How to Write a Resume With No Experience (Template + Examples)

Writing your first resume can feel impossible. The template asks for "work experience" and you have none — or only a summer job that feels irrelevant. Many students and career starters either give up or pad the page with vague phrases like "motivated self-starter". Neither works.

The truth is that employers hiring for entry-level roles do not expect years of experience. They expect evidence that you can learn, show up, communicate and finish things. That evidence can come from many places besides paid jobs. This guide shows you how to find it, how to structure the page and how to write each section.

What employers look for in candidates without experience

• Relevant skills, even at a basic level — software, languages, writing, numbers, customer contact.
• Proof of reliability — finishing a course, holding a part-time job, volunteering regularly.
• Initiative — projects you started yourself, clubs you organised, things you taught yourself.
• Clear communication — which your resume itself demonstrates if it is tidy and concise.
• Genuine interest in the field or company.

The best resume format for no experience

Use a clean, single-column, one-page layout. Put your strongest section near the top. For most beginners, the order below works well:

1. Contact details
2. Resume summary (2–3 lines)
3. Education
4. Projects
5. Experience (part-time, volunteering, internships — anything)
6. Skills
7. Certifications, awards or activities

Avoid photos (unless standard in your country), tables, text boxes and graphics. Many employers use applicant tracking systems that read plain layouts much more reliably — see our ATS-friendly resume guide for details.

Section by section

Contact details

Name, city and country, phone, a professional email address and, if you have them, a LinkedIn profile and portfolio link. You do not need your full street address.

Resume summary

Two or three lines that say who you are, what you offer and what you are looking for. For example:

"Business graduate with strong Excel and data visualisation skills, gained through a supply chain analysis project for a local retailer. Experienced in customer service from two years of part-time work. Seeking a junior operations or data role."

For more wording ideas, see our resume summary examples.

Education

Include your degree or qualification, institution and dates. Add relevant modules, your final project, strong grades or awards. If you are still studying, write "Expected graduation: June 2027".

Projects

This is the most underrated section for beginners. A project is anything where you set a goal, did the work and produced a result. It can come from university, an online course or your own curiosity:

• A website or app you built.
• A data analysis of a public dataset.
• A marketing plan for a real small business.
• A research paper or report.
• A social media account or blog you grew.

Write each project like a job: a title, one line of context and two or three bullet points describing what you did and the result.

Budget tracker app — personal project, 2026
Built a simple web app with JavaScript to track monthly spending; used by 40 classmates. Wrote user guide and collected feedback to add two new features.

Experience (of any kind)

Part-time jobs in retail, hospitality or delivery are valuable — they show reliability, customer skills and working under pressure. Volunteering, tutoring, family business work, freelancing and student society roles count too. Focus on responsibilities and results, not just duties:

• Weak: "Worked at the till."
• Better: "Served 100+ customers per shift and handled cash reconciliation at close with no discrepancies over six months."

Skills

List specific, checkable skills: tools (Excel, Google Sheets, Canva, Python, Figma), languages with level, and relevant abilities (data entry, social media scheduling, customer support). Skip generic soft skills like "team player" unless you prove them elsewhere. Our list of transferable skills examples can help you spot skills you already have.

Certifications and activities

Free and low-cost certificates can fill gaps and show initiative. Pick ones that match the jobs you want — our guide to free online courses with certificates lists reputable options.

A simple template

FIRST LAST · City, Country · email · phone · linkedin.com/in/yourname

SUMMARY — 2–3 lines: who you are, key skills, target role.

EDUCATION — Degree, Institution, Dates · relevant modules, final project, awards.

PROJECTS — Project name, context, date · 2–3 bullets with actions and results.

EXPERIENCE — Role, Organisation, Dates · 2–3 bullets with numbers where possible.

SKILLS — Tools · Languages · Other.

CERTIFICATIONS — Name, Issuer, Year.

Action verbs that work for beginners

Starting each bullet with a strong verb makes small experiences sound as concrete as they really are. Useful options include organised, coordinated, built, analysed, researched, created, trained, supported, resolved, improved, presented and managed. Compare "Was responsible for the club's social media" with "Grew the club's Instagram from 300 to 1,200 followers in one term by planning a weekly content calendar". The second version is the same experience, written as evidence. Wherever you can, add a number: people served, hours saved, items processed, grades achieved or money raised.

Tailor it for each application

Read the job ad and note the skills and tools it mentions most. Make sure those exact words appear in your resume where they are true. Reorder bullet points so the most relevant evidence is at the top. It takes ten minutes per application and noticeably improves your response rate compared with sending the same file everywhere.

Common mistakes

• Writing two or three pages — one is enough.
• Leaving the experience section empty instead of using projects and volunteering.
• Using an unprofessional email address.
• Spelling and grammar errors — ask someone to proofread.
• Lying or exaggerating. Interviewers will ask about everything on the page.
• Listing hobbies that add nothing. Only include activities that show a relevant skill or commitment.

Frequently asked questions

Should I include high school on my resume?

If it is your highest qualification, yes. Once you have a degree or other qualification, you can usually remove it.

Is a cover letter necessary without experience?

It helps. A short letter lets you explain your motivation and connect your projects to the role. See our cover letter examples.

How do I get experience if every job asks for experience?

Target roles labelled entry-level or junior, internships, apprenticeships and volunteering — and build projects in parallel. Our guide to landing an entry-level job without mass applying explains a focused approach.

Start applying

Once your resume is ready, apply to roles designed for beginners: browse entry-level jobs, junior remote roles and jobs with no degree required. Want a second opinion first? Our CV review service gives personalised feedback.