The easy answer is the resume. With the right resume and confidence during interview, you can almost get any job you want. It is all about presentation. How you present yourself, makes a lot of difference.
This article will answer your question- how to write a resume with no experience. In addition, it will help you with functional resume format, getting an entry level job, describing internship position in your resume, describing relevant coursework & volunteer work, writing soft skills and academic achievements and much more.
Read this article carefully and afterwards you can also check out our resume examples. Let's dive in!
How to write a resume with no experience?
In the unpredicted times where we are suddenly hit with pandemic and recession and such global events, securing a job, that too as a fresher, is not easy. Not impossible either. With the technology and evolving norms of corporate world, you can find something suitable for yourself with a little effort.
These days you can easily work from home for employers across the globe and earn well too. Hiring manager only needs you to have the right skills and knowledge. While most recruiters do demand experience in job description, many recruiters also value skills and passion.
Getting entry level jobs is not easy for freshers and that speaks for how competitive the market has become in last decade or so. For example, in the late 2017, from 4 million job postings on LinkedIn, 60% required prior relevant work experience of 3 or more years!
(Source: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210916-why-inexperienced-workers-cant-get-entry-level-jobs)
Again, it may be difficult to get a job but it is not impossible to get a job as a fresher with no work experience.
Format
Your resume needs a good format. A functional resume format does half the work. There are various types of formats such as modern, traditional, minimalist, visual and such.
Depending on the role you are applying for and the industry, you can choose a suitable functional resume format.
If you are in artistic, creative industry and roles, you can take liberty of visual resume format with visual elements. If you are in more of a formal profession such as medical, law, finance and such, you might want to stick to professional formats.
Once you have chosen a format, note down all the information that you think could be put in the resume. Now, let's talk about the outline of your resume.
Header
The header of your resume will have a header. In this header you need to mention your name and contact details. You can also add your professional headshot in formal attire.
Your name should be written in slightly bigger fonts than the rest of the details. Your contact number should be written in formal manner (with (), + and spaces) and it should be the one where you are easily reachable.
Next, your email address should be formal with your name in it. Avoid informal email addresses with irrelevant words and unnecessary digits in it.
Mentioning your home address is not mandatory however, if you are applying for a job in another state or another country, you can mention your address briefly to give the hiring manager an idea of your location.
Make sure that the details are written accurately. Any mistakes could cost you a job because the recruiter might fail to contact you.
Summary
The resume summary is the section where you can emphasize on what all you 'do have' and 'can offer' even though you do not have professional experience. What is something that you can bring to the table that is valuable?
Begin with the role you desire to assume or simply your name. Write the summary details in bullet points. Make sure that the details are concise and crisp. Quantify them with numbers wherever possible.
Use third person, past tense for summary (and also for the other sections resume). Avoid pronouns in sentences and keep the language tone professional and formal.
In summary, you can mention the relevant coursework from your education. Any relevant special programs and outstanding results or awards should also be mentioned in summary. You can describe how you have developed skills while learning.
Your internship experience or any other significant relevant experiences should also be mentioned here briefly.
Keep the focus and emphasis on the highlight worthy aspects of education, skills and most importantly your eagerness and passion. The closing of the summary should about how you are looking forward to get an opportunity where you will leverage your education and knowledge.
You should also showcase your willingness to learn and adapt quickly to convince the hiring managers that not having an experience will not be a limitation for your performance.
Experience
As a fresher you might not have a professional experience. However, when you are a fresher, any experience you do have belongs in this section.
It could be internships, assistance you may have provided to someone that may be relevant, extra curricular activities you participated in during your studies. Special programs or online coursework that you may have completed.
You can also include any volunteer work experience in this section. Any experience, even if it is was not paid and full-time jobs, should be mentioned here. If you did a part time job, you can mention those as well.
During your studies you may have done some freelance work, you can mention that in this section as well. Your experience does not have to be the professional work history, it can be any experiences that you may deem relevant to the role you are applying to.
When you describing these experiences, explain how you learned skills and gained knowledge that made you competent and capable for the job position you are applying for.
And again, showcase your passion and dedication to convince the recruiters that you will do a good job if hired.
Education
Your education has a lot of weight when you don't have a professional work history. When you are writing the education section, mention the name of your education institution. Next, mention the full title of your degree.
If you are yet to graduate, mention the graduation year however if you have already graduated, avoid mentioning the date as it can lead to bias on recruiter's part.
