How to write a resume with no work experience

Everyone's first resume has the same problem: the experience section is empty. Employers hiring for entry-level roles know that. They are looking for evidence that you can learn, show up and get things done, and that evidence can come from many places other than paid jobs.

What to include instead

• Education, placed first: degree or qualification, institution, dates, and relevant results, modules or a final project.
• Projects: coursework, personal projects, things you built, organised or wrote. Give each a line on what you did and what came of it.
• Internships and work experience placements, however short.
• Volunteering: events, charity shops, tutoring, community groups.
• Part-time and casual work: retail, hospitality, delivery and babysitting all show reliability and dealing with people.
• Responsibilities: club treasurer, team captain, class representative, organising a fundraiser.
• Skills with evidence: languages, software, certifications, driving licence.

Describe it like experience

Use the same format as a job entry: what you did, using action verbs, with a result where possible.

• Weak: “Member of the debating society.”
• Better: “Organised four inter-college debates, booking venues and coordinating 40 participants.”
• Weak: “Worked at a café.”
• Better: “Served up to 150 customers a shift; trained two new staff on the till and opening routine.”

A layout for a first resume

1. Name and contact details.
2. A short profile: two lines on what you are studying or have studied, and what role you are looking for.
3. Education.
4. Projects or relevant experience.
5. Other experience (part-time work, volunteering).
6. Skills.

One page is plenty. The Resume Generator has fields for a headline, profile summary, experience, education and skills, and exports a clean PDF; put projects and volunteering in the experience section with clear labels.

Tailor it to each job

Read the job advert and make sure the words it uses for skills appear in your resume where they are true. Paste the advert and your resume into the Resume ATS Checker to see which key terms are missing. See finding keywords in a job description for how to choose them.

Things to leave out

• Secondary school grades, once you have a degree, unless asked.
• Hobbies with no link to the job, unless they show something real, such as competitive sport.
• “References available on request”, which is assumed.
• Exaggeration. Interviewers ask about everything on the page.

Career changers

If you have work experience but not in the new field, lead with a profile that names the move, then emphasise transferable skills and any training or projects in the new area. Your previous jobs still belong on the page; describe them in terms the new field values.

For keeping it readable by applicant tracking systems, see how to make your resume ATS-friendly.