Placement CV example and writing guide

Use a clean, reverse-chronological layout that a recruiter can scan quickly. Two pages is a sensible maximum, although one well-filled page can work when you have limited experience. Put your name and contact details first, followed by a tailored personal statement, education, experience, projects or activities, skills and relevant extras. Do not include a photo or date of birth.

Keep the personal statement specific to the placement. A recruiter should be able to see what you study, the work you want and why your existing evidence transfers. In the experience section, focus on outcomes rather than copying routine duties from a job description. Retail, hospitality and campus roles can demonstrate reliability, communication and organisation when the bullets explain what you handled and what changed.

Use the skills section as an index, then prove the strongest skills elsewhere. Your education section can carry more weight than it would on an experienced candidate's CV, so give useful detail about relevant assignments without listing every module. Extras should earn their space by showing responsibility, sustained interest or evidence related to the application.

A placement year can develop transferable skills, add work experience to a CV and help a student build a professional network. Treat a placement CV template as a structure, not a script: adapt the wording and evidence for each advert.

Placement recruiters do not expect a long professional history, but they still need evidence. Draw it from part-time work, university projects, volunteering, student societies and short internships. For each bullet, use a simple pattern: action, scope and result. State what you did, give enough context to show its difficulty, then add a defensible number or concrete outcome.

The stronger versions do not inflate the underlying work. They make its scale and result visible. If you cannot support a percentage, use another honest measure: the number of records checked, team size, weekly workload, deadline met, error count reduced or feedback received. Never reverse-engineer a number simply because a placement CV sample contains one.

Open bullets with direct verbs such as analysed, built, calculated, coordinated, drafted, improved, investigated, organised, presented, resolved, tested or validated. Choose the verb that describes your own contribution. "Supported" is useful when you genuinely assisted, but repeated use can make the candidate sound passive.

For technical projects, explain the problem before naming the tool. "Used Python" says less than "Used Python to clean 1,200 sensor readings and identify four anomalous batches for review." For customer-facing work, connect pace or volume with accuracy, service or problem resolution. For society roles, record attendance, budget, event scale or delivery against a deadline.

Some industrial placements involve applying technical skills to real-life business problems, while project engineering work can include testing procedures or machines to validate equipment and processes. A compulsory course placement may also involve a report, reflective log, specified tasks or another assessed activity. Include that work only when it matches your route and experience, and describe the output rather than assuming every placement uses the same assessment model.

Keep the most relevant evidence near the top of each entry. Two strong roles with specific bullets are more persuasive than a long list of unexplained activities. Read every bullet aloud before submitting: if it describes only a duty, add the scope, purpose or outcome.

For most student applicants, education belongs near the top of the placement CV because it supplies much of the relevant evidence. List your current degree first, with the institution, start date and expected completion date. Add an expected classification only when your university has provided one or you can describe it accurately. Beneath the degree, select a few modules, assignments or laboratory projects that relate directly to the advert. Explain what you produced, tested or analysed instead of filling the section with module titles.

A placement year may be an optional route that changes a three-year course into a four-year Degree with Placement Year. State the exact course title shown by your institution and make clear whether the placement is planned, under way or completed. Do not present an intended award as one you already hold.

Students completing some placement-year routes gain a Diploma in Professional Studies (DPS) or a Diploma in Industrial Studies (DIS). Include either award only if it applies to your course, and copy the exact title from your official record. Place a completed award under education or achievements; label an unfinished one clearly as expected rather than completed.

Industrial placement students are required to complete a formal induction by the end of the second week and complete health and safety documents when starting the placement. These are onboarding requirements, not qualifications to advertise as credentials. Mention completed training only when it adds useful evidence and you can name it accurately.

Do not add unrelated online certificates merely to lengthen the CV. Where an advert asks for a role-specific qualification, reproduce its wording accurately and state your real status without implying that you have completed it. Earlier school qualifications can be condensed once your degree and university evidence are stronger, but retain any subject or result that directly supports the application.