For a first job, a CV should show evidence of what you can already do instead of pretending you have employment experience that you do not have. Useful evidence can come from education, projects, work experience, volunteering, clubs, community responsibilities and genuine skills relevant to the vacancy.
The National Careers Service recommends clear formatting, tailoring the CV to the opportunity and using projects, work experience or volunteering when applying for a first job.
A simple first-job CV structure
Contact details
Include your name, phone number and a professional email address. A town or general location and a relevant professional-profile link can be useful when appropriate.
Do not include unnecessary sensitive details. The National Careers Service says not to include your age, date of birth, marital status or nationality. Do not publish another person's contact details as a referee without their agreement.
Personal profile
A short profile can explain who you are, the type of role you want and strengths you can support with evidence.
Avoid a list of generic adjectives. Replace “hard-working and motivated” with something specific and truthful, such as:
Sixth-form student seeking a part-time retail role, with experience helping visitors at school events and organising materials for a student fundraising project.
Education
When education is your strongest evidence, place it near the top. Include:
- the school, college or university;
- qualification or programme;
- dates or expected completion date; and
- relevant subjects, modules or projects.
Include grades only when they are accurate and useful for the application.
Experience
Experience does not have to mean full-time paid employment. You can include relevant work experience, volunteering, school responsibilities, extracurricular activities, community roles and genuine informal work.
The National Careers Service also describes several ways to gain work experience, including placements, work shadowing, part-time work and skills activities.
Skills
List skills that relate to the vacancy and show where you used them.
Specific: Microsoft Excel — used to organise and check survey data for a college project.
Too vague: Computer skills.
Evidence helps an employer understand what a skill means in practice.
Turn responsibilities into evidence
A modest, specific description is stronger than an unsupported claim.
Weak: Helped at a community event.
Stronger: Welcomed visitors, directed attendees to activity areas and helped organisers prepare registration materials.
Another example:
Weak: Good teamwork.
Stronger: Worked with classmates to prepare and present a research project, taking responsibility for organising source notes and the final slide deck.
Use numbers only when they are true. Do not invent team sizes, results or achievements to make a bullet point look impressive.
Tailor the CV to the vacancy
Read the job description and identify its responsibilities, required skills, software, availability, qualifications and communication needs. Move your most relevant evidence higher in the CV and use clear wording that connects it to the role.
A first retail role may value customer communication, reliability, teamwork and routine responsibilities. An entry-level office role may place more emphasis on written communication, spreadsheets, document organisation and attention to detail.
Do not copy requirements into your CV unless they genuinely describe your experience.
Fictional first-job CV example
The following applicant and organisation are fictional. Use the structure as a prompt, not as content to copy.
Aisha Khan — Manchester
Profile
Sixth-form student seeking a weekend customer-service role. Experienced in helping visitors at school events, organising group-project materials and working to deadlines.
Education
Example Sixth Form College, Manchester A-level studies — expected completion 2027
- Business
- English Language
- Sociology
Relevant experience
School Open Evening Volunteer — 2025
- Welcomed prospective students and families.
- Directed visitors to classrooms and presentation areas.
- Helped staff organise information packs before the event.
Business Project Team Member — 2025
- Worked with classmates to prepare a proposal for a fictional local business.
- Organised research notes and contributed to the final presentation.
- Presented part of the recommendation to the class.
Skills
- Customer communication
- Microsoft Word
- Basic Microsoft Excel
- Presentation preparation
- Teamwork and organisation
Only include information that is true for you.
If you have no volunteering experience
Use the evidence you genuinely have. It might include coursework, projects, club participation, family responsibilities when relevant, competitions, certificates, school roles, language skills or a portfolio.
A shorter truthful CV is stronger than a longer one filled with invented activities.
What about references?
Follow the employer's application instructions. The National Careers Service advises that you do not need to place someone else's contact details on the CV and can state that references are available on request.
Ask a potential referee before giving their details to an employer.
Format and check the CV
Use clear headings, consistent dates, a readable font, sensible spacing and short evidence-based bullet points. Follow the employer's file-format instructions. If none are given, a PDF usually preserves layout, but open the exported document and check every page before sending it.
Use a professional filename such as Aisha-Khan-CV.pdf.
| Final check | Done? |
|---|---|
| Contact details are correct | ☐ |
| The CV is tailored to the vacancy | ☐ |
| Every skill and example is truthful | ☐ |
| Education details and dates are accurate | ☐ |
| Projects or experience show relevant evidence | ☐ |
| UK spelling and punctuation are consistent | ☐ |
| The filename is professional | ☐ |
| The exported document opens and reads correctly | ☐ |
Common mistakes
- Hiding that it is your first job: Employers recruiting entry-level candidates expect limited work history.
- Listing adjectives without evidence: Show what you did instead of relying on labels such as reliable or organised.
- Using the same CV everywhere: Different roles require different evidence and emphasis.
- Inventing experience: Never create false employment, qualifications or achievements.
- Adding unnecessary personal information: Include only information appropriate to the recruitment process.
Bottom line
A first CV does not need years of employment history. It needs a clear, truthful account of the skills, education, responsibilities and projects you already have. Tailor that evidence to the vacancy and make the document easy for an employer to scan.