How to teach your students to write their first CV

A student reaches the experience section and says, “But I have never had a job.” Use that situation as the starting point for a discussion: before choosing a template, what could this person describe and how could they support it? A classroom project, a responsibility within a team or a volunteering activity may provide useful material, as long as its context is clear.

This lesson plan is for teachers, tutors and careers advisers helping students write a first CV. By the end, each student should have a draft aimed at a particular opportunity, one accurately described activity and an agreed next improvement. You can adapt this Curriculumify workshop to your teaching and your students' starting points.

Prepare the lesson: outcome, materials and starting point

Share this learning outcome: “I can explain what I could contribute to a particular opportunity using facts I can support.” Work on layout afterwards. Students can use paper or the word processor your school already provides.

• Choose a suitable work-experience placement or entry-level vacancy. Alternatively, create a clearly labelled fictional brief with three specific tasks.
• Prepare the worked example, student worksheet and rubric below. You can copy them into your learning platform or print this page.
• Ask students to recall a recent activity in which they had a task of their own. They do not need to bring proof of paid employment.
• Use fictional names and contact details for whole-class discussion. Collect personal drafts through your school's established channels.

Europass recommends selecting relevant facts for the vacancy. We apply that principle here: the brief helps students decide what to describe, rather than encouraging them to claim requirements they do not meet.

A 60-minute CV writing lesson plan

The timings are a planning suggestion. For a group that needs more writing support, cover the worksheet and example in one lesson, then draft and review in the next.

Student worksheet: “What did I do, and how can I describe it?”

Start with short notes rather than polished writing. You can model the process using a shared fictional activity before students work on their own situations. Nobody needs to disclose personal information to practise the method.

If a student is stuck, ask, “What did you submit for your last group assignment?” or “Which part would have been missing if you had not taken part?” Keep the focus on describing an activity, rather than comparing how many opportunities students have had.

A before-and-after example to discuss together

Ask what has changed. The second version identifies the setting, an individual contribution and a specific use of a tool. It does not turn a classroom project into employment or claim broad Excel expertise. In a full CV, place this under “Projects” or “Relevant activities” and add the actual date.

A simple accompanying profile could be: “Business student with classroom practice in organising stock records in Excel. Seeking a retail work-experience placement to learn how a store manages stock and supports customers.” This is also fictional. Students should replace the facts and objective with their own, rather than copying it as a personal claim.

A five-part rubric for student CV feedback

Share the criteria before students start writing. Each row can be scored from 0 to 2, giving a possible total of 10. Use the rubric to guide feedback. If you use it for grading, align it with your own learning outcomes and assessment policy.

On a narrow screen, scroll the table horizontally to read every column.

Assess what students do with the material available to them. Previous paid work, travel or a paid template should not earn extra marks by themselves. If a statement seems uncertain, ask the student to explain and revise it; writing style alone is not evidence of dishonesty.

Give feedback that leads to a second draft

Use an observation, a question and an action: “You have named the project, but not your task. Which part did you prepare? Add a sentence beginning with that action.” This gives the student something specific to do.

For peer review, ask each student to identify one sentence that is clear and one that needs clarification. Where sharing personal CVs would be unsuitable, use the fictional example or an individual teacher review. End with the sentence: “I changed… because it now makes… clearer.”

Adapt the activity to your class

• No employment or chosen projects: start with a recent class task. If there is no useful example yet, set a small learning activity and describe it accurately once completed.
• Students needing writing support: allow an oral explanation, capture notes and turn one action into a sentence before building the document.
• A bilingual lesson: keep the facts consistent while working on expression. The versión en español provides the same sequence and criteria for Spanish-speaking groups.
• No computer access: complete the worksheet, draft and review on paper; save formatting for a later session.

For additional teaching materials, Barclays LifeSkills provides lessons on building, refining and tailoring CVs. The timetable, worksheet and rubric on this page are our own proposed activity.

Common classroom questions