Best CV Format for Freshers in India: Sample and Guide

The world of work can be scary and intimidating. It can also be exciting and full of surprises.

As a fresher, you haven’t had enough time to experience it yet. But you’ll get there, soon! After all, you’re already looking for that first job to start your career.

The job market can be a tricky place to navigate for freshers. But once you find a few job ads that spark your interest, you just prepare your job application and apply.

…and that’s where you come to the first hurdle: what should your CV look like? What’s the most professional CV format for freshers? 

This guide will show you:

• What’s the best CV format for freshers in India.
• Which CV format for freshers can help you land more interviews.
• Tips and examples of how to list skills and education in a professional CV format for freshers.

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Sample CV Format for Freshers

Let’s have a closer look at a professional CV format for freshers:

1. Organize the CV Format for Freshers Correctly

Just like you always dressed nicely for your exams, you need to take care of your CV’s appearance. Visual memory is a powerful tool—recruiters will more likely remember an aesthetically pleasing CV rather than a boring or chaotic layout. They will also remember a CV that looks absolutely terrible for all the wrong reasons. We don’t want that, do we?

Let’s make sure you use the best CV format for freshers this way:

• Follow the reverse-chronological order to make your most recent experience speak for itself.
• Arrange information in clear, easy to spot sections with headings and bullets.
• Choose professional CV fonts such as Verdana, Calibri, Helvetica, and Times New Roman.
• Use 11–12 font sizes for the content, and 13–14 for headings.
• Go for 1.15 line spacing to ensure great readability.
• Keep enough white space with even 1-inch margins on all sides.
• Do your best to fit everything on one page only. 
• Save your CV for freshers in a PDF format, unless the job ad asks for a different file type.

We’ve covered the visuals of a simple CV format for freshers—now let’s move on to the information you must include in your fresher CV:

• Contact information: add your full name, job title, phone number, email address, LinkedIn profile, marital status, date of birth, and nationality. You might also add other professional social media profiles.
• Personal CV profile or career objective: write a summary of your qualifications and briefly outline how your future employer can benefit from your skills.
• Work experience: mention experience gathered during internships, academic projects, or from doing side jobs.
• Education: list your highest degree, academic achievements, and relevant coursework
• Skills: show what you can actually do with your knowledge.
• Additional sections: add any other valuable information, such as languages, memberships, conferences, publications, or volunteer work.

See? Your CV will be much shorter than your bachelor’s thesis.

Not completely sure what a CV is? Check here: Definition of CV with Examples

2. Start the CV Format for Freshers Right with Work Experience

You might feel a bit discouraged when you hear about work experience. As a fresher, you don’t have much to brag about. But there’s no reason to worry—you’ve done plenty in your life already!

Have you participated in extracurricular activities during your studies? Maybe gave a presentation in front of 100 people during an academic conference? Did you get a part-time job at a restaurant last summer? Then you used your time to hone your customer service skills, learned time management, and practised multitasking.

Not only corporate experience matters. The key is to use all opportunities to develop yourself professionally.

Now, here’s how you list jobs in a CV format for freshers:

• List the most recent work experience first.
• Add your job title, the company/organization name, and months and years of work.
• Write 4–6 bullet points that describe your achievements and most impressive duties.
• Use the Problem-Action-Result formula to describe accomplishments.
• Make your words believable by adding numbers and percentages.
• Use action verbs to appear confident.

Feeling it’s easier said than done? Let’s see some examples, then!

Simple CV Format for Freshers: Work Experience Section

That’s how you make a great CV format for IT freshers. All accomplishments are quantifiable. Recruiters won’t be able to dismiss this candidate.

This could easily be the same candidate as the one mentioned above. The difference is—this one doesn’t know how to present their experience.

If you have zero experience, you can still write a CV—just skip this section on your application and move directly onto your education. If you’re applying for fresher jobs, employers may not expect you to have any experience anyway, so it’s not necessarily a big issue. 

When making a CV in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional CV template here for free.

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When you’re done, Zety’s CV maker will score your resume and tell you exactly how to make it better.

3. Add Education to the CV for Freshers Format

There are different types of students. Some dedicate their whole time to studying. Others prefer to use their time for partying. Another group tries to combine learning with meeting new people. Others prefer to sleep during lectures and play video games late into the night.

How can recruiters know which group do you belong to?

