CV Examples No Work Experience: 6 UK CVs Written Out
By Mustafa Tarabya, founder of CVBooster · Published · Updated
8 min read
A CV with no work experience works when it swaps the employment section for evidence you already have: education, school or college projects, volunteering, caring, sport and part time responsibilities, each with dates and one concrete detail. Employers hiring for first jobs are not expecting a career; they are checking that you turn up, finish things and can be trusted. Below are six complete UK CV examples with no work experience, from a Year 11 school leaver to a graduate, plus the section order that makes a short CV look deliberate rather than empty. Written by Mustafa Tarabya, who hired for his own company, read every application himself and now writes CVBooster's guides.
The National Careers Service puts it in one line: "If you're applying for your first job, you can focus on skills you've learned through projects, work experience or volunteering." That is the whole strategy. The rest is putting it in the right order.
The section order for a CV with no work experience
When there is no job to list, move education up and rename the experience section so it can hold everything that counts.
- Contact details: name, town, phone, email. No photo, no date of birth.
- Personal statement: three or four lines on who you are, what you are applying for and your availability.
- Education: school, college or university, with grades or predicted grades.
- Experience: call it *Experience* or *Volunteering and activities* and include work placements, volunteering, clubs, caring and informal jobs such as babysitting.
- Skills: practical ones you can prove, such as tills, Microsoft Excel, a language or a driving licence.
- Interests: only the ones that show a skill.
Keep it to one page. Here is what that looks like for a school leaver.
School leaver, Year 11: Saturday job in a supermarket (179 words)
Amira Hassan Leicester | 07700 900 418 | amira.hassan@email.com
Personal statement Reliable Year 11 student at Beaumont Leys School looking for a Saturday and holiday role as a supermarket assistant. I help run our school tuck shop, handle cash accurately and I am available every Saturday and all of the summer holidays.
Education Beaumont Leys School, Leicester, GCSEs predicted: Maths 7, English Language 6, Science (combined) 6-6, Business 7, plus four more at grade 5 or above.
Experience *Tuck shop volunteer, Beaumont Leys School* (September to present, two lunchtimes a week) - Serve around a hundred students each lunchtime, take cash and card payments and count the float at the end with a teacher. - Restock shelves before opening and record stock that is running low.
*Work experience placement, Leicester Central Library* (one week, Year 10) - Reshelved returned books, helped visitors find titles on the catalogue and covered the front desk with a librarian.
Skills Cash handling, customer service, basic Excel, fluent English and Arabic.
Interests Netball (school team, training twice a week), baking for family events.
Sixth form student applying for a part time job
A sixth former has more to show: a longer school record, subjects that match the role and often a role of responsibility.
Sixth form, Year 12: part time café assistant (163 words)
Oliver Bennett Bristol | 07700 900 552 | oliver.bennett@email.com
Personal statement Year 12 student studying A levels in Business, Psychology and English Literature, looking for weekend and evening work as a café assistant. Friendly, quick to learn and comfortable with a busy counter after two years running the sixth form charity bake sales.
Education Cotham School Sixth Form, Bristol, A levels in progress: Business, Psychology, English Literature. GCSEs: nine at grades 9 to 6, including Maths 7 and English 8.
Experience *Charity bake sale organiser, Cotham School* (two years, once a term) - Plan the menu, organise a rota of eight volunteers, take payments and hand the takings to the finance office with a written count.
*Assistant coach, Bristol Juniors Football Club* (Saturday mornings, one year) - Help run training for under 9s, set up equipment and make sure every child is collected by a named adult.
Skills Food hygiene awareness (Level 2 course in progress), card machines, Google Sheets, team leadership.
Apprenticeship applicant with no work experience
Apprenticeship employers want to see interest in the trade and practical ability. Put the course you want and any hands on projects up front.
Apprenticeship: Level 3 electrical installation (151 words)
Daniel O'Connor Manchester | 07700 900 731 | dan.oconnor@email.com
Personal statement School leaver applying for a Level 3 electrical installation apprenticeship. Strong in maths and physics, practical with tools and used to careful, safe work after helping a family friend on two kitchen refits. Full UK provisional licence, learning to drive.
Education Trinity CE High School, Manchester, GCSEs: Maths 6, Physics 6, English Language 5, Design and Technology 7, plus three more at grade 4 or above.
Projects and experience *Design and Technology coursework* (Year 11) - Designed and built a lamp with a low voltage LED circuit, wrote the risk assessment and tested the circuit with a multimeter.
*Helping on kitchen refits* (two summer holidays, unpaid) - Carried materials, cleared the work area and fitted cupboard handles and plinths under supervision. Learned to keep a site tidy and safe.
Skills Hand tools, reading simple technical drawings, Microsoft Word and Excel.
