How to write a CV with no experience

6 minute read · Updated 2026-08-24

Writing a CV with no experience feels like being asked to prove something you have not done yet. The trick is to stop thinking about paid employment as the only evidence that counts. School leavers, graduates, career changers and people returning after a long break all have real material: coursework, placements, volunteering, sport, caring, side jobs and short courses. This guide shows how to organise a first CV so it reads as ready to work rather than empty.

How to structure a CV with no experience

The standard UK CV leads with employment history. Yours should not. Use this order instead: personal statement, education and qualifications, key skills, experience (paid, unpaid or project based), then interests only if they add something. Putting education second while it is your strongest asset is a small change that makes the first half of page one look full and relevant.

One page is fine and is usually better than padding to two. A tight page beats a thin two pages every time.

What counts as experience on a first CV

Employers hiring at entry level are looking for evidence that you turn up, follow instructions, work with other people and take responsibility. All of the following demonstrate that:

Work experience placements, including the two week Year 10 placement and T Level industry placements of 45 days or more.
Volunteering: charity shops, food banks, sports coaching, Scouts or Guides leadership, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, church or community groups.
Paid work that does not feel like a career: babysitting, paper rounds, car washing, seasonal warehouse work over Christmas, festival stewarding, farm picking.
Caring for a family member, which involves scheduling, medication routines, dealing with professionals and absolute reliability.
School and college responsibility: prefect, team captain, running the sixth form social media account, organising a fundraiser.
Serious hobbies with proof: a repair business run through Facebook Marketplace, a gaming community you moderate, a car you rebuilt, code you have published.

Write each of these as a short entry with dates, then one or two bullet points describing what you actually did and what happened as a result.

Qualifications and short courses that open doors

List GCSEs with grades if you have them, or the number at grade 4 and above plus maths and English specifically, because many employers set that as a minimum. Add A levels, BTECs, T Levels, NVQs, apprenticeship qualifications, Functional Skills and any Access to Higher Education diploma.

Then look at the cheap tickets that make you employable in your target sector, because at entry level these often matter more than experience:

Construction: the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test plus a Level 1 award gets you a green CSCS labourer card, which is the difference between being allowed on site and not.
Hospitality and retail: a Level 2 food safety certificate, or a personal licence if you want bar supervision work.
Care: the Care Certificate, moving and handling, and a basic or enhanced DBS check arranged by the employer.
Security: an SIA licence is a legal requirement for door supervision, and holding one already puts you ahead of every applicant who does not.
Warehousing: a counterbalance forklift licence, often the single biggest jump in hourly pay at entry level.

Many of these can be completed in a day or two. If you are between jobs, that is a productive way to spend a week.

Write about capability, not enthusiasm

Employers discount adjectives and pay attention to evidence. Replace I am very motivated with a fact that implies it: Kept a Saturday job through Year 12 and Year 13 with no missed shifts while studying three A levels. Replace good with people with Handled complaints on the shop floor and escalated only when a refund exceeded my limit.

Be honest about what you can and cannot do. Saying you are comfortable with Excel formulas but have not used pivot tables is far better than being caught out in a practical test.

What to do about the sections you cannot fill

If you have no references, say that a school tutor, college lecturer or volunteering supervisor can provide a character reference, and ask their permission first. If you have no employment history at all, do not create a heading called Employment History and leave it blank. Call it Experience and Responsibility, and fill it with the material above.

Apply for the routes designed for people in your position rather than competing head on with experienced candidates. Apprenticeships, trainee schemes, graduate schemes and roles advertised as full training given are all built for entry level applicants, and our guide to apprenticeships and entry level work explains how the levels and the pay work.

Next step: finish your one page CV, upload it so employers can find you, and filter our job listings for trainee and apprentice roles. If your opening paragraph needs work, borrow a structure from our personal statement examples.