How To Write A Resume With No Experience
Are you a college student, high school student,
or recent grad looking to start your career,
but don’t have any experience?
Is the lack of professional experience on
your resume inhibiting you from getting into
the job market?
In today’s video, we are going to address
just that – how to write a resume with no
experience.
I’m Philip Chesney with CareerPrep, your
source for job-search and interview tips.
What do you think you can add in a resume
if you don’t have any experience?
Add your comments in the comments section
below.
Let’s dive in!
How to Structure Your Resume – The Header
The heading of a resume for any professional,
whether executive, high school student, college
student or even a resume with no experience
will always consist of your name, contact
info such as email address, and phone number,
along with some possible additions such as
your address and social media links.
These are the main things that you can find
in a header.
Let’s review each part of the header:
Name: Write out your full name.
This will be in large font and be very apparent
at the top of the resume.
Email Address: It is time to get rid of that
old email address that you had as a kid.
For your resume, use something professional.
You can use your initials and then your last
name or a combination like: PChesney@Gmail.com
or Philip.Chesney@Yahoo.com.
Create a variation that is close to your name.
You may need to add a number or two because
that email may not be available.
It could be Philip.Chesney1985@Gmail.com . You
get the point.
Phone Number: Always add your area code.
If you consider sending your resume for jobs
or even internships abroad, make sure to add
a +1 before your phone number (if you are
from the USA) to let the other person know
it is a US number.
The number would look like +1 (518) 346 – 2230.
Address: This is totally optional.
More on this in the full article
Skype Id: try to use your name as the Skype
ID.
For me, PhilipC1985 would be fine.
Social media:Here you can add your social
media handles.
Just make sure that if you do add these, that
you have taken the time to clean up your profile
and pictures.
You don’t want to ruin your chances of getting
that job.
Summary statement
A summary or professional objective on any
resume, is used to convey what you want to
do, what you are looking for, or even to highlight
your top accomplishments.
Let’s take a look at a bad example and then
a good example
Bad example: A determined college student
looking for a great career.
This was not very inspiring and very bland
– too general.
Good example: Passionate marketing and business
student that is looking to put her/his knowledge
into practice and start career in the marketing
department.
Much better and it tells more about you and
what you are looking for.
Check out the article for more statements
and professional objectives examples
Education Section
This is one of the key sections on a resume
for someone who has little or no experience
on their CV.
In this case, you are going to need to put
the spotlight on your profile with your educational
achievements and experience.
Start by adding the name of the school where
you studied/ are studying, degree focus/major,
start date and end date or presumed end date,
followed by awards, certifications, your GPA
if it was high, and any special projects you
took part in.
Let’s fill it in here.
If you notice in the example, you presented
your course, the dates you studied at the
particular school, along with your accomplishments.
That is a great start.
Always look for things you have done, led,
organized, or participated in that could make
a nice addition to this section.
Work Experience Section…
What To Put?
There are three approaches you can take here.
The first is you can structure your resume
to highlight your other skills and education,
but the work experience section out altogether.
For the sake of this video, we will focus
on the 2nd and 3rd approaches.
The 2nd approach is to consider your informal
jobs that you have or had and highlights what
you did along with the skills that were needed
for the job.
suppose you worked doing lawn-care for a few
clients.
You could mention how you always aimed to
give great customer service and impress the
client with your quality of work and work
ethic e.g. calling to confirm an appointment.
You could also mention how you were able to
get new clients from word of mouth marketing.
Lawn-care
May 2019 – Present
• Currently take care of 4 neighbors’
lawns each 2X per month.
• Constantly aim to deliver a high-quality
service and push for word of mouth recommendations.
Acquired 2 new customers from my current clientele.
The third approach is to Label certain volunteer
experiences as work experience.
Here’s the catch, if you decide to take
the third approach, make sure to select volunteer
experiences that are RELEVANT to the job/position
you are applying.
In other words, say you are going for an entry-level
position e.g. an Entry Level Marketer and
you’ve worked as a volunteer in the marketing
domain.
This particular volunteer experience would
be relevant to include as work experience
as it is similar to what you are pursuing.
Jr Marketer - Company ABC
• Held a volunteer position as a JR Marketer
for company ABC.
• Helped answer incoming social media inquiries
on Facebook and Twitter pages.
• Assisted in writing How-to blog articles
for the company and have additional social
media content to share.
• Co-wrote Youtube how-to video Scripts
for the company.
The Youtube channel has helped create 130+
new leads and generate 51 new paying customers.
• Worked with a marketing team of 15+ members
to help produce creating and engaging content.
These are a couple of great options for you
to fill out the work experience section of
your resume.
Let’s take a look at the other areas of
a resume.
Skills section
The skills section on a CV with little or
no experience is a place to show your knowledge
in certain areas.
Just like the education section earlier in
the article, this is another section that
you MUST emphasize.
Besides labeling your general skills, focus
on mirroring the job description.
In other words, match your skills in your
resume to what the job description is requesting.
For skills, focus on things like language
fluency, computer skills, knowledge of different
software, and other technical skills you have.
Next to each item you list, mention your knowledge
level of it.
For instance, if you put down Spanish, add
a hyphen and then e.g. fluent or proficient
etc.
Let’s look at a few more to make it stick.
Volunteer section
Earlier in the video we learned how to use
our relevant volunteer experiences as work
experience.
In this section is for more generic volunteer
experiences.
Volunteer experience or taking on specific
roles can demonstrate your skills, dedication,
and help convey why you are the right person
for the job.
Additionally, volunteer experience can be
a great ice-breaker as the interviewer might
be interested in your experience, want to
learn more, or may even be part of the organization.
Hey, you never know.
It is a great way to establish rapport!
Let’s take a look at a few:
Extras and Achievements
The achievements section is a great way to
showcase your trophies and things you’ve
achieved.
They are also great conversation starters.
Here’s a few below
For the extras section it is totally optional.
If you choose to add it, you could add things
like, hobbies, interests, publications, projects
you have worked on, community activities,
etc.
A few examples below:
• Boxing Coach 2015-Present
• Blogger and Vlogger for exercise industry
2018-Present
• Language learning: Portuguese and Arabic
Although the extras section may not be the
dealmaker to get you hired, it will, however,
demonstrate that you are active and like to
learn etc.
If your hobbies or extras are related to the
job or have transferable skills, all the better.
Wrap up
Whether you are in high school, college, a
recent grad or someone who has not had any
work experience, you are going to need a resume.
More importantly, you are going to have to
prove to the recruiter that you are the right
candidate for the position.
Don’t worry if you do not have much experience.
Put the spotlight on your academic, volunteer
work, skills, and other interests of yours.
Show who you are and why you are the right
person for the job.
Remember, although it is nice to have previous
work experience to put on your resume, it
isn’t always a must.
Employers are willing and expect to train
you.
Showing your willingness and eagerness to
learn and grow is one of the best things you
can do in an interview.
