How to create a resume with no experience for your first job

The good news is you can build a resume with no experience, highlighting the education, training, experiences, and traits that have prepared you for success in the role in a way that makes you stand out as a qualified candidate.

To guide you in the process of writing your first resume, this article will explain how to:

• Leverage your strengths to showcase your fit for the position
• Identify, emphasize, and tailor your transferable skills to the job
• Structure and format your resume to maximize clarity
• Get your resume past ATS software and into human hands
• Avoid mistakes that could impact your chances of getting hired

We’ll also offer plenty of first resume tips and examples to create a professional resume with no job experience that makes a great first impression.

How to highlight your skills with no work experience

A good resume makes it easy for employers to see why you’re the best fit for the role. 

Experienced professionals do this by listing relevant skills and accomplishments they’ve gained from previous roles. The following first resume tips can help you build a resume with no experience and demonstrate your competency.

Emphasize soft and hard skills 

Hard skills are job-specific technical skills learned through education or training that allow you to be proficient in a given role. In contrast, soft skills are personal characteristics that influence how you work.

Employers recognize that soft skills are valuable yet hard to teach, which makes them highly sought after. Consequently, showcasing leadership, communication, and other desirable soft skills can be just as powerful as listing an impressive work history when making a resume with no experience.

Tailor your skills to the job

When creating a resume for a first job, read the job posting carefully and see how the employer describes the skills and experience needed for the role. Then, customize the no-experience resume template you use to apply for each role to align with that information. 

For example, if the employer is looking for someone with marketing skills, you might create your first resume with an emphasis on your consumer behavior coursework or the marketing skills you developed through recruiting volunteers for a community service project.

Using keywords to pass ATS screening

Scanning the job description when making a resume with no experience also allows you to identify keywords the employer uses, including specific skills, traits, or knowledge needed for the role. For example:

• A database administrator job ad may mention “Oracle expertise,” “leadership experience,” or “performance tuning”
• A school looking for a new teacher may include terms like “classroom management,” “differentiated instruction,” or “lesson planning”
• A role for a registered nurse at the local hospital may include “patient assessment,” “electronic medical records (EMR),” or “case management”

Once you’ve identified the most important keywords, use them strategically throughout various sections of your no-experience resume. This will not only help you pass applicant-tracking system (ATS) scans but also show the employer how well you pay attention to details.

How to create a resume with no experience

Learning how to write a resume with no experience doesn’t have to be intimidating. Follow these steps to craft a document that positions you as an excellent choice for the role.

Step 1: Choose the right resume format

You can choose from several formats when you create your first resume: reverse-chronological, functional, or a combination of the two.

Reverse chronological resume examples highlight a candidate’s long work history, listing all relevant jobs from the earliest to the most current. Clearly, those creating a resume with no job experience should avoid this format.

Instead, a first job resume should use a functional format, which includes the following sections:

This puts your professional skills and goals front and center, allowing you to showcase your value as you make a resume with no experience.

Step 2: Write an effective resume objective

Below your header, include a resume objective statement. A resume objective is a brief overview of your skills, qualities, professional goals, and how you’ll be an asset to the company.

Hiring managers often spend less than 10 seconds scanning each resume that lands on their desks, so providing a succinct summary can catch their attention and convince them to continue reading your resume and ultimately offer you an interview. Always mention the company and the position you’re applying for by name in your objective.

On a resume for a first job, the objective should succinctly convey your enthusiasm and the value you bring to the role. For example:

Step 3: Highlight your education clearly

Any resume for students with no experience should emphasize the education section. Use a reverse-chronological format: Start with your current or most recent school experience and work backwards from there (e.g., list your college and then your high school).

If you’re still in high school or college, or if high school is your highest level of education, include your high school information on your resume. Otherwise (if you’ve already graduated from college or are earning a postgraduate degree), you can generally omit your high school information and use that space for other important details.

For each school you list, include the school name and location, along with your graduation date or anticipated graduation date.

You can also include your GPA (if it’s above a 3.5), relevant coursework, major or area of study, awards and honors, school clubs or organizations, leadership roles (such as student council), extracurricular activities, study abroad, and so forth. However, ensure that everything you add to your education section is relevant to the job you’re applying for when you write your first resume.

Step 4: Showcase relevant experiences

Even though you don’t have much or any professional work experience, you can still include relevant life experience.

