How To Write a Resume for Your First Job, Even With No Experience

If you don’t have any previous experience, don’t panic. The true goal of any resume is to demonstrate what great qualities you bring and why hiring you would benefit the company. You can write a great resume for your first job that shows your value as an employee, even without a list of past jobs to prove it.

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Here’s how to create a mini-masterpiece that makes you stand out as a great candidate, while showcasing your valuable skills and qualities:

Do your research. Resume writing is a form of marketing, and any marketer will tell you that you need to know your audience and what they want. The same goes for knowing your future employers. Re-read the job description as well as descriptions for similar jobs with other employers. Notice what qualifications they all have in common. If you know someone who already works in that field, ask if they’d be willing to have a 30 minute conversation (sometimes called an “informational interview”) to share more about what they look for when they’re hiring and how to succeed in that field. Take notes as you go and watch for any themes or patterns that emerge.

Choose a resume template. Even the most expertly-written resume needs to have the right structure and a clean look in order to come across as professional. Use a resume template with the required sections already set up within a sleek, professional-looking design. Choose a resume template for recent college grads or an entry-level resume template and cover letter,

It should include the following sections:

• Your contact information. Include your email and phone number, and a link to your professional online profile, if you have one.
• A summary statement. Write a 1-2 sentence summary of your qualifications and characteristics. Be sure to include any keywords, skills, and characteristics that emerged from your research. For example, if you’re applying for a role as an administrative assistant, maybe the job descriptions for those positions always mention being “highly organized.” Use that phrase in your summary so your skills are recognized as an exact match for the position. This also helps your resume stand out when companies use tech tools to scan for certain keywords and phrases.
• Relevant experience, including volunteer work. We’ll talk more below about how to handle this section when you’re applying for your first job.
• Education. Highlight high school and college experience, and highlight coursework or skills that complement the role you’re applying for. If you have a high GPA, list that, too. (If your GPA is so-so, leave it off.)

Tip: As you complete each section, keep it concise. Ideally, your resume will fit on one page. When you interview you’ll have a chance to give more details. Using bulleted lists will help the highlights stand out.

Play up your soft skills. Employers look for the right mix of job-specific skills aka “hard skills”—like shelf stocking or using a particular software program—and general traits aka “soft skills”—like time management or team leadership. Most employers value soft skills over hard skills in entry-level jobs because soft skills are harder to teach.

If you don’t have previous employment experience, demonstrate your value by focusing on the soft skills you’ve developed and how you’ve applied them so far in volunteer work, school clubs, or participation in other activities. Mention specific achievements and use facts and figures wherever possible. For example, a teenager applying for their first job might be able to add something like, “Organized a school volunteer event to pick up more than 30 bags of trash from a neighborhood park.”

Proofread carefully. Not only are typos and grammatical errors embarrassing and unprofessional—they distract from all of the good information on your resume that you want the hiring manager to notice. Use a good editor tool and have someone else proofread your final draft.

Once you’ve been working as a professional for a few years, you’ll have more work experience to share. Until then, it’s important to demonstrate how your education, volunteer, and other life experiences have prepared you for this role—along with the soft skills you already possess to help you succeed.