Writing a CV with No Experience

Writing your first CV is a major step in any new professional’s career. This is your opportunity to showcase why you’re an excellent candidate and how you’ve prepared yourself to succeed in your first job.

When you’re entering the job market for the first time and creating a CV with no work experience, you’ll want to focus on other experiences that helped you develop a professional skill set, share your greatest strengths and highlight your education.

Here are some tips and examples to help you develop a powerful and compelling CV.

What experience to include on a CV for first job

Once you’ve been working as a professional for a few years, your “Work Experience” section will fill the majority of your CV. Until then, it’s important you share how you’re building skills relevant to the job you’re applying for and emphasise experiences that demonstrate your work ethic.

Here are a few examples of experiences you may want to include on your first CV:

• Jobs such as babysitting or lifeguarding

• Extracurricular activities such as clubs and sports

• Internships or apprenticeships

• Volunteer work

Be sure to highlight skills you’ve developed in each role, especially those included in the job posting. This is also where you should list any achievements you’re proud of, such as improvements you made over time or specific goals you’ve reached.

For example, if you were applying for a customer service position with a retail store, you might compose your experience like this:

Sixth-form college lawn services
2017–Present

• Mow, edge and trim lawns from early spring through mid-autumn

• Maintain an average of five lawns per week throughout the season

• Use customer service skills to build relationships and earn referrals

• Earned and maintained a five-star review average on lawn services Facebook page

Dog-walking and pet-sitting services
2016–Present

• Provide daily or long-term care for cats, dogs, fish, reptiles and other pets

• Use customer service abilities to build and maintain client relationships

• Maintain an average of six dog-walking clients per week

• Built website and developed social media presence to grow client-base

Related: The Best Extracurricular Activities To Include on Your CV

How to highlight skills on a CV with no work experience

The goal of a first job CV is to demonstrate your value as an employee and show employers why hiring you would benefit their company. The first thing you need to do is carefully review the job description and note any specific skills you have or requirements you can fulfil.

Keep in mind employers are looking for a combination of soft skills and hard skills. Soft skills are abilities you can apply to almost any position, such as team leadership, verbal communication or self-management. Hard skills are typically things you learn through specialised education or on-the-job training like proficiency in industry-related software or fluency in a foreign language.

When hiring for entry-level jobs, most employers value soft skills over hard skills because soft skills are harder to teach. Its acceptable if you haven’t yet cultivated all the hard skills you need for a position—by sharing you’re capable of building new skills and learning new processes, employers will see your value as a potential new employee.

Make sure you include only the information most relevant to the job. For example, if you’re applying for a job as an administrative assistant, you don’t need to discuss how your role as a babysitter helped improve your childcare skills, but you could share how the experience helped you cultivate time management skills and the ability to juggle multiple tasks at once.

By revising your CV for each job you apply for, you’ll ensure the employer can see how your strengths align with their needs.

Here is an example of a few soft and hard skills you might include when applying for a job as an administrative assistant:

• Time management

• Organisational skills

• Problem-solving

• Customer service

• Active listening

• Microsoft Excel

• Email management

Related: How to write a factory worker CV (with template and example)

How to include education on a CV with no experience

When you’re creating your first CV, it’s important to highlight your education. This will show employers you’re able to overcome challenges, stick to your commitments and learn new things. You can also take this opportunity to share coursework you’ve completed that are relevant to the job.

For example, if you’re applying to a retail associate position, here’s how you might highlight your sixth form or college experience:

Havering College
September 2015 - June 2017
A levels in English, Art and Drama
Relevant coursework: Introduction to Fashion Merchandising, Consumer and Business Mathematics
Clubs: Fashion Club, Young Entrepreneurs Association

And here is how you might highlight your university experience if you’re applying for a role as a receptionist at a spa:

University of Lincoln
Bsc in Physiotherapy
Expected Graduation Date: May 20XX
Relevant coursework: Customer Discovery & Development, Introduction to Interpersonal Communication
Clubs: Women in Business, Centre for Holistic Healing

Related: How To Write a Student Cover Letter (With Examples)

Other things to consider when creating your first CV

• Proofread carefully. Demonstrate your attention to detail by thoroughly reviewing your CV for typos, grammatical errors and inconsistencies. Consider asking a friend or mentor to look over the document before you submit it to an employer. Each time you update your CV, make sure to give it another review.

• Be confident. Employers want to know you’re proud of your achievements and confident in your skills. Make sure this comes through in your CV by highlighting all your best and most relevant strengths and accomplishments.

Related: A guide to becoming more confident at self-promotion

• Keep it concise. Recruiters often have several applications to review and may spend less than a minute reading your CV. Your CV should be powerful but brief. It should be easy for the recruiter to quickly understand how your history and experience align with the job they’re offering. Be sure to view Indeed’s list of CV examples for inspiration.

Writing your first CV is an exciting moment as a new professional. It’s an opportunity to show employers how you’ve prepared yourself for the workforce and why hiring you will add value to their organisation. By crafting a compelling CV today, you’ll be able to build on it as you grow your skills and experience over your career history.

The model shown is for illustration purposes only, and may require additional formatting to meet accepted standards.

Related:

• Tips for Writing a Great Apprenticeship CV

• How To Write a Creative CV