For example, maybe you babysit, walk dogs, or mow lawns for your neighbors — you likely have experience with time management and finding and retaining clients. Or perhaps you enjoy throwing elaborate birthday parties for your friends or have planned school dances with your student council, which has honed your event-planning skills, budgeting abilities, and so forth. 

Once you identify a position that you want to apply for, read the job description to find the keywords as outlined above, and think about what you’ve previously done that has allowed you to hone relevant skills. Outline these transferable skills using the keywords you’ve found and resume action words to give your accomplishments extra impact.

Step 5: Identify and list transferable skills clearly

Although you can (and should) mention your skills throughout all sections of your resume, you can create a dedicated skills section as well. You may wish to include subheadings for hard and soft skills. Keep the following in mind as you decide which skills to list on your resume and cover letter with no experience:

1. Include skills that match what you’ve mentioned elsewhere on your resume, as the repetition and additional explanation can be powerful
2. Align the skills you’ve listed with the employer’s job posting to get past ATS filters and reinforce that you have the right qualifications
3. Prioritize quality over quantity; recruiters and hiring managers care more about you having the right skills than you simply having a lot of skills

These tips can help candidates make a resume with no experience that’s still compelling and professional.

Step 6: Add optional sections

Finally, you can add some optional sections to flesh out your document when creating your first resume:

Keep in mind that your first resume should be no longer than a single page, so only add additional sections if you have extra room. 

Not sure which format to pick or how to structure your first resume without experience? Jobseeker’s selection has been carefully vetted by HR professionals to ensure that all possible choices will pass both recruiter and ATS checks while optimizing the available space to make your skills shine.

Examples of resumes with no experience

Here are some resume examples you can use as resources to better understand how to write a resume with no experience. Whether you’re writing your first resume or searching for your next career, these no-experience resume examples can help you craft a polished, professional resume.

Resume examples for college graduates

Recent college grads should make use of templates that allow them to showcase the hard and soft skills they’ve acquired during their education, as well as experiences relevant to the fields they’re entering.

Resume example for high school students

College graduates aren’t the only ones who might lack work history. High school students may also need no-experience resume templates to land that coveted first role.

Resume example for career changers

If you’re a career changer with extensive experience that isn’t relevant to the sector you’re pivoting to, resume and cover letter examples can help you figure out how to underscore transferable skills to stand out as a qualified candidate.

General tips for first-time job seekers

If you’re just starting on your career path, here’s how you can write an excellent resume with no job experience:

• Use your no-experience resume objective to clearly outline your skills and goals
• Highlight relevant coursework and projects that helped you build skills
• Include your GPA if it’s high enough to set you apart from other candidates
• Keep your resume to one page and avoid irrelevant or unnecessary details

These guidelines will help you tweak your no-experience resume examples so your skills and qualifications shine through.

Tips for writing a resume with no experience

Here are a few tips to help new graduates and career changers learn how to write a resume summary with no experience and craft a competitive application.

Tips for recent graduates

If you’re a recent graduate writing a resume for your first job, focus on the following elements:

• Academic achievements
• Relevant coursework
• Campus involvement
• Extracurricular activities

When creating your first resume, remember that participation in student councils or sports teams can showcase leadership and teamwork skills. 

Tips for career changers

If you’re changing careers, make transferable skills and quantifiable achievements the backbone of your resume. You’ll need to align your existing skills and experience with your new career path, even if they originate from unrelated fields.

For example, when learning how to write a resume summary with no experience in a given field, mentioning a project you’ve led and the outcome will show hiring managers that you know how to deliver results, even if you’re coming from a different sector.

Mistakes to avoid on your resume

Steer clear of these potential pitfalls when creating a resume with no experience:

Additionally, resist the temptation to exaggerate your skills or qualifications, or to lie in any way on your resume.

There’s a high chance that the employer will catch you in the lie, which could mean that you don’t get selected, you get fired if you’ve already been hired, or your reputation will be damaged. It’s much more effective to highlight and back up the skills you actually have.

Key takeaways

It’s entirely possible to write an effective resume with no prior work experience, provided you:

• Use a functional format to highlight your education and skills
• Include both soft and hard skills
• Stick to relevant details and quantifiable achievements
• Leverage your experience and transferable skills from coursework and activities
• Include sections that help you stand out, such as languages or hobbies and interests

Need help creating a resume with little or no experience? Jobseeker’s resume builder makes it easy to enter your personal details, test out different no-experience resume samples, and download your polished resume instantly so you can start applying for jobs right away.