CV writing 7 min readUpdated 4 August 2026

Writing a CV with no work experience

A page-one plan for first jobs, graduates and career changers: what to put where when you have no employment history to list.

Quick answer

“No experience” almost never means nothing to show. It means your evidence is not in the shape of a job title — so you change the shape of the CV, not the truth of it.

“No experience” almost never means nothing to show. It means your evidence is not in the shape of a job title — so you change the shape of the CV, not the truth of it.

Reorder the page

  1. 1Summary — three lines: what you are training for, your strongest concrete proof, the role you want.
  2. 2Education — degree or course, institution, years, plus two or three lines on relevant modules, grades or a thesis.
  3. 3Projects — the section that replaces experience. Coursework, personal builds, volunteering, competitions, events you organised.
  4. 4Work of any kind — retail, hospitality, warehouse, tutoring, family business. Reliability and customer contact are real skills.
  5. 5Skills — tools you can actually use, plus languages.
  6. 6Extras — certifications, driving licence if relevant, availability.

Write projects like jobs

Give each project a title, a timeframe, and two bullets: what you built or ran, and what happened as a result. Scope counts as a result when there is no revenue attached.

“Course project — delivery route planner (spring 2026). Built a Python tool that cut a 40-stop route by 18% versus the manual plan. Presented to a class of 60 and a visiting logistics manager.”

Things that hurt

  • Padding to two pages. One strong page is more convincing.
  • Listing school subjects unless you left school in the last year or two.
  • Soft-skill lists with no evidence: “team player, hard-working, motivated”.
  • Apologising for inexperience anywhere on the page.

Answer a few questions and we will draft this structure from your own material.

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