How to Write a Resume with No Work Experience: You’re ready to apply for your first job, but you have no idea how to build a résumé because you lack experience.
In a job market that frequently prioritizes previous experience, how you promote yourself is critical. When you don’t have experience, a remarkable résumé highlights your schooling, related talents, and unpaid experiences.
Writing a résumé with little experience does not have to be intimidating. Here are five steps to fill out your resume:
- Use an objective, not a summary, to demonstrate your worth and career ambitions.
- Make the opening portion about your education.
- Instead of listing employment experience, include internships, volunteer roles, projects, and extracurricular activities in your relevant experience area.
- Make your skills stand out by combining soft and technical skills.
- Use keywords to tailor your résumé to each unique position.
That’s simply an overview. Let’s take it step by step to develop a winning résumé that will stand out. We’ll begin with the top of your resume, your objective.
Write a Résumé Summary or Objective.
As someone without experience, you should write a résumé objective rather than a synopsis. This is a brief five to seven phrase introduction to your résumé. It displays credentials, skills, ambitions, and experience that will catch the attention of recruiting managers. Quickly explain your worth as a candidate and demonstrate why you’re the greatest fit for the job by emphasizing your qualifications and career objectives and how they align with job requirements.
Your resume objective should include the following:
- Areas of expertise
- Quantifiable accomplishments
- Relevant skill set.
- Resume keywords
Resumé objective example:
I’m a results-driven communications graduate looking for a social media manager role where I can apply my academic knowledge and project experience to create meaningful online campaigns. With a degree from Keene State College and a proven track record of completing four successful social media projects during my academic career, I’m excited to contribute to your team by leveraging my content development, audience interaction, and analytics skills. I am committed to remaining up to date on the latest social media trends and platforms, and I am ready to deliver fresh and innovative tactics to boost your brand’s digital presence.
Include your education.
Normally, your experience section would go first on your résumé, but because you do not yet have a professional background, the next area moves up to cover the gap: education. It’s one of your strengths, therefore let’s highlight it!
Here is what to include in your schooling section, in this order:
- Degree
- Institution
- Years of attendance and location
If you attended a prominent university, your institution should appear before your degree on this list. It’s a strategy résumé writers have used for decades to pique recruiters’ interest.
If you wish to highlight it in your resume, you can add the following optional points:
- GPA & Honours
- Relevant course(s)
- International programs.
Example of an education resume:
Bachelor of Arts in Communications, Antioch University.
2019-2023 Keene, NH
High School Diploma Moultonborough Academy 2014-2018 Moultonboro, New Hampshire
Types of Nonprofessional Experience
You do not need a job to have experience on your first résumé. You can replace it with one or more of the following. Rather than using a “Work Experience” heading as in a standard résumé, we’ve supplied header recommendations for each of these possibilities.
1. Internships
Internships are the most typical substitution for job experience. Use the “Internship Experience” header for this section. You can include your internships in this section just like you would a typical employment.
2. Volunteer labour
While volunteering is not usually as formal as an internship, it can demonstrate your work ethic to a potential employer. Anyone who donates their time for something greater than themselves will make an excellent employee. You can use the same header format for volunteer opportunities, “Volunteer Experience.”
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3 Projects
Projects can help flesh out your resume, especially if you have abilities in coding, community service, or social media marketing. If you attended college, you most likely have a project to put on your résumé. The section should be titled “Projects.”
4. Extracurriculars
If those three sections are insufficient to fill out your résumé, extracurricular activities can help. They demonstrate that you are self-motivated. Use the “Extracurricular Activities” header for this section.
Include your skills
Skills should be concise bullet points with 2-3 résumé keywords highlighting a technical skill, talent, specific understanding, or strength. Only list talents that are directly relevant to the position you are applying for. The skills section of your resume is an excellent location to insert keywords.
Examples of skills in a resume:
- TikTok Marketing and Strategy
- Content management and creation.
- Capcut, Adobe Premiere Pro
- Video script writing
- Analytics and metrics.
- Community engagement
- Public speaking.
- Collaboration
On any résumé, you can mention both hard and soft skills. It is especially vital to include both if you lack experience. There are two methods to format this section. Let us have a look at each.
Core competencies
You may use this header at the top of your résumé, directly behind your objective and above your education, to highlight your strongest skills. Make a good first impression quickly with this method. Hiring managers will only look at your resume momentarily unless something attracts their attention. This section can accomplish just that.
Skills
Whether you employ the core competency method or not, you should include a section below your experience that highlights your technical abilities. This section may be titled “Skills.” This is where you should demonstrate all of your technical abilities. If you did not use the “Core Competency” area, provide your soft skills here.