How to write a CV with little work experience

Your first CV does not need to pretend that you already have a long career. It needs to show what you have learned, what you have done and how those experiences connect to an entry-level job.

Read the role before writing

Make a short list of the skills and tasks mentioned in the advert. Next to each one, write a real example from study, volunteering, a personal project, sport or a placement. You may not have evidence for every requirement. That is useful information, not a reason to invent it.

Move your strongest section up

If a course or qualification is directly relevant, place education near the top. Include the qualification, institution and dates. Add a small number of relevant projects rather than every subject you studied. Explain your own contribution when work was completed in a team.

Describe a project clearly

Use a simple pattern: what you made or worked on, what you did and what resulted. An illustrative example is: “Built a booking-page prototype for a class project, wrote the HTML and CSS, and tested it on phone and desktop screens.” Replace this with your own experience. Do not present a class prototype as a paid client project.

Volunteering and responsibilities count

Helping organise an event, handling customer questions at a placement or coordinating a student club can provide relevant evidence. Explain the activity instead of relying only on a title. “Scheduled four volunteers for weekly sessions” tells the reader more than “team player”. Use numbers only when you can support them.

Avoid filling space

There is no need to add vague hobbies, unsupported proficiency ratings or a paragraph apologising for limited experience. A short, accurate CV is better than a longer one with repeated claims. National Careers Service guidance suggests using projects and volunteering to show skills when work history is short.

Before you send

Ask someone you trust to check spelling, dates and clarity. Make sure you can talk through every example in an interview. The goal is a credible starting point that you can update as you gain experience.