How to write a CV with no experience for your first job

What a CV with no experience is, and why you can still write a strong one

A CV with no experience is the one you write before you have had a proper job, or when what you have done looks nothing like the role you want. It is not an empty CV: it shows what you can do with different evidence. Whoever is hiring for a first job, as an admin assistant, customer service adviser, retail assistant or graduate trainee, is not expecting years of history; they are looking for signs that you learn quickly, keep your word and have already put some of what you studied into practice.

Getting started is harder than carrying on, and the figures show it. Across the EU, Eurostat put unemployment among under 25s at 15.2% in October 2025; the UK publishes its own figures through the Office for National Statistics. Whatever the exact number, your first CV has to work harder than the ones that follow: telling a small story well is what sets you apart from everyone else applying for the same vacancy.

In the United States, NACE's annual survey of employers who hire graduates ranks internship experience, with their organisation or in their industry, as one of the two factors that carry most weight when choosing between two similar candidates. A short placement, well described, says more than a grade with no context.

What counts as experience when you have never had a job

Anything you did with real responsibility counts, even if it was unpaid: something with a deadline, with other people involved or for someone who relied on the result. The National Careers Service says the same: if you are early in your career, put your education near the top and focus on the skills you have gained through projects, work experience or volunteering, including any placements and paid jobs you have had.

This is the table we use at Cernoria to decide where each thing goes and how to write it. Notice that no row says «helped with» or «was involved in»: each one says what you did.

The order of a CV with no experience, from top to bottom

With little experience, order matters more than ever, because the first thing read decides whether anyone reads on. The rule is simple: put at the top whatever brings you closest to the role. For almost every first job that means education and practical experience, not a job history that does not exist yet. The EU jobs portal EURES puts it in one line: list your skills rather than the job roles you have held.

1. 1
   Contact details

   Name, town, phone, email and, if it is up to date, a link to your LinkedIn or portfolio. An email address with your name in it, not the one you made at school.

2. 2
   A two or three line profile

   What you are studying or have studied, what you can already do and what you are looking for. No loose adjectives: every claim backed up further down.

3. 3
   Education

   Degree, A levels or equivalent, institution and dates. Add your dissertation or grades only if they are good and relevant to the role.

4. 4
   Practical experience

   Placements, volunteering, part-time work and projects, most recent first, each with one or two achievements.

5. 5
   Skills and languages

   Tools you have genuinely used and languages at a level you could hold a conversation in.

6. 6
   Courses and activities

   Anything useful that did not fit above: certificates, sport, societies, awards. If it adds nothing for the role, leave it out.

How to write an activity so it reads as experience

The difference between «Volunteering at Example Trust» and a line that persuades lies in the wording. Use the same formula as any CV: a past tense verb, what you did and what changed because of it. «Organised rotas for 25 volunteers across three food bank sessions» needs no explanation and gives you something concrete to talk about at interview.

If you have no numbers, measure something else: how many people, how often, how quickly, what happened for the first time because of you. Coursework counts too if it had a real outcome: a top mark, a real client, a presentation to an employer.

Your personal statement when you have not had a job yet

The profile is the part most often padded with clichés when there is no experience, which is exactly why it stands out. Everyone writes «enthusiastic and hard-working school leaver eager to learn». What works is naming what you study, one or two things you can already do and the kind of role you want.

What to leave off a CV with no experience

When there is little to show, the temptation is to fill the page. But every line of padding weakens the lines that matter. Take these out:

• Adjectives with no evidence: «proactive», «reliable», «passionate». If you are, let an achievement show it.
• Tasks you did not do or inflated responsibilities. In a first job interview you will be asked about every line.
• Language or software levels you could not back up in a test.
• Personal details nobody asked for: date of birth, marital status, a photo. UK employers do not expect them.
• Hobbies that say nothing about the role. One that shows commitment or teamwork, yes.

A complete CV with no experience, from start to finish

A made-up example to see it all together. Hannah Example has just finished a Business Management degree and is looking for her first job as an administrative assistant. She has never had a full-time job, but she did a placement, volunteered and helped in her family's shop. This is her CV, on a single page.

Tailor your CV to every vacancy, even the first time

A first-job CV should not go out unchanged to every advert. If the vacancy asks for customer service, the shop work or placement goes first; if it asks for data skills, the dissertation or Excel course moves up. Use the advert's own words to describe what you have already done, without adding what you have not.

With little experience, the cover letter or message counts for more than usual: it is the place to explain why that role interests you and which of the things you have done resemble what they are asking for.

The final check before you send it

Before you apply, read the CV with the advert next to it and answer these questions. Any «no» is something to fix.

• Does it fit on one page?
• Is whatever is closest to the role in the top half of the page?
• Does every activity have a verb and a result, not just a name?
• Could you talk about each line for two minutes at interview?
• Are your languages and tools at a level you can prove?
• Has someone else read it? EURES recommends it: another person spots mistakes and reminds you of things you forgot.