Write a CV with no experience

A CV without experience doesn’t have to be a blank page – it’s just a different type of application. Instead of focusing on past jobs, you’ll showcase your education, skills, and any experience from volunteering, coursework, or extracurricular activities.

This guide will take you step by step through writing a CV, highlight your abilities, and present yourself as a strong candidate – even if your formal work history is still a work in progress.

A clear and organised CV makes it easy for recruiters to see what you bring to the table. Keep it structured. Even without work experience, your CV should look professional: if its layout is chaotic, employers might assume your work style is too.

Here’s the structure you should follow:

• Name and contact details – Keep your personal details at the top so a potential employer can reach out to you. Adding a photo is always entirely up to you.
• Personal statement – Immediately draw in the recruiter with a brief summary of your skills and education.
• Core skills – Quickly list your biggest strengths, like teamwork, communication, and problem-solving.
• Education – Whether you’re a graduate or a school leaver, list the academic background, coursework, and relevant projects that make you the right fit.
• Work experience – You’ve got more than you think: include volunteering, school projects, or personal initiatives that showcase transferable skills.
• Additional info – You can optionally list any relevant hobbies, languages, awards, and specialist skills which help to add value to your application.

Your CV should be as professional as any experienced applicant’s – presentation matters. Even without a packed work history, a quality format makes a strong first impression. Avoidable mistakes will only serve to distract from the skills you want to convey to recruiters.

Follow these formatting tips:

• Bullet points – Help the recruiter skim your CV quickly and pick up the important bits with ease.
• Divide sections – Logically organise the information and make it easy to navigate.
• Use a clear and readable font – Just make sure it’s a clear and easy font to read.
• No more than 1 page – Without any work experience, a single page should generally be enough length to cover everything without boring the reader.

Think of this as your introduction in a job interview – just without the awkward handshake and nervous small talk. Your personal statement (typically called a profile for experienced candidates) is a short introduction that’ll go over the things that make you a good candidate, and emphasise the value you’ll bring to a company that hires you.

For anything you can’t easily mention in a CV, you should tailor a new cover letter for each job you apply to.

You’ll need to include:

• Career aspirations – Explain what kind of role or industry you’re interested in.
• Key skills – Highlight abilities like organisation, adaptability, or teamwork.
• Education focus – If you’ve completed relevant studies or a degree, mention them here.
• Willingness to learn – Employers value candidates who are eager to grow.
• Personal strengths – Whether it’s problem-solving, creativity, or time management, highlight what makes you a strong hire.

Since you’re not relying on work experience, your CV skills section is especially important. This is where you highlight what makes you a great candidate with just a column or two of brief bullet points.

Think about what you’ve learned from education, extracurricular activities, or even personal projects. If you’ve worked on a group project, you’ve developed teamwork skills. If you’ve organised an event, that’s project management. You can use a free CV template the make structuring this bit easier.

When you don’t have work experience, education becomes your strongest selling point – so don’t just list it, make it count. This section will likely be the most detailed part of your CV. If you’ve recently finished school, college, or university, highlight your qualifications and relevant coursework.

If you’ve taken any additional courses, certifications, or training (such as online courses), include them here to show your commitment to learning.

Example education sections

What to include in your education section

For each qualification, add the following info:

• Qualification & organisation – Tell the recruiter what you studied and where.
• Dates studied – Give the dates of when you earned the qualification, or when you expect to finish.
• Extra details – Go into more depth on the most recent and relevant modules and projects you completed, if they’re relevant to the roles you’re applying for.

No job experience? No problem. Work experience doesn’t have to mean ‘officially employed’ – think volunteer work, projects, or even responsibilities at home. 

Even if you haven’t had a job yet, you’ve likely gained skills through other activities: just because your name hasn’t been on a payroll yet doesn’t mean you don’t have valuable experience to showcase.

List these experiences in reverse chronological order, just like a work history.

• Outline – Introduce the project, activity, or volunteer role and its purpose.
• Responsibilities – List key tasks, such as organising, researching, or collaborating with a team. Use action verbs like “led”, “organised”, and “assisted”.
• Achievements – Highlight any positive outcomes, such as successfully completing a project, receiving positive feedback, or learning a new skill.

The additional info section is totally optional, and can be added to the bottom of your CV to include any extras like hobbies, languages, or awards.

You should had anything that might help recruiters see that you’re good fit for the role.

Good additional info for candidates with no experience

Additional info example