Every working person once applied for a job with nothing on the page under Experience. Employers hiring for entry-level roles know that. What they look for instead is evidence that you will turn up, learn quickly and take responsibility.
You almost certainly have that evidence already. It is in your schoolwork, the things you organized, the people you looked after and the skills you taught yourself. This guide shows how to find it and write it down so that it reads like experience, because it is.
Start with the job you want
A first resume is easier to write when it is aimed at one kind of job. Retail, food service, warehouse work, office support, customer service, childcare and many apprenticeships hire people without experience. Read three or four postings for the job you want and note what they ask for again and again.
You will usually see the same things: reliability, a friendly manner, basic computer skills, availability, and sometimes a certificate such as a food handler card. Those are the things your resume has to prove.
List everything you have done
Before you write a word of the resume, make a rough list. Do not judge whether something counts yet; that comes later.
- School and training: courses, grades you are proud of, certificates, awards.
- Projects: school assignments, things you built, made, organized or ran.
- Volunteering: what you did, how often and for how long.
- Clubs, teams and activities: roles, responsibilities, anything you led.
- Family and home: caring for a relative, looking after younger children, helping in a family business.
- Informal work: babysitting, yard work, tutoring, selling things online, helping neighbors.
- Skills you taught yourself: software, languages, repairs, design, coding.
Paid or unpaid makes no difference to what a task shows. Running a club's budget is budgeting; looking after a relative is reliability and care. Unpaid work belongs on a resume, described honestly.
Choose the right format
Use the familiar reverse-chronological layout, newest first, with one change: put the section that shows you best at the top. For a recent student that is usually Education. For someone returning to work after years at home, it may be a section of volunteer or community work.
You can rename sections so they fit honestly. "Experience" can become "Volunteer and community experience" or "Projects". Avoid the functional format that lists skills with no dates or places; recruiters find it hard to trust. Our guide to resume formats explains why.
| Section | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Contact details | Name, phone, email, city and state. No full street address needed. |
| Summary | Two or three sentences: the job you want and why you would be good at it. |
| Education | School, program, graduation date or expected date, and anything that helps: relevant courses, honors, a strong GPA. |
| Experience, volunteering or projects | Each entry with a title, the organization, the dates and two to four bullet points. |
| Skills | Specific skills you can prove, such as software, languages or a typing speed. |
| Certifications | Short courses that matter for the job: CPR, food handler, forklift, Microsoft Office. |
Turn what you have done into bullet points
A bullet point works the same way whether you were paid or not: start with an action verb, say what you did, and add a number or a result when you can. Compare these.
- Instead of
- Volunteered at the animal shelter.
- Write
- Walked and fed 15 dogs every Saturday for a year and trained two new volunteers on the shelter's routine.
The second version shows reliability over time, responsibility and a little leadership, which is what an employer is trying to find out.
- Instead of
- Helped my grandmother after her surgery.
- Write
- Managed a family member's medications, appointments and transport for eight months after surgery.
Describing care as tasks shows organization and trustworthiness without oversharing.
| What you did | What it shows | How to write it |
|---|---|---|
| Ran a bake sale for your club | Organization, money handling | Planned a bake sale with six classmates and raised $450 for the club's trip. |
| Babysat for neighbors | Responsibility, trust | Cared for three children aged 4 to 9 after school, twice a week for two years. |
| Played on a sports team | Teamwork, commitment | Trained four times a week for three seasons while keeping a B average. |
| Sold items online | Customer service, initiative | Listed and shipped 80 items through an online shop, with positive feedback from buyers. |
| Fixed computers for family | Technical skills, patience | Set up laptops, Wi-Fi and printers for relatives and explained each step. |
Write a short summary
A summary at the top tells the reader what you want and why you fit, so they read the rest with that in mind. Keep it to two or three sentences. Say the job, two or three strengths you can prove below, and your availability if it helps.
High school graduate
Recent high school graduate looking for a first job in a grocery store. Reliable and friendly, with two years of weekend volunteering at a food bank and experience handling cash at school events. Available evenings and weekends.
College graduate
Business graduate seeking an entry-level role in customer success. Led a student team that ran a campus event for 300 people, and comfortable with Excel, Google Workspace and HubSpot from coursework.
Returning to work
Organized and dependable office assistant returning to work after six years raising a family. Managed the school parent association's budget and events and recently completed a Microsoft Office course.
New to the country
Bilingual customer service candidate fluent in English and Portuguese, recently settled in Texas. Helped run a family shop for four years, handling customers, cash and stock.
Add credentials you can earn quickly
Short certificates give an employer something concrete, and many take a day or less. Choose the ones that match the postings you read.
- Food handler card for restaurants, cafés and grocery stores.
- CPR and First Aid for childcare, caregiving, fitness and many public-facing jobs.
- A typing test result for office and data entry roles.
- Microsoft Office or Google Workspace courses for office work.
- A forklift certification for warehouse jobs, usually given by the employer.
- A driver's license, if the job involves driving or you can reach shifts others cannot.
Keep it short, simple and checked
- One page. A short resume that is all relevant beats a longer one padded out.
- A simple, one-column template, which is easy to read and works with online application systems.
- A professional email address based on your name.
- No photo, unless you are applying in a country where photos are expected.
- Read it aloud, then ask someone else to read it. Small mistakes stand out more on a short page.
Our no-experience resume example puts all of this together in a complete page you can open in the builder and make your own. There are also examples for a high school student, a college student and an internship.
Questions
Can I get a job with no experience?
Yes. Many jobs are designed for beginners, and employers hiring for them expect resumes built on school, volunteering and other activities. What they need to see is reliability and willingness to learn.
Should I include volunteer work on my resume?
Yes. Write it like a job, with a title, the organization, the dates and bullet points about what you did.
Should I write an objective or a summary?
A short summary that includes your goal works best: the job you want and two or three reasons you would be good at it.
How long should a resume with no experience be?
One page. Use the space for the few things that best show what you can do.
Do I need a cover letter if I have no experience?
It often helps. A short letter can explain why you want the job and point to the strengths your resume shows.