11 Tips for Writing a CV With No Work Experience

It's understandable to think work experience is the most important factor in deciding who gets the job, but this isn't always the case. Recruiters are looking for a mix of experience, skills, and personal qualities. While you may have little to no work experience, you can still make a strong impression by structuring your CV to emphasise your skills, qualifications and other activities.

CV example with no experience

Before we dive into the details of crafting a CV with no experience, let's first take a look at an example. A CV for a first job doesn't have to be sparse. Notice how this example makes the most of a practical CV format to highlight education and skills – perfect for students, school leavers and career changers.

Tips for writing a CV with no experience

When writing a CV with no experience, it's important to focus on what you do have. Education, hard and soft skills, personal projects, extracurricular activities, internships, and even hobbies can help you fill the page and show your key qualities.

Make sure to tailor every CV you submit to the position you're applying for and keep your CV to a maximum of one page. Remember: everyone starts somewhere, so the goal is to show employers why you have the motivation and potential to learn and grow at their company.

Now let's take a look at some specific tips.

Tip 1: Show your personality in a personal profile

Your personal profile or summary is a 2-3 sentence statement placed at the top of your CV to help capture the recruiter's attention by highlighting your best qualities right from the start. Here's what it should contain:

Tip 2: Highlight your education

Your education section should highlight your qualifications and demonstrate what you've achieved during your studies. Include your most recent qualification first, followed by the institution, dates and any relevant projects, modules, awards or measurable achievements. The example below shows how to structure this section effectively:

Tip 3: Build a skills section that matches the job

Whether you’re a seasoned professional or a recent graduate, the same piece of advice applies to all CVs: tailor, tailor, tailor! This means tailoring your CV skills section so it includes the skills listed in the job description.

Tailor your skills section to each job application by using relevant keywords from the job description. This helps recruiters and ATS software quickly identify your suitability for the role.

Tip 4: Use a skills-based format

With a skills-based CV format, you can draw attention away from your lack of experience and place the focus on your skills, abilities and achievements. A skills-based CV structure, also known as a functional CV format, places your skills and education sections above your work experience, giving more prominence to skills you might have picked up while studying, or through other activities besides work.

Here's an example from Jobseeker:

When using a skills-based CV, don't simply list your abilities. Group similar skills under clear headings and support them with short examples that show how you've developed or applied them. If you have little professional experience, draw on your education, volunteering, extracurricular activities or personal projects to provide evidence of your skills and demonstrate your potential.

Tip 5: Add internships

Don't underestimate the value of internships, even if the work involved routine or repetitive tasks. They can demonstrate transferable skills such as resilience, adaptability and teamwork. List your internship either in a dedicated "Internships" section or alongside your work experience, using the same format: include your job title, employer, location and dates, followed by concise bullet points highlighting your responsibilities, achievements and the skills you developed.

Tip 6: Add volunteering experience

Your volunteering experience could put you ahead of the pack in your job applications. Jobseeker's research found that more than half of HR professionals value volunteering as equal to professional work experience.

Volunteering can demonstrate valuable transferable skills such as teamwork, communication, initiative, and responsibility. Include it in the same format as paid work experience, highlighting your responsibilities and achievements with bullet points, like this:

Tip 7: Show projects & personal work

Personal projects and extracurricular activities are a great way to demonstrate initiative and transferable skills, even if you haven't had a paid job. Whenever possible, highlight measurable results and explain the impact of your work. Choose examples that showcase skills relevant to the role, such as teamwork, leadership or communication, and avoid including activities that could introduce unnecessary bias, such as political or religious affiliations.

Tip 8: Include hobbies that add value

Your hobbies and interests say a lot about you and your personality as well as displaying a wide range of skills. Do you like solving puzzles? Then it shows that you have an analytical mind. What about travelling? Then, you’re probably more outgoing and adventurous. If you play a lot of sports in your free time, you’re likely to enjoy working in teams.

Tip 9: Format it right

With a skills-based or functional CV, you draw attention away from your lack of experience and place the focus on your skills, abilities and achievements. As your skills are organised by headings, recruiters can immediately see what you have to offer. These formatting tips can help you keep your CV organised, well-structured and easy-to-read:

For even more inspiration, browse our collection of job-specific CV examples.

Tip 10: Support it with a cover letter

While your CV is your main showcase of relevant skills and qualities, your cover letter can add valuable context to your application and draw the attention of the employer to the things you want them to notice.

Most cover letter templates follow a traditional, professional letter format, including:

Jobseeker can help you write an impactful cover letter to go with your CV. Choose a design, customise pre-written content or write your own letter from scratch. Review our cover letter examples for ideas and inspiration.

Tip 11: Polish your LinkedIn

LinkedIn is one of the key assets of any jobseeker, and it can form a key part of your applications. Employers tend to check social media profiles, and particularly LinkedIn, so you can get ahead as an entry-level candidate by making sure your LinkedIn is up to scratch.

Here are some quick fixes for your LinkedIn profile to ensure it makes a positive impression with readers, even if you don’t have any relevant work experience:

Dos and don’ts for a CV with no experience

When you're writing your first CV, pay attention to these dos and don'ts to ensure your job application avoids common CV pitfalls and makes a strong impression on the reader:

First job CV checklist: everything to include

Follow this checklist when you're writing your first CV, to make sure you include all the essential details:

If you add all these details into a concise, well-formatted CV, you'll give yourself a great chance of progressing to the interview stage. Keep paragraphs brief, use bullet points and avoid walls of text, and your CV is more likely to make a positive impact.

Key takeaways for creating a CV with no experience

Having little or no work experience doesn't mean you can't create an impressive CV. By focusing on your education, skills, projects, volunteering and other achievements, you can demonstrate your potential and show recruiters that you have the qualities they're looking for. A clear structure, relevant examples and a tailored approach will help your application stand out.

To make the process even easier, explore Jobseeker's professional CV templates, resources and CV builder. You'll be able to create a polished, ATS-friendly CV, customise it for every application and pair it with a matching cover letter to maximise your chances of landing your first interview.