How to write a resume with no experience: examples and template
· Keyverta team · OnruTech
A resume without paid work experience can still show what you can do through your education, class or personal projects, volunteering, internships if you have done any, skills you can demonstrate, languages and availability. Start with a specific role, choose related evidence and explain what you did yourself. You do not need to invent jobs or turn every activity into a professional title.
Below you will find a structure, a complete resume to copy and three examples for different starting points. They are fictional models written by Keyverta: replace every detail with your own and keep only what you could explain in an interview.
What to include and in what order
Use this order as a starting point. If a project shows your preparation better than your education, you can place it first. One page is usually enough for a first resume, but readability comes first: do not shrink the text to squeeze in unnecessary content.
- Name and contact details: phone, an email you check, location and a portfolio if it adds something for the role.
- Profile: what you are studying or have completed, two concrete abilities and the kind of opportunity you want.
- Education: qualification, institution, dates and real status, such as “in progress” or “expected completion”.
- Projects and activities: context, your contribution, tools and an outcome you can show.
- Skills and languages: tasks you can perform and a level you can back up with examples.
- Availability: schedule, start date or mobility only when relevant and confirmed.
Complete example of a resume with no experience
This model targets a first customer service role. The association activity is presented as volunteering, not employment. Brackets mark information you need to fill in; do not send the document with those gaps.
[FULL NAME] [Location] · [Phone] · [Email] TARGET: FIRST CUSTOMER SERVICE JOB Recent school graduate who has supported activities at a local association. I answered attendee questions and organised registrations in spreadsheets. Seeking a first customer service opportunity with [real availability]. EDUCATION [Qualification] · [School] · [Location] [Month/year] – [Month/year] Class project: prepared and presented a local retail proposal in a team of four. PROJECTS AND VOLUNTEERING Cultural events support · [Association] · Volunteer [Month/year] – [Month/year] • Organised the registration list in a spreadsheet and checked for duplicates before the event. • Answered questions about schedules and directed attendees to activities. • Prepared welcome materials with the team and checked what each room needed. SKILLS Spreadsheets: data entry, sorting records and applying filters. Communication: explaining schedules and instructions clearly. Email and documents: drafting messages and preparing lists. LANGUAGES English: [real level]. Other languages: [level and, if any, certification]. AVAILABILITY [Confirmed schedule and start date]
The education and activities illustrate the structure: they are not experience to claim as your own. You can paste this text into Keyverta's builder or choose one of the templates.
Three examples for different starting points
“No experience” does not mean the same for everyone. Someone still at school, someone who helps out in a family business and someone who has finished a vocational course with an internship start from different places. Each example states what kind of activity it includes so you do not mistake it for a complete lack of experience.
These are alternatives, not sentences to combine in one resume. Copy the one closest to your situation and change every detail.
PROFILE Final-year secondary school student interested in retail and customer service. In class I have prepared team presentations and organised survey data in a spreadsheet. Seeking a weekend job compatible with my studies. EDUCATION Secondary education, social sciences track · [School] · In progress, expected completion [month/year]. CLASS PROJECT Shopping habits survey · [Date] · Team of three • Prepared the questionnaire and recorded 40 responses in a spreadsheet. • Presented the three main conclusions to the class. AVAILABILITY Saturdays and Sundays. Full time over the summer from [date].
Situation: no job or internship. All the evidence comes from education. The number of responses is an example: only use quantities you actually counted.
PROFILE Recent school graduate. I have served customers in my family's business at weekends and volunteered at my neighbourhood food bank. Seeking my first customer service contract, available in the mornings. OTHER EXPERIENCE Helping in the family business (greengrocer) · [Location] · [Dates], weekends, unpaid • Served customers at the counter and handled the till. • Restocked produce and checked expiry dates at closing time. Volunteering · [Neighbourhood] food bank · [Dates] • Logged deliveries in a shared spreadsheet and answered questions about opening hours.
Situation: informal experience and volunteering. Include them under their real names (“helping in the family business”, “volunteering”) without turning them into a contract or a job title.
PROFILE Higher vocational graduate in multiplatform application development. During the course internship I maintained forms in an internal application, and on my own I have published a to-do list app with its source code. Seeking a first junior development role. TRAINING INTERNSHIP Course internship · [Company] · [Dates, number of hours] • Fixed form validations following the team's instructions. • Documented the steps to reproduce two bugs before fixing them. PERSONAL PROJECT To-do list app · [Repository link] • Built with Kotlin; stores tasks in a local database. • Includes installation instructions and a list of pending improvements.
Situation: includes a training internship. List it as an internship, with institution, company and dates, not as a job. The personal project is labelled as such.
Examples for profile, education, projects, availability and skills
If you already have a structure, review it section by section. The same rule applies to all of them: replace adjectives with something the reader can verify or ask you about.
