How to write a resume with no work experience
Everyone starts with an empty Experience section. Employers filling entry-level jobs know that, and they are not looking for a career history. They are looking for signs that you turn up, learn quickly and finish what you start. Your resume has to show those signs with what you have already done.
What counts as experience
| You did this | It shows |
|---|---|
| School or college projects | Research, teamwork, deadlines, the software you used |
| Volunteering, clubs, sports teams | Reliability, organising, leading others |
| Babysitting, lawn care, helping in a family business | Responsibility, handling money, dealing with customers |
| Personal projects: a website, a channel, an online shop, repairs | Initiative and practical skills |
| Courses and certificates | Specific skills, and that you chose to learn them |
None of it needs to have been paid. It needs to be true and specific.
Sections, in order
- Contact details. Name, phone number, a plain email address, town or city.
- Summary. Two lines: who you are, the job you want and your two most relevant strengths.
- Education. Keep it near the top while it is your main credential. Add relevant courses, and your grades if they are good.
- Experience or Projects. Use one of these standard headings and list the items from the table, each with a place, dates and two or three bullets.
- Skills. Software, languages, certificates and equipment you can actually use.
One page is enough.
Write bullets the way experienced people do
Start with a verb, say what you did and add a number.
- Before: Member of the school fundraising committee
- After: Organized 3 fundraising events with a team of 6, raising $2,400 for library books
- Before: Babysitting
- After: Cared for 2 children aged 4 and 7 on three afternoons a week for 2 years, including meals and homework
- Before: Group project for marketing class
- After: Led a 4-person class project that surveyed 120 students and presented the findings to 3 teachers
If numbers are hard to find, see how to add numbers to your resume. For more opening verbs, see the action verb list.
Borrow the posting's words
Entry-level postings still name skills: cash handling, customer service, Microsoft Office, food safety. Where you really have one, use the same words. The keyword pages for common first jobs show what employers usually ask for: retail sales associate, barista, restaurant server, warehouse associate and customer service representative.
What not to do
- Do not invent jobs or stretch dates. One reference call or one interview question is enough to expose it.
- Do not fill the page with adjectives. "Hard-working, motivated team player" is a line recruiters have read many times. One bullet that shows it is worth more.
- Do not hide a short resume behind a heavy design. A clean single column is easier to read, for people and for software.
When the draft is done, paste it into the checker with the posting you are applying for. A first resume will not match everything, and it does not need to. Fix the gaps that are true for you and send it.