How to write a résumé with no work experience

Updated November 1, 2026

Every first résumé has the same problem: the experience section looks empty. Employers hiring for entry-level roles know this. They look for signs that you can learn, finish what you start and work with others, and those signs can come from school, projects and volunteering.

The order of a first résumé

Put what you have most of near the top.

Contact details: name, city, phone, email, and a LinkedIn or portfolio link if you have one.
A two-line summary of what you study or can do and the kind of role you want.
Education, with relevant courses, a final project or a good grade if you have one.
Projects: from school, on your own or in a team.
Internships, part-time jobs and volunteering.
Skills and languages, each with an honest level.
Certificates.

Projects count as experience

Write a project the way you would write a job: its name, your role, what you built or did, the tools and the result. A course project with a real result often says more than a vague internship line.

Example (fictional)

Sales dashboard (course project, 2025): cleaned a public retail dataset of 50,000 rows in Python and built a Power BI dashboard of sales by region. Presented it to the class.

Part-time jobs and volunteering

Waiting tables, working in a shop or tutoring shows responsibility, dealing with people and managing your time. Write what you did and, where you can, one thing you improved.

Skills: specific and honest

List tools and languages you can really use, with a level: "Excel (pivot tables, lookups)", "Spanish (B2)". Instead of a list of traits such as "hard-working", let your projects show them.

Keep it to one page

One page is enough for a first résumé. Use one column, plain headings and a readable font, so applicant tracking systems read it correctly too.

Fit it to each posting

Read the posting and move the projects and courses that match it to the top. Use the posting's words for skills you really have.

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Questions

Should I add a photo?: In the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada a photo is usually left off. Elsewhere it depends on local custom, so follow what the posting asks.
Should I list my high school?: Once you are at university or have finished it, usually not, unless high school is your highest level of education.