Exactly. This is part of the reason why the education section is very important in a CV format for freshers. The other reason is that without extensive work experience, your academic accomplishments are likely to be your best assets right now. So, feel free to go into detail while describing your time at university.

Here’s how to do it:

• Start with your highest level of education, such as your university degree.
• Mention the academic institution, location, and years of study.
• Add relevant coursework, your specialization, academic achievements, extracurricular activities, student projects, and anything else worth mentioning.
• List your secondary school if you haven’t graduated from university yet.

Check the example below to see how it’s done:

Education in a CV Format for Freshers

This fresher didn’t focus solely on getting the best grades, but also made contributions to the students’ community.

This candidate might have spent their time at university playing video games alone in their dorm. Who knows, maybe they studied for 10 years to finally get their degree in 2021? With such minimal information, we can only guess.

Pro Tip: You went to university, but feel like it’s not for you? Don’t be ashamed—many successful entrepreneurs are college dropouts. Think of Deepak Ravindran who quit uni after his 5th semester to become recognized by MIT Technology Review as one of the Innovators Under 35.

4. Make the CV Format for Freshers Shine with Your Skills

Show you haven’t slept through your classes. Studying for exams and working on students’ projects left you with a bunch of valuable skills. Maybe they aren’t polished yet, but you’re still at the beginning of your career. You’ve got time to master your skillset—and your first job should help with that.

Follow these steps:

• Think of the hard skills you have and make a list of any that come to mind.
• Make another list of soft skills you possess.
• Think of any computer skills you’ve got. 

CV Skills for Freshers

• Communication
• Problem-solving skills
• Creative thinking
• Time management
• Critical thinking
• Presenting
• Interpersonal skills
• Adaptability
• MS Office Package
• G-Suite Apps

Now, that’s a nice list, but almost anyone could have the same one.

Recruiters often scan CVs for the skills they expect. That’s why it’s important to make the skills section of your CV for freshers format perfect. 

Do it this way:

• Skim the job advertisement and note down keywords. Keywords are any terms that refer to the skills, abilities, and qualities that the company expects from applicants. Most often, they can be found in the Requirements section of the ad. For example, in the sentence We are looking for innovative, creative professionals to join our team the keywords are innovative and creative. 
• Compare the keywords from the job ad with your skills.
• Make a curated list of 5–10 skills that you have and that appear in the job ad. In this way, you’ve tailored your skills section very closely to the particular job. Well done! 

That’s the spirit. Now, let’s see this theory put into practice:

Job CV Format for Freshers: Skills Section

No fluff. Straight to the point. This is what the recruiter wants to see.

Sadly, this is not specific enough.

Pro Tip: You can add your skills to a fresher CV not only by making a long list. Go through your education and work experience, and rephrase the sentences to use keywords from the job ad. For example, instead of listing creative thinking in the skills section, mention experiences when you created or invented something, or found a unique solution to a problem.

5. Put Extra Sections in the Job CV Format for Freshers

Even without a lot of work experience, you can still prove you’re not wet behind the ears. That’s why additional CV sections are useful. They offer you a chance to mention other projects and activities you’ve done.

These are the best things with which to complete your fresher CV format:

• Awards: If you have them, brag about them! Maybe you won a students’ contest or a local competition that’s relevant to your field of study.
• Certifications: These can really boost your career. There are plenty of courses, both online and offline. Just choose something related to your specialization. For example, if you want to work in social media, get a Social Media Marketing Course from HubSpot Academy.
• Memberships: Starting with students’ associations and continuing onto trade affiliations, joining those can help you make valuable connections and learn about jobs opportunities that aren’t advertised.
• Conferences: You might not become a TED speaker without any achievements, but you can present your research during university conferences. If public speaking isn’t your thing, you can attend an event and then write a summary of it for a university newspaper.
• Volunteering: Volunteer work can not only boost your life satisfaction but also teach you how to organize events, communicate with others, find sponsorship, run workshops, and much more.

• Languages: Pretty obvious, right? Always mention your proficiency level, such as elementary, intermediate, advanced, etc.

• Interests: It’s not a joke. Mentioning relevant hobbies can help your candidature. If you’re an engineer, mention technical activities, such as building aeroplane models, or show your interest in the field by reading international magazines dedicated to this topic.

Remember—don’t add everything at once. Select 2–3 extra sections to boost your CV, and make sure they’re closely relevant to your application. 

