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

To write a CV with no job experience, lead with a short profile, then education, then a skills and projects section built from study, volunteering, clubs and part-time work. Show each skill with a short result. The UK National Careers Service advises focusing on skills learned through projects, work experience or volunteering for a first job.

Key facts

• The UK National Careers Service says a CV should include contact details, an introduction, education history, work history and references, and that for a first job you can focus on skills learned through projects, work experience or volunteering. (National Careers Service, How to write a CV, 2026)
• The National Careers Service also suggests including interests and hobbies that show some of the skills you have, and tailoring your CV to each job. (National Careers Service, How to write a CV, 2026)
• MIT's career office notes that recruiters spend just a few seconds on average looking at a resume and advises selecting experiences where you showed the skills the position requires. (MIT Career Advising and Professional Development, Resumes, 2026)
• The Europass CV, one of the best-known CV formats in Europe, can be created in 31 languages and is built from a profile with education, training, work experience and skills. (Europass, Create your Europass CV, 2026)
• The global youth unemployment rate rose to 12.4 percent in 2025, equal to 67 million unemployed people aged 15 to 24, according to the ILO. (International Labour Organization, Youth unemployment rises as young people face a harder road to decent work, 2026)

Learning how to write a CV with no job experience is one of the first career skills most people need. It can feel impossible: employers want experience, and you need a job to get it. The good news is that a first CV is judged differently. Employers hiring for entry-level roles and first jobs look for potential: what you have learned, what you have done outside work, and how you think and behave. You have more to show than you may realise.

The UK National Careers Service puts it simply: for a first job, you can focus on skills you have learned through projects, work experience or volunteering. This guide shows you how to do that, section by section, with a full example at the end.

The sections of a first CV

The National Careers Service says a CV should include contact details, an introduction, education history, work history and references. For a first CV, adjust the order and fill the gaps with what you have done:

1. Contact details: name, phone, email and city. No photo or date of birth unless the country expects them.
2. Profile: two or three lines saying who you are, your main strengths and the kind of role you want.
3. Education: your school, college or university, course, dates and any strong results or relevant modules.
4. Skills: six to eight skills that match the job, such as languages, software, communication or customer service.
5. Projects and achievements: coursework, competitions, personal projects or anything you built, organised or improved.
6. Experience: part-time jobs, volunteering, internships, work placements, club roles and family business work.
7. Interests: optional, but the National Careers Service suggests including interests and hobbies that show skills.
8. References: often available on request is enough; check what the employer asks for.

How to write a CV with no experience: turning activities into evidence

The key is to describe what you did as skills and results, not just activities. Ask three questions about each thing you have done: What did I do? What skill did it use? What happened because of it?

These examples were written for this guide. Use your own real activities and results.

How to write a CV for a first job: the profile

The profile is the first thing an employer reads. MIT's career office notes that recruiters spend just a few seconds on average on a resume, so make it count. Keep it short and specific:

Business studies graduate with strong customer service experience from two years of weekend work in retail. Organised, reliable and confident with spreadsheets. Looking for an entry-level role in office administration where I can learn and grow.

Avoid general claims such as hard-working and passionate without evidence. Name the role you want and two or three real strengths.

Skills to include

• Communication: presentations, writing, customer contact.
• Teamwork: group projects, sports teams, volunteering.
• Organisation: balancing study and work, planning events.
• Digital skills: spreadsheets, documents, social media, design tools, coding.
• Languages: each language with an honest level.
• Customer service: any role dealing with the public.

Match the skills to the job advert. The National Careers Service advises tailoring your CV to each job and highlighting the skills the employer asked for.

How to write a CV with no job experience: a full example

This example was written for this guide. The person and details are invented.

Aisha Khan
Manchester | [email protected] | 07000 000000

Profile
Recent college leaver with strong communication skills from two years of volunteering at a community centre. Organised, reliable and confident using spreadsheets and email. Looking for a first role in customer service or office support.

Education
Business Studies, City College, 2024 to 2026. Final project: a customer survey for a local bakery, presented to the owner.

Skills
Customer service; clear writing; spreadsheets (sorting, formulas, charts); team coordination; English and Urdu (fluent).

Volunteering
Community centre helper, 2024 to now. Welcome visitors at the front desk every Saturday, answer questions and book rooms. Set up a simple spreadsheet to track room bookings, which the manager still uses.

Achievements
Organised a charity bake sale with five classmates that raised money for the local food bank.

Interests
Netball (team captain), cooking.

References
Available on request.

Notice how every section shows a real skill. The profile names the job. The project and volunteering each include a result. Even the interests show leadership as team captain.

Layout and length

Keep your first CV to one page. Use a simple layout with clear headings, the same font throughout and plenty of white space. Avoid photos, tables, graphics and columns unless the employer asks for them, because many employers use software that may not read them well. Save it as a PDF with a clear file name, such as Aisha-Khan-CV.pdf. Check spelling twice and ask someone else to read it.

Adapting your CV for each job

Do not send the same CV everywhere. Read each job advert and note the main skills it asks for. Then change your profile and reorder your skills and examples so the most relevant ones come first. If an advert asks for teamwork, put your best team example near the top. This takes ten minutes per application and makes a real difference.

Common mistakes on a first CV

• Writing that you have no experience instead of showing what you have done.
• Listing duties without results.
• Using general words such as hard-working without evidence.
• Making it longer than one page with filler.
• Spelling mistakes and an unprofessional email address.
• Sending the same CV to every employer.

Building experience while you apply

If your CV feels thin, add to it while you search. Volunteer for a few hours a week. Take a short free course in a useful skill, such as spreadsheets or customer service. Help a family member's business. Start a small personal project, such as a blog, a budget tracker or a simple website. Each of these gives you a new line on your CV and a new story for interviews.

