How to Write a CV With No Experience (Student and Fresher Guide)

Everyone starts somewhere. Recruiters who hire students and fresh graduates do not expect years of experience. They look for potential: what you learned, what you built, and how you behave in a team.

This guide shows you what to put on a CV when you have little or no work experience.

1. Start with a short profile

Write 2–3 sentences at the top that say who you are, what you are studying or have studied, and the kind of role you want.

Recent BBA graduate with strong Excel and communication skills, looking for an entry-level sales or customer service role. Led a 5-person university project that surveyed 300 customers for a local business.

2. Put education first

When you do not have jobs to show, your education is your strongest section. Include:

• Degree or course name, institution, city and years
• Your grade or GPA if it is good
• Final-year project, thesis or relevant courses
• Awards, scholarships or competitions

3. Treat projects like jobs

University projects, personal projects and freelance tasks count. Give each one a title, a date and 2–3 bullet points about what you did and what changed because of it.

• Built a simple inventory tracker in Excel for a family shop, cutting stock-taking time from 3 hours to 1
• Designed 12 social media posts for a student society event with 250+ attendees

4. Add volunteering, internships and part-time work

Volunteering, tutoring, family business work and short internships all show reliability and real-world skills. List them in the same format as jobs.

5. Choose skills that match the job advert

Read the advert and copy the exact skill names it uses, such as Microsoft Excel, customer service or social media. Add 6–10 skills you can honestly talk about in an interview.

6. Keep it to one page

One clean page is perfect for a first CV. Use a simple template, clear headings and a PDF file.

Build your first CV in 10 minutes

Open the free CV builder, click Load example to see a finished CV, then replace the text with your own. Our Classic and Minimal templates are the safest choice for online job portals.