You open a blank document, type "Work experience" as a heading and then stall. There isn't much to put under it yet. Maybe you've just graduated, you're looking for your first job after school, or you're returning to work after a few years caring for your family. The good news: a CV with no work experience doesn't have to be a weak CV. Employers hiring a graduate or a returner don't expect a ten-year career. They want to see what you can do, how you work and why you fit this role. You often have that evidence already; it just isn't on paper yet.
In this article you'll learn which order to use, how to turn study, internships, part-time jobs and volunteering into convincing evidence, and what you're better off leaving out.
What an employer wants to see from a starter
With an experienced candidate, a recruiter mainly looks at previous roles. With a starter, they look for signals: can you finish something on your own, work with others, take responsibility and learn quickly? Those signals don't only come from paid work. A final-year project, a year on a student society committee, three years on the tills or organising a local community event say just as much. Your job is to make that visible and concrete.
The order: what goes at the top?
A CV is read from top to bottom, and the top half gets the most attention. So put your strongest material there. An order that works for most starters:
- Name and contact details — phone number, email address, town or city and, if you have one, your LinkedIn profile.
- Personal profile — three to five sentences about who you are, what you can do and what you're looking for.
- Education — if you've just graduated, this is your most important section and belongs above your experience.
- Experience — internships, part-time jobs, volunteering and projects. Feel free to call the heading "Experience" rather than "Work experience", so everything fits.
- Skills and languages
- Additional information — courses, certificates and perhaps a few relevant interests.
Are you a returner who has worked before? Then your work experience may go back above your education, especially if it's relevant to the role. Choose the order that shows your strongest point first.
A personal profile that actually says something
The personal profile (or personal statement) is often the first thing a recruiter reads. Without much experience, it's tempting to fill it with general traits like "enthusiastic, eager to learn and a team player". That says little, because almost everyone writes it. Use this structure instead: who you are + what you can do, with evidence + what you're looking for.
A made-up example for illustration, for someone who has just finished a degree in communications:
"Recent communications graduate (BA Communications, 2026) with a passion for clear writing. During my placement at a regional healthcare organisation I wrote newsletters and web copy for patients and staff. I'm looking for an entry-level content marketing role where I can develop my writing and organisational skills further."
See the difference? There isn't a single empty trait in it, but there is a concrete qualification, a concrete example and a clear goal. Adjust the last sentence for each job.
Your education as evidence, not a list
Just listing the name of your course and the dates wastes space. Show what you did. Think of:
- Your dissertation or final project, in one sentence: the topic, what you researched or built, and what came out of it.
- Relevant modules that match the role, such as data analysis for a marketing job.
- Group projects where you had a clear role, for example planning or dealing with an external client.
- A study abroad period, committee role or society position, if it says something about independence or organisational skills.
Mention grades only if they're strong and the employer values them; in the UK, that usually means your degree classification, such as a 2:1 or a First. Your school qualifications can be shortened to one line once you have a degree.
Internships, part-time jobs and volunteering count as experience
This is where many starters make the difference. A part-time job in a supermarket or a café may not seem relevant to an office role, but the skills you gain there often are: customer service, working under pressure, reliability, training new colleagues. It's all in how you write it down. Compare:
Weak: "Shelf stacker and cashier at a supermarket."
Strong: "Worked in a supermarket for three years alongside my studies; from the second year, trained new colleagues and independently handled the evening close."
And for volunteering:
Weak: "Volunteer at a football club."
Strong: "Treasurer of an amateur football club: drew up the annual budget, tracked membership fees and reported to the committee every quarter."
The formula is always the same: start with an action verb, make the scale or duration concrete, and state what your responsibility or result was. Only use numbers that are accurate. If you don't know something exactly, describe the outcome in words. Those same examples are gold later in the interview: with the STAR method you turn them into a convincing story.
Returners: deal with your career break briefly and honestly
Have you spent a few years out of paid work, for example caring for children or a relative, because of illness or after a move? Don't hide it; an unexplained gap raises more questions than a short, honest line. For example: "2021–2025: full-time carer for my family." If you did something relevant during that time, such as volunteering, a course or running the accounts for a local club, add it. You don't need to apologise or explain at length; you can say more in the interview if it comes up.
Show that you're up to date as well: a recent course, a certificate or software you've recently learned makes it clear you're ready to get going again.
A skills section with substance
A list like "communicative, flexible, resilient" is something recruiters skip. Make your skills verifiable:
- Hard skills — name specific software and techniques, such as Excel (pivot tables), Canva, WordPress or a programming language, and only if you genuinely know them.
- Languages — state your level, ideally using the European CEFR scale (A1 to C2) or a description such as "native" or "fluent".
- Soft skills — you're better off proving these elsewhere on your CV, in your experience and education, than listing them on their own.
What to leave out
Space on a graduate CV is precious; one page is usually enough, and two pages is the usual maximum in the UK. So cut:
- A photo, your date of birth and your marital status. In the UK these are not expected on a CV, and leaving them out keeps the focus on your skills.
- Your full street address and your National Insurance number; your town or city is enough.
- Hobbies that add nothing. "Reading and going out" can go; "editor of the student newspaper" can stay.
- The line "References available on request". An employer will ask for them when the time comes.
- Overstated claims. If you write that you're an "expert" in something, you need to back it up in the interview.
Applying in the US or Canada? There it's called a résumé, entry-level résumés are usually one page, and a photo is not expected either.
Tailor your CV to each job
A generic CV sent to twenty employers usually convinces none of them. Read the job ad, note which skills and words keep coming back, and show in your profile and experience that you have them. Many employers run CVs through an applicant tracking system first; our article on an ATS-friendly CV explains how to adapt your layout and keywords for that. Make sure your LinkedIn profile tells the same story too, because recruiters often check it next.
Want to know how your CV is doing? MARA's CV Optimizer gives you concrete suggestions on structure, wording and keywords, and with the CV Tailor you rewrite your CV for a specific job posting. You decide what to keep; it remains your CV, with your real experience.
Conclusion
Little work experience doesn't mean you have little to offer. Put your strongest point first, write a personal profile with concrete evidence, and treat your education, internships, part-time jobs and volunteering as real experience. Keep it honest, keep it to one page and tailor it to every job. Then a recruiter won't see an empty CV, but someone who is ready for the next step.