BEFORE: Responsible, hard-working person who is very eager to learn. AFTER: Administrative management graduate with an invoice register project in Excel. Seeking a first administrative support opportunity with morning hours. WHAT CHANGES: it names the qualification, one concrete piece of evidence and the type of role.
BA in Primary Education · [University] [Start year] – In progress. Expected completion: [month/year]. Final-year project: reading activities proposal for year two. Basic Excel course (20 hours) · [Provider] · [Month/year]
State the real status (“in progress”, “expected completion”). Add hours or course content only if they appear on the certificate or syllabus.
Test online shop · Class project · [Date] • Designed the product page and contact form with HTML and CSS. • Tested the page on mobile and fixed two display issues. • Link: [demo without personal data].
AVAILABILITY Weekday afternoons during term. Full time from [date] to [date]. Start date: from [date].
Only write what you can deliver. If a schedule depends on something still pending, say so.
BEFORE: Excel, communication, teamwork, Office. AFTER: Excel: data entry, sorting and filtering lists (survey project). Communication: helping attendees at an association's events. Word: letter formatting and PDF export. WHAT CHANGES: each skill states what you can do and where you practised it.
How to turn a real activity into a concrete sentence
Write the context first and then your contribution. “Class project: built an expenses spreadsheet with filters to review the team budget” shows what you did. “I am responsible and great at Excel” does not.
For each activity, answer these questions in writing and combine the answers into a sentence that starts with a verb:
- Where did it happen? Class, association, family business, personal project or internship.
- What did you do, not the group? Use a specific verb: organised, served, prepared, checked, presented.
- With which tool or method? Spreadsheet, email, a programming language, a template.
- What was completed? A file, a deliverable, a presentation or a solved problem you can show or explain.
ACTIVITY: I helped with the end-of-year party. ANSWERS: student association · kept the sign-up list · spreadsheet · list checked on the day. SENTENCE: Organised the sign-up list for the end-of-year party in a spreadsheet and checked for duplicates before the event. ACTIVITY: I did a marketing assignment. ANSWERS: first-year course · in charge of the posts · design template · six posts delivered. SENTENCE: Designed six social media posts for a marketing class project using a shared template. ACTIVITY: I help my aunt in her shop. ANSWERS: family business, weekends · serve and take payments · till · nothing to quantify. SENTENCE: Serve customers and handle the till at weekends in the family business.
If you did not count something, do not turn it into a number. A result can be a deliverable or a completed task; you do not need to invent a percentage improvement.
If you do not have any relevant activity yet
Build a small sample: a fictional inventory, a product presentation or a form. Label it as a personal project, explain its purpose and link only material without private data. Having done the exercise is the starting point; do not present it as experience with clients.
If the work was shared, separate the team's task from your contribution. In an interview you will be asked what you did yourself.
Check your first resume before sending it
No design guarantees interviews. Your review should confirm that the document is clear, matches the posting and contains accurate information.
- Replace a generic objective with the role you are applying for.
- Check email, phone, dates and links in the final file.
- Leave out ID numbers, full postal address and other details the application does not need.
- Follow the file format the posting asks for. If you send a PDF, try selecting and copying its text.
- Remove the model's brackets, skills you have not yet acquired and empty sections.
- You can explain each listed skill with an example.
- Save an identifiable copy, for example Firstname_Lastname_Resume_Customer_Service.pdf.
Frequently asked questions about a first resume
What do I put under experience if I have none? Do not leave it empty or fill it with something you did not do. Remove it and use “Projects”, “Volunteering” or “Other experience” for what you have done, under its real name.
Should I write “no experience” in the title? You can say “first job” or name the target role. The content and dates already explain your background; you do not need to open the document with a gap.
Should I include jobs from another sector? Yes, if they show useful skills or explain your path. Keep the real job title and select the related tasks.
Should I include unfinished courses? You can list them as “in progress” with the institution and expected date. Do not present a course you have started as a qualification you hold.
Do I need a photo? It depends on the sector's custom and what the posting asks for. If it is not requested, you can leave it out; the content is what deserves your closest review.
Do I need a cover letter? Follow the application instructions. If you include one, use it to explain why the opportunity interests you and give one concrete piece of evidence.
Next steps
Sources and references
- Europass: create your CV
General guidance on presenting and tailoring a CV.
Written and reviewed by the Keyverta team (OnruTech). The examples are fictional and no recommendation guarantees an outcome in a hiring process. How we work and contact
Related guides
- How to tailor your resume to a job: before-and-after exampleA worked case with a posting, the original resume and a tailored version. Learn what to change, what to keep and how to check each requirement without inventing experience.
- Short cover letter: three examples and how to write oneThree short cover letter models: a first job, a reply to a posting and a speculative application. What to personalise in each and how to check it before sending.
- Resume keywords: how to choose them with examplesTwo annotated job postings to separate must-have and nice-to-have requirements and turn them into resume sentences backed by evidence, without copying lists.