How to write a CV with no experience

You do not need a job in order to have a CV. You need something true that an employer can check: a degree or school, a project, an internship, a language, a certificate you actually finished.

Lead with education

Put education near the top. Course, school, years, and one line of detail if it helps — a dissertation, a grade, a relevant module. Empty work history below a strong education block looks unfinished. Education first looks like a decision.

The graduate sample does this in English. The Cairo graduate sample does it in Arabic. Both use the Graduate look, which is built for this shape.

Projects are work you can name

A project is not a hobby list. It is something with a result: a timetable tool other students used, a club cashbook you kept for a year, a shop shift you actually worked. Write the name, the year, and what you did in one or two sentences.

Part-time retail, volunteering, and internships belong here or under work — they are not embarrassing. Invented job titles are.

Skills without theatre

List tools and languages you can use on day one. “Microsoft Office” is weak if you mean Excel. “Leadership” is empty without a team. Three to eight honest items beat a cloud of twenty.

The objective

If you have no work history, a short objective is more useful than a summary of experience you do not have. Say the kind of role and what you bring. Two or three sentences. Then stop.

What to leave off

Do not add a photo for a UK or US first job unless they asked. Do not write your national ID, full street address, religion, or date of birth. Do not fill the page with references “available on request”.

When you are ready, create a blank CV or start from the graduate sample and replace Noah’s (or Youssef’s) details with yours.