Your cover letter and interview

Your first CV works together with your cover letter and interview. In the cover letter, pick one or two examples from your CV and explain why they fit the job. In the interview, be ready to talk about every line of your CV in more detail, using the STAR method that the National Careers Service recommends: situation, task, action, result.

First CV ideas by situation

School leaver

Lead with your school, subjects and results. Add any part-time work, volunteering, sports or clubs. Mention responsibilities such as prefect, team captain or helping at events. Keep it short and honest. Employers hiring school leavers look for reliability, good manners and a willingness to learn.

University or college graduate

Put your degree near the top, with relevant modules, your final project and any strong results. Add internships, placements, student societies and part-time work. Show skills that match the job, such as research, writing, analysis or software.

Returning to work after a long break

If you have been out of work for years, for example while caring for family, treat the break honestly and briefly. Focus on skills you used during that time, such as budgeting, organising, volunteering or study. Add any recent courses to show your skills are current.

Moving to a new country

If you have experience abroad but none in the new country, it still counts. Explain your experience clearly, translate job titles into local terms and add any local volunteering or courses. Check local CV customs: some countries expect a photo and personal details, many do not. The Europass CV, widely used in Europe, can be created in 31 languages.

Changing direction

If you have worked before but not in the field you want, use a skills-based CV. Group your experience under the skills the new job needs, with examples from your past work.

Words that make your CV stronger

Start each bullet point with an action word that shows what you did: organised, led, created, improved, helped, trained, planned, built, solved, managed. Then add the result. For example: Organised a weekly study group for six classmates, helping all of us pass the final exam. Action words make even small achievements sound clear and confident, as long as they are true.

What employers look for in a first CV

For entry-level roles, employers usually look for a few simple things. Can you communicate clearly? Are you reliable? Do you learn quickly? Do you work well with others? Do you really want this job? Every section of your CV should help them answer yes. A neat, error-free CV already shows care and attention to detail. Real examples from study, volunteering and part-time work show the rest.

Checklist before you send

• One page, simple layout, saved as a PDF.
• A short profile that names the job you want.
• Education with dates and any strong results.
• Skills that match the job advert.
• Projects, volunteering and part-time work with results.
• No spelling mistakes and a professional email address.
• Tailored to this employer.

Writing your education section well

When you have little work history, your education section carries more weight. Do more than list the name of your school or course. Add the dates, your main subjects and any results you are proud of. Mention a final project, a dissertation topic or a piece of coursework that relates to the job. If you won an award, held a scholarship or took part in a competition, include it. For example: Final project on customer satisfaction in local cafés, including a survey of 120 customers and a presentation to two business owners. That one line shows research, communication and initiative.

Making volunteering count

Volunteering is real experience. Treat it like a job on your CV. Give the organisation, your role, the dates and two or three bullet points with results. Show the skills it used: customer care, teamwork, organisation, reliability. Regular volunteering, even a few hours a week, shows commitment that employers value. If you volunteered for a short event, describe what you did and what it achieved.

Short courses and certificates

Short courses can fill gaps and show you are keen to learn. Free and low-cost courses in spreadsheets, customer service, first aid, food hygiene, coding or languages can all be useful, depending on the job. List each one with the provider and the year. Choose courses that match the jobs you are applying for, and be ready to say what you learned and how you would use it.

References for a first CV

If you have never worked, references can come from a teacher, tutor, volunteer coordinator, coach or someone you did casual work for. Ask them first, and tell them about the jobs you are applying for. Many employers only ask for references after an interview, so you can often write references available on request to save space.

Online applications and screening software

Many employers, even for entry-level roles, use software to sort applications before a person reads them. Help your CV get through by using the same words as the job advert for skills and job titles, keeping headings standard (Profile, Education, Skills, Experience), and avoiding text inside images or complex tables. Upload a PDF unless the employer asks for another format. Fill in every field of the online form carefully, even if the same information is on your CV, because some systems only read the form.

After you send your CV

Keep a simple list of where you applied, the date and the job title. If you hear nothing after a week or two, a short, polite follow-up email is fine for smaller employers. If you are invited to interview, reread your CV and the advert, and prepare to talk about every line. If you get no replies after many applications, ask a careers adviser, teacher or friend to review your CV; a fresh pair of eyes often spots a simple fix.

Example: from no CV to first interview

This example was written for this guide and is not about a real person. Omar finished school and had never had a paid job. He listed everything he had done: helping at his uncle's shop on weekends, captaining the school football team and building a simple website for a local club. He turned each into a bullet point with a result, wrote a short profile for retail and office roles, and used a simple one-page layout. He tailored the skills section for each advert. Within three weeks he was invited to two interviews and accepted a part-time role as a shop assistant, his first step into work. His story shows that a first CV does not need a long job history. It needs honest, specific examples, a clear layout and a little tailoring for each employer. Start with what you have done, describe it well, and keep improving your CV as you gain new experience each month. Every course, shift, project or volunteering day you add makes the next version a little stronger, and soon your CV will show a clear picture of a reliable person ready to learn.

Live on Dev Global Jobs

Right now there are 171,239 open jobs on Dev Global Jobs (live count, 28 October 2026). Start from the student CV template, build your first CV in minutes with the CV builder, and browse youth and entry-level opportunities.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

1. How to write a CV, National Careers Service (UK). Accessed 3 October 2026.
2. Resumes, MIT Career Advising and Professional Development. Accessed 3 October 2026.
3. Create your Europass CV, Europass, European Union. Accessed 3 October 2026.
4. Youth unemployment rises as young people face a harder road to decent work, International Labour Organization. Accessed 3 October 2026.
5. The STAR method, National Careers Service (UK). Accessed 3 October 2026.

Source: Dev Global Jobs, updated 28 October 2026.