How to write a resume with no work experience

What counts as experience when you haven't had a job

Employers read the experience part of a resume for signs that you can do what the job involves: turn up when expected, follow instructions, deal with people and finish what you start. A paid job is one way to show that, but it isn't the only one. Youth Central, the Victorian Government's careers site for young people, suggests school work experience, placements or internships through university or TAFE, and volunteer work as alternatives when you haven't had a job.

Other regular commitments can work too, as long as you can describe what you did. It may help to sort them by the heading each would sit under:

• Work placements: Year 10 work experience, a VET placement, a practicum or an internship.
• Volunteering: a charity shop roster, a community garden, an event you helped run.
• Leadership and responsibilities: a captaincy, a student council role, coaching a junior team, running a club's social media.
• Projects: a major assignment, a website or app you built, a small business you ran selling something you made.
• Caring and community roles: looking after a family member, or organising something for a school, church or cultural group.

Casual and informal paid work counts as work, even if it was a few shifts at a family business or regular babysitting for neighbours. List it under employment with the dates and what you did.

If you're unsure which skills these experiences show, the guide to skills for your resume explains how to match them to the job and back each one up.

An order that puts your strongest evidence first

Youth Central's general advice is to put the most useful information first, and to move anything less related to the job further down. For someone without a job history, that usually means your opening statement and key skills come straight after your contact details, followed by whichever of education or unpaid experience is the better match for the job.

The table shows how that might look for three common starting points. Change the order when an application calls for something different.

Writing an opening statement

The opening statement is a short summary at the top of the page. It tells the reader what kind of work you're looking for and why you'd be suited to it. Youth Central suggests about six lines, starting with one sentence on who you are and what you bring, then the skills and qualities that suit the job. It also recommends dropping the "I", so you'd write "Completed Year 12" instead of "I completed Year 12".

Without work history, the statement can fill up with qualities anyone could claim, such as being motivated and a team player. Naming where a quality came from is more convincing. "Reliable" means more when it sits next to three years of Saturday morning shifts at the local op shop.

Keep the statement tied to the job you're applying for. If you're sending applications to a supermarket and a childcare centre, the opening lines will need to be different for each.

Describing unpaid experience the way you'd describe a job

Give each entry the same structure as a job: a title for what you did, the organisation, the dates and two to four bullet points. The bullets should say what you were responsible for and, where you can, give a sense of scale. "Helped at the school fete" is true but vague. "Ran the drinks stall at the school fete with two other students, serving several hundred people over the day" gives a reader something to picture.

Use ordinary numbers you can stand behind, such as how often, how long, how many people. An estimate is fine if it's honest, and you should be comfortable explaining it if an interviewer asks.

Where an entry was brief, such as a week of work experience, one or two lines is enough. It still shows that you've been in a workplace and followed its routines.

Education, training and the things employers check

When you haven't worked much, your education section is doing more work than it would later on. Youth Central suggests listing your highest level of education and adding a few achievements, such as awards, captaincies or groups you were part of. Results only need to go on if they show you're suited to the job.

If you've done a short course, list it in the same section. First aid, responsible service of alcohol, food handling, a Working with Children Check and a driver's licence are all worth including when the job involves them, because they're things an employer may otherwise have to wait for you to get.

For casual jobs, a line about when you're available can also save the employer a question. Keep it accurate, since a roster may be built around it.

If you're returning after time away

A resume after a long break has a slightly different problem. You may have had jobs, but not recently, and the gap is visible in the dates. It usually reads better to account for the gap briefly than to leave the reader guessing. A single line such as "Full-time parent, 2019 to 2025" or "Carer for a family member, 2021 to 2024" is enough. You don't need to explain personal or health details.

What you did during that time can still be evidence. Running a household budget, organising appointments for someone else, volunteering at a school canteen or finishing a course all show skills an employer can use. Recent training is especially useful here, because it shows your knowledge is current. The guide to transferable skills can help you describe experience from one setting in the language of another.

Earlier jobs still belong on the page if they relate to the role. Keep the descriptions short and focus on what's still relevant.

Length, layout and referees

A first resume is often one page, and Youth Central says that's fine when you're starting out. Two pages is reasonable if you have plenty to include, but three usually means some sections need trimming.

Youth Central also recommends putting your name, email address and phone number in the main body of the page, not only in a header, because recruitment software can have trouble reading headers and footers. A home address isn't required. The free resume template on this site uses a simple layout that works with that kind of software.

Referees are often easier to find than people expect. A teacher, coach, placement supervisor or volunteer coordinator can speak to how you work. The guide to putting references on your resume covers whether to list them or keep them on a separate sheet, and asking someone to be a referee has messages you can send.