Build your first CV, even without work experience

Start with your strongest relevant evidence

Education may be your most useful starting point. Include the qualification, institution, and dates. If you are still studying, make that clear rather than presenting an unfinished course as a completed qualification.

Relevant coursework or a substantial academic project can help explain what you learned. Choose details that relate to the role. There is no need to list every module or every school subject.

Give projects and volunteering real space

A project can demonstrate how you approach a problem and what you can produce. Explain the purpose, your own contribution, and the tools or methods you used. A small, finished project can be easier to discuss than an ambitious idea that never became something usable.

Volunteering, society roles, caring responsibilities, and part-time work may also demonstrate useful skills. Describe the experience respectfully and focus on the activities that matter for your application.

List skills you can explain or demonstrate

Choose a short set of relevant skills. A reader should be able to connect them with your studies, projects, or other experience. Avoid long lists of tools you have only briefly encountered.

Do not invent employment, client work, qualifications, or certifications to make the document look fuller. If a course is in progress, label it that way. A clear first CV gives you a truthful starting point for a conversation.

Make the order work for your story

Try placing education and projects before work experience when they are more relevant. The Student template gives you clear section bands, and you can reorder the sections in the editor. Hide sections that do not add anything useful.

• Use an email address you check regularly.
• Add a short profile focused on the opportunity.
• Include portfolio or project links only when they work.
• Download the PDF and read every page before applying.