
Katie (Lancaster University Student Ambassador)

hey there thanks so much for responding!

yeah, im going to list the skills and give examples of how i developed the skills

i did try applying for jobs this year but didnt get anything unfortunately, ill probably do some volunteering and/or a job in the actual uni, thats probably easier than getting a job outside the uni aha

i guess my main worry was that i heard people say without prior experience you have basically 0 chance of getting a grad scheme / job so that kinda made me anxious lol

also, im gonna be looking for placements, and making projects (for data analysis), but do you think, in case i dont get a placement (heard theyre competitive but ill apply for sure still), that the shorter virtual internships are worth doing / putting on my cv? or would employers not care too much about that?

thanks so much!

(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 4

Lancaster Student Ambassador

Official Rep

Original post by Al3x235

hey there thanks so much for responding!
yeah, im going to list the skills and give examples of how i developed the skills
i did try applying for jobs this year but didnt get anything unfortunately, ill probably do some volunteering and/or a job in the actual uni, thats probably easier than getting a job outside the uni aha
i guess my main worry was that i heard people say without prior experience you have basically 0 chance of getting a grad scheme / job so that kinda made me anxious lol
also, im gonna be looking for placements, and making projects (for data analysis), but do you think, in case i dont get a placement (heard theyre competitive but ill apply for sure still), that the shorter virtual internships are worth doing / putting on my cv? or would employers not care too much about that?
thanks so much!

Hi,

No problem, glad I could help!

Yes volunteering is also great, or just a job in that area, even if you could do some admin in your vacation period for a week or couple of weeks, that would be good experience, as they could also give you a chance to network with people in the field.

I think having experience of course does help, but without it I wouldn't say you have 0 chances of getting a job, so I wouldn't worry about this!

Projects also sound interesting, but yes to virtual internships. I did some through Forage, that were law related but I'm pretty sure they do other sectors, so having a look around things like that could be beneficial. I think it gives you something to talk about during an interview, and also shows that you are actually keen and proactive in finding experience, even in such a competitive sector. So employees would definitely take it into consideration!

Good luck with finding an internship!
Katie (Lancaster University Student Ambassador)

Reply 5

threeportdrift

Careers Forum Helper

Original post by Al3x235

hey im doing a software engineering degree, and was looking at more broad grad schemes/jobs in like audit / accounting or data analytics
but the thing is i dont have much / any work experience - just tutoring , which i guess is still better than nothing, develops communication, organization etc
but i was wondering...due to my lack of experience i was going to make a skill based cv rather than the traditional one, with examples from uni life / societies and extra curriculars
also if i dont get a grad role i thought id use the cv to get entry level admin roles or something while i keep searching
is this gonna be looked down on in any way by employers? i feel a bit ashamed of not having the kind of part time job experience as anyone else but idk if that screws me over when looking for placements or jobs in final year

So just checking terms first. All CVs are skills based in as much as they give evidence of relevant skills. However, there are two basic formats a CV can be written in - Chronological, or Skills based.

You will disadvantage yourself if you write a CV that has sub-headings like Leadership, Teamwork, Problem-solving etc, rather than Education, Experience and Interests. The reason being twofold - one it is much harder to compare a skills-based CV with a Chronological, and as 99% of CVs will be Chronological, and 80% of applicants will have the basic skills to do an entry level job, a Skills based CV will almost certainly just be golfed over and binned. Two, without situations the skills within the context they were gained (degree, work experience, sports team, volunteering etc) they lose a lot of credibility and context, making them seem just less evidenced and more of a claim.

So first you should extract the skills the employer is asking for in the job advert, then draft examples of where you think you have evidence of having those skills. Then, you put them in a chronological format, usually with 3 main sections, Education, Experience, and Interests, and you put the bullet points in chronological sub-sections within each of those.

Then, if you have teamwork evidence from two jobs and two interests, and the employer is making a big deal about teamwork, you use the covering letter to draw attention the wide range situations in which you have demonstrated teamwork skills.

Tutoring is fine for showing skills in planning, communicating, problem solving, organisation etc