How to Write a Resume With No Experience

Short answer: Lead with education, then projects, volunteering, part-time or informal work (babysitting, tutoring), clubs and skills. Describe each one like a job, what you did and what came of it, and keep it to one clean page.

What counts as experience

More than you think. Employers hiring for first jobs and internships want evidence that you turn up, take responsibility and get things done. Any of these can show that:

  • Part-time and seasonal jobs
  • Babysitting, tutoring, pet-sitting, lawn care
  • Volunteering and community work
  • School projects and competitions
  • Clubs, sports teams and societies, especially roles with responsibility
  • Personal projects: a website, an online shop, a YouTube channel
  • Caring for a family member or helping in a family business
  • Work experience placements and job shadowing

If you did it regularly, someone relied on you, or it produced something you can point to, it belongs on your resume.

The structure that works

  1. Contact details: name, phone, a professional email address and your town or city.
  2. Summary: two sentences on what you are studying or good at, and the job you want.
  3. Education: school or college, expected graduation date, GPA if strong, honours and relevant courses.
  4. Experience, Projects or Volunteering: each one described like a job, with results.
  5. Skills: software, languages and certificates such as first aid or food safety.
  6. Optional: awards, activities, and availability for part-time work.

Education goes near the top because, for now, it is your strongest evidence. Once you have a year or more of relevant work, move it below Experience.

Write a summary that says what you want

Without experience, a summary does two jobs: it tells the employer what you can offer, and it says which job you are applying for. Leave out the clichés every first resume uses.

  • Weak: Hard-working and motivated student looking for an opportunity to gain experience.
  • Strong: High school junior with two summers of volunteer work at a food bank and a food handler card, looking for weekend café or retail work. Available Saturdays, Sundays and all school holidays.

The strong version names real evidence, a certificate, the type of job and the hours you can work. That is what a store or café manager needs to know.

Make your education do more work

  • Expected graduation: "Expected June 2027" tells the employer your stage.
  • GPA: include it if it is 3.0 or higher (or the local equivalent, such as predicted grades).
  • Relevant courses: 3–6 that match the job, such as Accounting, Statistics or Spanish.
  • Honours and awards: honour roll, scholarships, competition placings.
  • Responsibilities at school: prefect, student council, peer mentor.

Lincoln High School, Columbus, OH | Expected June 2027

GPA 3.7 | Honor Roll (6 semesters)

Relevant courses: Business Math, Computer Applications, Spanish III

Describe everything like a job

Use the same pattern as any experienced candidate: action verb + what you did + the result or the scale. Numbers work just as well for school and volunteering as they do for paid work.

  • Before: Helped out at the school fair.
  • After: Ran the book stall at the school fair with 2 other students; sold 340 books and raised $1,150 for the library.
  • Before: Member of the coding club.
  • After: Built a homework-reminder website with 2 club members, now used by 90 students in my year.
  • Before: Did babysitting.
  • After: Cared for children aged 3–9 for three families after school, including homework help, meals and bedtime routines, for two years.

More examples of the same approach:

Treasurer, Economics Society, managed a $6,000 annual budget and organised 3 speaker events per term.

Babysitter, cared for three families' children after school; trusted with homework help, meals and routines.

The action verbs list helps you start each line with something stronger than "Helped".

Projects: your best evidence for skilled roles

If you are aiming at an internship in technology, design, marketing or engineering, a Projects section often matters more than part-time work. For each project, give its name, the tools you used, what it does, and one result.

Budget tracker app | Python, SQLite

Built a command-line app to track spending by category; used it for 8 months and shared it with 15 classmates.

Include a link if the project is online and works.

Skills employers look for in first-time workers

List specific, checkable skills rather than personality traits:

  • Certificates: first aid, CPR, food handler or food hygiene, lifeguard, a driving licence
  • Software: Microsoft Word and Excel, Google Docs and Sheets, basic photo or video editing
  • Languages: with a level, for example "Spanish (conversational)"
  • Practical skills: cash handling, stock counting, typing speed (for example 55 WPM), childcare

Words like "reliable" and "friendly" carry more weight when a bullet shows them, such as "trusted with keys to open the shop on Saturdays".

A sample resume with no experience

Maya Chen | Columbus, OH | maya.chen@email.com | (614) 555-0142

Summary: High school junior with a food handler card and two summers of food bank volunteering, looking for weekend café work. Available weekends and school holidays.

Education: Lincoln High School, expected June 2027. GPA 3.7, Honor Roll.

Volunteer, Eastside Community Food Bank (summers 2025 and 2026): sorted and packed about 4,000 lb of donations a week with a team of 10; trained 4 new volunteers.

Babysitter (2024 – Present): care for two families' children three afternoons a week, including meals and homework.

Skills: food handler card, cash handling, Google Sheets, Spanish (conversational).

That fits comfortably on one page with room for an Activities line.

Common mistakes

  • An unprofessional email address. Create a simple one with your name.
  • Writing "no experience". Never say it; show what you have done instead.
  • Padding the page. Large fonts and wide spacing look obvious. A short, full page is better.
  • Vague hobbies. "Reading and music" adds nothing; "Grade 6 piano, perform at 3 school concerts a year" does.
  • A photo, in the US, UK, Canada or Ireland, where employers generally do not expect one.
  • A long references section. Leave it off and have one or two names ready when asked.

Tips

  • Add your availability (after school, weekends, summers) for part-time jobs.
  • Keep the design simple and the page to one. The student templates are built for a first resume.
  • Ask a teacher, coach or manager if they would be a reference before you name them.
  • Send a short cover letter when you can; see the internship cover letter example.

Start from the high school student, college student, recent graduate or internship example.

Questions

What do I put on a resume if I have never had a job?

Education, volunteering, school projects, clubs, informal work such as babysitting or tutoring, and skills like certificates, software and languages. Describe each one with what you did and what came of it.

Should I include my GPA?

Include it if it is 3.0 or higher, or your local equivalent is strong. Leave it off otherwise and lead with courses, projects or awards.

Can I put babysitting or tutoring on my resume?

Yes. Regular babysitting or tutoring shows responsibility and trust. Describe it like a job, with how long you did it and what you were responsible for.

How long should a first resume be?

One page. Most first resumes fit comfortably, and a short, full page reads better than a padded one.

Should I write an objective instead of a summary?

Use a two-sentence summary that says what you offer and what job you want. That covers what an objective would, with evidence added.

Put it into practice

Build your resume with built-in guidance, 137 templates and a free ATS check. No account, no watermark.

Start from a student example

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