How to Write a CV With No Experience (With Examples)

What do you put on a CV when you have no work experience?

Most people have far more to write than they think. Experience is not only paid work with an impressive title. It is anything where you carried responsibility, solved a problem or learnt something an employer can use.

Go through your last few years and note everything that fits one of these categories:

• Education: your course, strong subjects, projects, coursework and grades you are proud of.
• Informal work: babysitting, tutoring, dog walking, helping in a family business, seasonal or summer work.
• Volunteering: coaching a youth team, helping at a charity shop, stewarding at a festival.
• Clubs and societies: committee roles, organising events, student union, running a society's social media.
• Personal projects: a website you built, an app or game you coded, a blog, a small online shop.
• Courses and certificates: first aid, food hygiene, a driving licence, language courses, online certifications.

Once you have the list, choose what fits the job best. A CV for a retail job should put customer contact and responsibility first, while a CV for a junior data role should lead with your technical projects.

How to structure a CV with no experience

A standard CV opens with work history. When you do not have much of it, reorder the sections so your strongest material comes first. This is completely normal for students and graduates, and recruiters expect it.

1. Contact details: name, phone, a professional email address and your city. A LinkedIn profile if you have one.
2. Personal profile: three or four lines on who you are, what you are good at and what you are looking for.
3. Education: most recent first, with relevant modules, projects or grades.
4. Experience: part-time jobs, volunteering and society roles together under a heading such as "Experience" or "Work and volunteering".
5. Skills: technical skills, languages with levels, and personal strengths backed by evidence.
6. Interests: brief, and only if they say something useful about you.

Keep it to one page. With limited experience a second page reads as padding, and a recruiter should be able to spot your best points in seconds. Most recruiters skim before they read, so clear headings and consistent dates matter more than design.

How to write a personal profile with no experience

Your personal profile is often read first, and it matters even more when the rest of the CV is short. It should answer three questions: who are you, what can you do, and what are you looking for?

Skip empty phrases like "hard-working team player" unless you back them up. Write something specific the reader can see proven further down the page. For more wording ideas, browse our CV profile examples.

Student CV: what do employers look for in part-time applicants?

When you apply for a part-time or student job, your studies are your biggest asset. Employers often hire students because they are learning something useful and can offer flexible hours.

• Relevant modules and projects: give the project title and one line on what you built or found out.
• Expected graduation: write "Expected graduation June 2028" so the employer knows how long you can stay.
• Hours and availability: state how many hours you can work and mention exam periods up front.
• Tools: Excel, Python, Canva, SPSS or whatever your course has taught you. Be honest about your level.

CV for school leavers: applying for your first job

If you are 16-18 and looking for your first job, nobody expects a long CV. Half a page to a full page is fine. The key is to show that you are dependable, turn up on time and are keen to learn.

List your school and qualifications, and mention subjects you enjoy if they relate to the job. If you have done something at home that needed responsibility, like looking after younger siblings or walking a neighbour's dog every day, include it. Sport and hobbies show that you can commit to something and work with others.

Graduate CV: landing your first job after university

As a graduate you are competing with others from similar courses, so detail makes the difference. Your dissertation, internships and part-time jobs are your experience, so describe them with the same care as a full-time role.

• Dissertation or final project: title, method and why the result matters. If you worked with a company, say so.
• Internships and placements: describe tasks and results, not just the organisation's name.
• Part-time jobs: even a café job shows work ethic. If it relates to your field, give it more room.
• Study abroad: a semester abroad shows you can adapt and work in another language.

Write bullet points that start with action verbs and, where you can, include something measurable. "Handled 40-60 customer queries a day" says more than "Responsible for customer service". Only use numbers you can explain in an interview.

What skills can you put on a CV with no experience?

Skills often lift a CV without much experience. Split them into hard skills (what you can do) and soft skills (how you work), and back each one with a short piece of evidence.

• Hard skills: till systems, Microsoft Office, programming languages, languages with levels ("English: fluent", "German: conversational").
• Soft skills: responsible ("trusted with the clubhouse keys for two seasons"), customer-focused, organised, curious.
• Practical: driving licence, forklift certificate, food hygiene, first aid.

Larger employers often screen applications with applicant tracking systems that look for keywords from the job advert, even for entry-level roles. Mirror the advert's wording where it genuinely fits you and keep the layout simple. Our guide to ATS-friendly CVs explains how, and our guide to skills for a CV has more ideas.

With CVm8 you enter your experience once and get a CV tailored to the keywords of each job advert automatically, so you do not have to rewrite everything for every application.

Common mistakes on a first CV

• Too much school detail: once you have a degree, you rarely need to list every early qualification in full.
• Long lists without evidence: five personality traits with no examples convince nobody.
• One CV for every job: adjust your profile and section order to each job advert.
• Typos: ask someone to proofread. It takes five minutes and saves a lot of applications.
• Unprofessional email address: use a simple firstname.lastname style address.

Your CV rarely travels alone. Most applications also need a short cover letter where you explain why you are applying and what you hope to learn, so it is worth reading our guide on how to write a cover letter.

Frequently asked questions

What do I put on my CV if I have never had a job?

Include your education, volunteering, clubs, informal work such as babysitting or tutoring, and personal projects. Focus on the responsibility you took and the skills you gained.

How long should a CV be with no experience?

One page is enough. A short, focused CV comes across as stronger than two pages of filler.

Should I put my grades on my CV?

Include them if they are strong or if the job advert asks for them. Otherwise it is fine to leave them out.

Can I use a personal project as work experience?

Yes. Describe it like a job, with what you built, the tools you used and the outcome, but list it under projects or experience rather than giving it an employer's name.

Should hobbies go on a student CV?

Briefly, yes. Team sports, volunteering or a creative project can show qualities the rest of your CV does not.

Related guides

• How to Write a CV: A Step-by-Step GuideLearn how to write a CV that gets read: structure, personal profile, work experience and skills explained step by step, with realistic examples.
• CV Personal Statement: 9 Examples and a TemplateCV personal statement examples for 9 roles, a simple four-part template and the mistakes to avoid. Write a profile that gets the rest of your CV read.
• Skills for a CV: Hard and Soft Skills + ExamplesSkills for a CV: which hard and soft skills to list, how to show IT and language levels, and how to prove them. Includes skill lists for 6 roles.
• CV Examples: 6 Realistic Samples for Every StageCV examples for graduates, experienced professionals, skilled trades, healthcare, students and managers, with notes on why each one works. See them all.