You graduated this semester, a job ad you want closes in two days, and all you have is a degree, a graduation project and two months of co-op training. A ready CV template for fresh graduates saves you the design and formatting, but it does not write the content for you, and the box that stops most graduates is "Work experience". This article is a plan for filling the template in one hour: the right section order when experience is thin, writing lines with numbers, stating your GPA, and naming and saving the file in the right format.
Quick answer: Order your CV like this: education first, then projects, then co-op training, then volunteering, then skills and languages, all on one page. Write each line with a past-tense verb and a result that includes a number, state your GPA with its correct scale, name the file with your name in Latin letters, and keep a PDF for sending plus an editable copy for portals that ask for it.
Why a graduate's CV order differs from an experienced one
Your first reader spends a few seconds on the top half of the page, so put your strongest material there. Experienced candidates lead with their jobs; a graduate's strongest material is usually the major, university, GPA and project. So lead with education, and let projects and co-op training sit where "experience" would go. It is real experience even if it was unpaid.
Suggested order for a one-page CV
- Header: name, city, mobile number, email, and your LinkedIn link if you have one.
- A two- or three-line summary: your major, what you are good at, and the field you are applying to.
- Education: degree, major, university, graduation year, GPA.
- Projects: the graduation project plus one or two course projects.
- Co-op or summer training.
- Volunteering and student activities.
- Skills, then courses and certificates, then languages.
Do not include your national ID number, full date of birth or marital status. Screeners do not need them, and it is personal data you should not spread with every file you send.
The one-hour plan for filling the template
Before you start, gather your graduation certificate or transcript, your graduation project description, your co-op training letter, course and volunteering certificates, and the text of the job ad. Then follow this timing:
| Minutes | Task | Output |
|---|---|---|
| 0 - 10 | Read the ad and highlight 5 to 8 skill words that repeat | A word list for your summary and skills |
| 10 - 20 | Header, summary and education | Top half of the page done |
| 20 - 35 | Projects and co-op training | 3 to 4 lines each, with numbers |
| 35 - 45 | Volunteering, activities and skills | Two volunteering lines and a specific skills list |
| 45 - 55 | Courses and languages, then a spelling check | One page, no errors, no leftover template text |
| 55 - 60 | Export and file naming | A PDF ready to send plus an editable copy |
In the ATS-friendly professional resume template, all text, headings and sections are editable, so delete any section you have nothing to put in rather than leaving it with a generic phrase. If you are writing your CV in English for the first time, the modern navy English guided resume template puts instructions in every field telling you what to write, from title and summary to measurable achievements and languages with proficiency levels, so you replace the prompts with your own details line by line.
Turning projects and co-op training into strong lines
The formula that works with little experience: past-tense verb + what you did + tool or method + a number or result. The number can be team size, training length, data volume, number of people served, or time saved. The examples below are illustrations only; write what you actually did with your real numbers:
Graduation project
- Designed, with a team of 4 students, an appointment app for the university clinic; tested with 30 users, average booking time fell from 10 minutes to 3.
- Wrote the data analysis chapter using Excel and Power BI on a sample of 250 survey responses.
Co-op training
- Analysed 1,200 service requests during an 8-week co-op placement in customer service and presented a report on the top 5 complaint causes.
- Prepared 12 weekly presentations for department meetings and kept the shared task-tracking file up to date.
Volunteering and student activities
- Organised the college career day with 12 volunteers, handling the list of participating employers and the interview schedule.
Avoid lines that describe a responsibility rather than an achievement, such as "Responsible for data entry". Ask yourself: how many, for whom, and what changed because of you? Then rewrite the line with the answer.
GPA, skills and languages: small details that get read closely
Writing your GPA on the right scale
Most Saudi universities calculate GPA out of 5 and some out of 4, so always state the scale: "Cumulative GPA 4.21 out of 5" or "3.40 out of 4". Add the grade as it appears on your certificate, such as Excellent or Very Good, and any honours you received. Do not convert your GPA from one scale to another yourself; write it exactly as it appears on the official document. If your GPA is average, state it plainly and let projects and training carry the page, because hiding it only raises the question in the interview.
Specific skills instead of generic traits
"Works well under pressure" and "eager to learn" do not set you apart. List skills that can be tested: Excel (pivot tables, conditional functions), SQL, AutoCAD, report writing, social media management. From the words you highlighted in the ad, include only the ones you genuinely have. For languages, use clear levels: Arabic native, English advanced, plus an official test score if you have one.
File name, format, and matching Jadarat and LinkedIn
Name the file with your full name in Latin letters, your title and the year, such as Sara-AlQahtani-Accountant-CV-2026.pdf, without long spaces or words like "final 2". Some application systems handle Arabic characters in file names poorly, and a clear name makes it easy for the recruiter to save your file.
Send a PDF when applying by email, because it keeps your layout exactly as designed on any device. Keep an editable copy too, since some portals specifically ask for a Word file, and always follow what the ad requests. Before sending, open the PDF and drag your cursor over the text: if you can select and copy it, it is readable text; if the page behaves like an image, export again from the original file. How automated screening systems read CVs is covered in our ATS-friendly CV guide.
If you apply through the Jadarat platform or use LinkedIn, make sure dates, titles and university name match across the platform, your CV and your profile. A training date that differs between your CV and your account confuses the reader and invites an unnecessary question.
Mistakes that sink a graduate CV before it is read
The first is leaving template text in place: a box that still says "Write your professional summary here" or a placeholder date forgotten in a corner tells the reader you did not review your file. Read the page aloud once before exporting and look for any word you did not write.
The second is an unprofessional email address from school days; create one with your first name and family name. The third is sending the same file to every job: adjust the summary and skills order for each ad. It takes five minutes and matches the CV to what the reader is looking for. The fourth is exaggeration: do not write "expert" in software you used in one course, because the interview will reveal it at the first technical question.
The fifth is a crowded design: many columns, icons and skill percentages such as "Excel 90%" mean nothing to the reader and can confuse screening systems. Write the skill and what you can do with it, and let white space work for you.
Frequently asked questions
Is one page enough for a graduate CV?
Yes, one page is right for most fresh graduates. If your content runs over, cut repeated coursework and short courses unrelated to the job and shorten the summary before shrinking the font below 10 points.
Should I put co-op training under work experience?
You can, as long as you state its nature clearly: "Co-op trainee" with the organisation's name and the duration. That is more honest than calling it a job, and it still carries the weight of experience because it was real work in a real organisation with tasks you can explain in an interview.
Should my CV be in Arabic or English?
Follow the language of the job ad and the employer. Many private companies in Saudi Arabia ask for an English CV, while government bodies usually work in Arabic. If you apply to both, keep two versions with identical content and dates.
Should I include my graduation project if it is unrelated to the job?
Yes, but focus its lines on the skills it shares with the job: analysis, time management, teamwork, or a specific tool you used. The reader cares more about proof that you can do the work than about the project title.
Start the hour now
Open the job ad, pick one template and follow the minute plan above without stopping to polish the design. The ATS-friendly template suits you if you want a clean structure where you can edit everything; the navy English template suits you if you want guidance field by field. You will find more options in our CV and resume templates collection, and more job-seeker tools on the ebooks and CV page.