Check the example below to see how:

Best CV Format for Freshers: Additional Sections

This candidate seems like a knowledgeable and pretty cool person.

This person might be great, but the extra sections they’ve chosen don’t add much to their CV.

Pro Tip: You might have heard from your parents or teachers that hobbies are a waste of time. Actually, they can help you in your career! First, they provide an outlet from the daily stress. Second, they help to learn new skills and use your brain in unique ways. Third, joining a hobby group provides new connections and fresh perspectives from other people. You might be stuck with a problem at work, but suddenly, chatting to a person from your amateur painting group can give you a fresh outlook and a surprising solution to that issue.

6. Add a Summary or Objective to the CV Format for Freshers

Now that you’ve mastered the rest of your CV format for freshers, there’s a very important section left. And, surprisingly, this part actually goes at the start of your CV.

We’re talking about a CV summary or career objective.

Which one should you write?

It all depends on your experience:

• If you already have 2+ years of experience, you can go for a CV summary. Pick 2–3 of your biggest accomplishments, add some of your skills, and explain what you want to do for your future employer. Remember to be specific, and don’t make promises you can’t fulfil.
• Most freshers will rather write a career objective. This statement doesn’t rely on your experience, but rather on your skills, knowledge, personal qualities, and your future goals. You must also tell your potential employer how your knowledge can be useful for them.
• Remember to construct your statement using this formula: Adjective + Job Title + Years of Experience + Achievements + Skills + What You Want to Do for the Employer

Here’s a clear example of a CV summary for a fresher candidate:

Summary in a CV Format for Freshers

This person has only two years of experience, but already has achievements to be proud of.

Recruiters won’t be impressed by the statement above—it’s vague and could be sent to 50 other companies.

Let’s have a look at career objectives:

Career Objective in a CV Format for Freshers

This fresher candidate is off to a good start. They already know how to put their knowledge in practice.

While I’m sure that patience and empathy are crucial to this line of work, it’s not enough to prove that this candidate will be a good fit for the job.

Decided to write a resume instead of a CV? Read more: How to Write a Resume for Freshers

7. Pair the Latest CV Format for Freshers with a Strong Cover Letter

Congratulations—your CV is ready!

But there’s one more thing left to write, and that’s your cover letter for fresher jobs. You might think that these documents are a thing of the past. But many recruiters still expect them. Are you willing to take risks when it comes to your career? Better not!

Writing a cover letter is much easier than learning for the finals. Just follow the right steps:

• List your full name and contact information at the top.
• Add the recruiter’s name. Avoid writing To Whom It May Concern or Dear Sir/Madam—a personal address is a thousand times better. If all else fails, use the phrase Dear Hiring Manager. 
• State your enthusiasm for the advertised position.
• Show your understanding of the role by listing key skills needed for it.
• Prove you match the requirements by telling about your achievements and knowledge.
• Say what attracted you to the position or this company.
• Finish with a Call To Action by proposing a meeting and a specific goal you could achieve for the company.

Now your job application is ready. Time to get the ball rolling and apply for that first job. Good luck! 

Read more: How to Write a Cover Letter for an Internship: Examples & Tips

A great cover letter that matches your CV will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here.  Here's what it may look like:

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See more cover letter templates and start writing.

Key Takeaways

These are the steps to create the best CV format for freshers:

1. Use the proper CV layout for a good visual experience for recruiters.
2. List your work experience, academic projects, and other activities.
3. Describe your education in detail by adding accomplishments and relevant coursework.
4. Add a curated list of hard and soft skills with a touch of digital knowledge.
5. Throw in a few additional CV sections that feel relevant to the job.
6. Add a career summary or objective to make a good impression from the start.
7. Finish off with a matching cover letter to boost your chances.

Thank you for reading my article. Now, I’d love to hear from you:

• What’s the biggest challenge in finding a job for a fresher?
• Which part of a CV for freshers is the most difficult?

Let me know in the comments below!

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Our editorial team has reviewed this article in depth to make sure it follows Zety’s editorial guidelines. We’re committed to sharing our expertise and providing actionable career advice that brings real value. Each year, the high quality of our content draws 40 million readers to our site. But that’s not all—we conduct original research to obtain an exhaustive understanding of the labour market and pride ourselves in being cited by top universities and leading media outlets worldwide.