Once these details are noted, you should talk about relevant coursework and subjects, extraordinary performances, extracurricular activities that may be relevant, any transferable skills along with hard skills that you have learned and developed while learning.
Your education section is your chance to prove that you have a strong foundation of theoretical knowledge and skills. And that will help you perform well even in absence of formal work experience or limited work experience.
Emphasize that your performance success is assured because of your determination to achieve, dedication to work hard, soft skills. You can also demonstrate how you are driven to accomplish your career goals with focus, strategy and capabilities.
Skills
Along with the education section, the skills section can also make a difference for you. You might not have hard skills yet but your soft skills are your strengths. Your personality, your patience, your dedication and every other characteristics are going to help you.
- Communication skills
- Time management skills
- Interpersonal skills
- Quick-learner
- Adaptive
- Creative
- Organizational skills
- MS Office
- G Suite
you can also mention any other skills that may be relevant to your role. You can also mention the hard skills and technical skills you may have. Reflect your willingness to work hard and learn anything that you need to, to perform well.
Extra tips for your resume
Keywords
Applicant Tracking System or ATS is a software used by majority of hiring managers. The software scans the resumes for set parameters -the relevant keywords. The resumes that have the keywords, beat the ATS and reach the shortlisted resumes pile.
The relevant keywords are set according to the role you are applying for, its industry, job description, employer and the role's responsibilities. You can research all these and note down all the relevant keywords.
When you sit down to write the resume, you should include all the keywords throughout the resume and do not place them anywhere randomly. Doing that will compromise the readability. Use the keywords in sensible manner in every section.
Internships
As a candidate without any professional full-time job experience, your paid or unpaid internships hold a lot of weight in your resume. They are a mix of training and full time job experience and everything you did and learned there has a lot of value.
You can describe your internships in a similar manner to how you would describe your full time job experiences. Entry level job and internship are often quite similar, you do the tasks of full time job but with some guidance and assistance.
Internships don't hold the equal value as full time jobs but interns often work harder than the full time fellow employees and are skilled and knowledgeable. You need to reflect how skilled, knowledgeable and confident you are because you 'have done' the work and performed well.
Cover letter
Cover letter is not always mandatory however cover letter is very important especially when you don't have professional work history or experiences. Cover letter is your chance to directly address the hiring managers and talk about how competent you are.
You can showcase your passion, dedication, willingness to learn and adapt. You can also assure them that the lack of experience will not affect your performance. You can also say that with a little guidance in the beginning, you will achieve the results the employer desires.
Cover letter is also your chance to include more keywords.
What to avoid in your resume?
Lack of confidence
As a fresher you might not be as confident as a professional experienced candidate however you should not let it be seen in your resume or cover letter. Lack of confidence in yourself is a sign that you might not perform well or you might struggle with learning new things and facing challenges.
Reflect your confidence in your skills and knowledge and rely on your dedication and passion for the job. Confidence is a sign that you will be able to pull it off, no matter how difficult. The recruiter needs to know that.
Irrelevant extra information
Because of the lack of professional experience, you will compensate with focus on education section and skills section and anything extra such as internships, volunteer work, special programs and online courses and more.
While that is important, you might end up writing too much of extra information to fill the space. Avoid that, irrelevant information will not help you. Make sure your resume has all the relevant information and just enough amount of content, do not overcompensate.
Prospective employers only want the relevant information about you even if it means your resume is of one page. Overcrowding with unnecessary information might have unwanted effects on the recruiter.
Conclusion
In conclusion, if you don't have work experience, you have nothing to worry about- as long as you make sure that your profile is presented well through your resume. You can use this article as your guide, your checklist and assistant.
Ensure you follow all the rules and suggestions and you are sure to land a job you want. When you refer to examples and templates, make sure you make edits according to your profile and not take everything as is. You can also check out our resume examples and templates.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Do I need a cover letter?
Cover letters are not mandatory but they can be useful, especially when you don't have work experience, cover letters can help you convince the recruiter that you are competent.
Should I mention freelance work experience?
Absolutely. Your freelance work, internships, volunteer work and everything else that may be relevant can help you with the recruiter. Be sure to mention them properly in your resume.
I haven't completed my graduation yet, can I still apply for full time jobs?
Yes. There are recruiters who do not mind hiring people who are about to graduate but haven't completed graduation. Just make sure that you make it clear in your resume that you are about to graduate and can do the job well.
