CV with no work experience: what to write as a student or graduate

Everyone starts without experience, and employers who hire students and graduates know it. They are not looking for a long career — they want to see that you are motivated, can learn quickly and have already done something useful. Your task is to show exactly that.

Put education first

When there is no job history, education becomes your main section. Write the university, faculty, field and expected graduation year. Add what makes you stand out: a high GPA, a scholarship, olympiad prizes, a strong thesis or relevant courses.

What counts as experience

Experience is not only a full-time job. All of these belong in your CV:

• Internships and practice — even a short one at a bank, a school or an IT company.
• Part-time and seasonal work: a waiter, a call-centre operator, a tutor.
• Study and personal projects: a website, a research paper, a business plan, a mobile app.
• Volunteering and student organisations: organising events, clubs, charity work.
• Competitions, hackathons and olympiads.

Describe each item like a job: what you did and what came out of it.

A summary that works

Without experience, the summary is your chance to explain what you want and why you will be useful. Keep it to 2–3 honest sentences.

Skills and languages

List the programs you actually use (Excel, PowerPoint, Canva, Python), the languages you speak with their levels, and 2–3 personal qualities that you can prove with an example in the interview. Avoid long lists of clichés like “hardworking, sociable, stress-resistant”.

Common mistakes

• Leaving the CV almost empty — projects and volunteering are real experience.
• Writing school details when you already study at a university.
• Copying the same CV to every vacancy without adapting the summary.
• Using a childish email address or a casual selfie as the photo.

A one-page CV is enough. When you get your first job, move experience to the top and shorten the education section.