Graduate CV with no work experience
A graduate's degree is the main evidence. Use modules, the dissertation and any society role as the experience section.
Graduate: entry level marketing assistant (158 words)
Priya Shah Leeds | 07700 900 246 | priya.shah@email.com
Personal statement Business Management graduate (2:1, University of Leeds) applying for a marketing assistant role. Ran the social media accounts for a student society with over a thousand members and wrote a dissertation on customer loyalty in independent coffee shops.
Education University of Leeds, BA Business Management, 2:1. Relevant modules: Digital Marketing, Consumer Behaviour, Marketing Analytics. Dissertation: How independent coffee shops in Leeds keep regular customers (interviews with twelve owners).
Experience *Social media secretary, Leeds University Hiking Society* (one year) - Planned and posted weekly content on Instagram and TikTok, created event pages and answered member messages. - Worked with the treasurer to promote the annual trip, which sold out within a week.
*Student ambassador, University of Leeds* (open days, two years) - Gave campus tours to prospective students and parents and answered questions at subject stands.
Skills Canva, Meta Business Suite, Google Analytics basics, Excel pivot tables.
Volunteering instead of work experience
Volunteering is experience. Write it exactly like a job: role, organisation, dates, hours and what you did.
Volunteer: retail assistant at a charity shop (133 words)
Ellie Morgan Cardiff | 07700 900 367 | ellie.morgan@email.com
Personal statement Recent college leaver with eighteen months of volunteering at a busy charity shop, applying for a full time retail assistant role. Confident on the till, good with customers and experienced in pricing and display.
Education Cardiff and Vale College, Level 2 Diploma in Business. GCSEs: Maths 4, English Language 5, plus four more.
Experience *Volunteer shop assistant, British Heart Foundation, Cardiff* (eighteen months, two days a week) - Serve customers on the till, process card payments and Gift Aid declarations, and help close the shop. - Sort and price donations, steam clothes and change the window display every two weeks. - Train new volunteers on the till and the donation sorting routine.
Skills Tills and card readers, visual merchandising, Welsh (conversational).
Carer or someone who has not worked for years
Caring for a relative builds skills employers want, and the JobHelp service says so directly: "There are many skills that you'll have developed outside the workplace, for example, through volunteering, hobbies, caring or community activities" (JobHelp).
Young carer: care assistant role (149 words)
Jordan Clarke Newcastle | 07700 900 885 | jordan.clarke@email.com
Personal statement Caring and patient school leaver applying for a trainee care assistant role. For four years I have helped care for my grandmother, who has dementia, at home, and I want to make that experience my career.
Education Walker Riverside Academy, Newcastle, GCSEs: English Language 5, Maths 4, Health and Social Care 6, plus three more.
Caring experience *Young carer for a family member* (four years, daily) - Help with meals, medication reminders and personal care alongside visiting carers, and keep a notebook of changes to share with the district nurse. - Manage appointments and prescriptions on the family calendar.
*Young Carers group, Newcastle* (member and peer mentor, two years) - Help run weekly sessions for younger carers and plan activities with youth workers.
Skills Patience with people who are confused or distressed, basic first aid certificate, organising appointments.
How to fill the gaps in a short CV
If your CV still looks thin, add to it before you send it rather than padding it. A week of work experience, a volunteering role or a short course adds a real line. The National Careers Service has a guide to the types of work experience open at any age, including taster days and job shadowing.
For the opening lines, our CV personal statement with no experience page has eight written out. For the wider job hunt, entry level roles with no experience lists routes in that work. If you are applying in the US, the format changes, and our first job resume guide covers that version.
Interests earn their place only when they show something. As the National Careers Service puts it: "For example, if you're a captain of a sports team, this demonstrates leadership and organisation skills."
Frequently asked questions
What do I put on my CV if I have no work experience?
Education with grades, then a section for volunteering, school or college projects, work placements, caring, clubs and informal jobs such as babysitting, each with dates and one concrete detail. Add practical skills you can prove and a personal statement that names the job and your availability.
How long should a CV with no work experience be?
One page. A short CV that is clear and complete reads better than two pages of filler. Use the space for detail on the two or three activities that best match the job.
Should I put my GCSEs on my CV?
Yes, if they are your highest qualifications or you left school recently. List English and Maths grades by name and summarise the rest, for example *plus five more at grade 5 or above*. Once you have A levels or a degree, you can shorten GCSEs to one line.
Can I count volunteering as work experience on a CV?
Yes. Volunteering is real experience and employers treat it that way. Write it like a job, with the role, the organisation, how long and how often, and what you were responsible for.
Is it ok to have a CV with no experience section at all?
It is better to rename the section than remove it. Call it *Experience*, *Volunteering* or *Projects and activities* and include school responsibilities, placements, sport and caring. Almost everyone has something that belongs there.
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