CV Guide

May 2026 · 7 min read

How to write a CV with no experience in the UK in 2026

No work experience doesn't mean no CV content. Every graduate has transferable skills, academic achievements, and personal projects — the trick is knowing how to present them to employers who are screening for potential, not a track record.

What to include when you have no work experience

A graduate CV without work experience should lead with education, followed by a skills section, then any relevant projects, volunteering, or extracurricular activities. The personal statement should be forward-looking — focused on what you offer rather than what you've done — and should reference specific skills or interests relevant to the role you're applying for.

The biggest mistake new graduates make is submitting a generic CV without tailoring it to the specific role. A CV that mentions the employer by name, references specific aspects of the role description, and connects your skills to their stated requirements will always outperform a polished but generic one.

How to write a graduate personal statement

Your personal statement should be 3–4 sentences maximum. Sentence 1: your degree and relevant focus area. Sentence 2: your most relevant project, dissertation, or achievement. Sentence 3: the skills you're bringing. Sentence 4: what you're looking for.

Example: 'Computer Science graduate from the University of Leeds with a specialism in machine learning, achieving a 2:1. Final year project built a sentiment analysis pipeline processing 50,000 Twitter posts daily, achieving 87% accuracy. Strong Python and data analysis skills developed through both academic and personal projects. Seeking a junior data engineering role where I can build production ML systems.'

Making the most of non-work experience

Employers hiring graduates know you don't have professional experience — they're looking for evidence of the right traits: initiative, curiosity, ability to complete projects, and communication skills. Hackathon participation, open source contributions, personal projects with GitHub repos, society leadership, and volunteering all provide this evidence.

Quantify everything you can. 'Led the university chess society' is weaker than 'Grew university chess society membership from 12 to 84 members over 2 years, organising 6 inter-university tournaments.' The numbers demonstrate impact, not just activity.