Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Writing a Resume with No Work Experience

Whether you are creating your resume for college applications or you are in the midst of your very first job hunt, writing a resume without any work experience can be a daunting challenge.

As an addendum to our guide on how to write an entry level resume, here are a few tips on beefing up the content of your resume when you are running short on work experience!

Not all experience is gained on the job. Highlight your volunteer work. Include bullet points with details of responsibilities you held and the experience you gained.

Include specific details on any academic achievements or awards that you have won. Extracurricular activities and honors offer the same opportunity. Think of any possible details that might be worth noting.


Second place in the Florida Science Fair Competition. - 1 of only 4 representatives from the Orange County school district to travel to Tallahassee. - Worked with the TAs from UCF on replicating my project on kinetic energy for their classes.
Excel in a particular hobby or interest? Include them. Many hobbies offer the chance to improve your organizational skills, sociability or written communication. Even though your hobby is something that you consider to be fun, it can also be very valuable to you when preparing your first resume!

When you are thin on experience, references can make all the difference. Consider supplying a list of references with not just their contact information, but also details on your relationship to them. Personal references can count for quite a lot early on!

For more instructions on how to write your first resume, check out our entry level resume guide!

8 comments:

  1. Resume Tips
    I have seen resumes in every way, shape and form. Most resumes that people send me have typos, they’re
    unprofessional or they have misspelled words. They just don’t do a good job in representing that person.
    I’m going to take you through some basic tips on how to write a resume that will stand out.
    Resume Tip #1: Resumes should be no longer than two pages
    The most critical part of your resume is the first half of the first page because resumes are read in seven
    seconds. That’s it folks – seven seconds. So you want to write your resume so that when people read it they
    can glance at the most important items that you want them to see in that seven second time-frame.
    Resume Tip #2: Most people will only read the first half of the first page
    If you have enticed them enough in that first half then they will probably want to read on. So what do you
    do in that first half of that first page?
    Name and Contact Information: First include your name and contact information including email address.
    Target Opportunity or Industry: If you have targets, list them. What are you targeting? Are you targeting
    strategic selling? Are you a leader in strategic selling? Put that on there—say that you’re a strategic sales
    person or strategic sales leader for example. Tell the reader what specifically you’re looking for. You can
    alternatively address this in your cover letter.
    Key Competencies: Then you want to have what I call key words which are your greatest strengths, your key
    competencies or key words that you want the reader to glance at first. You can strategically put those
    words under your contact information centered in maybe two, three or four lines and you can italicize
    them and space between them. The reader’s eye is going to go to those key words first and again, those
    key words are your greatest strengths.
    So if you’re a leader, then maybe one of your greatest strengths is leadership. What else are your key
    strengths? Are you a project manager? Do you do project management? Do you do contract negotiations?
    Are you good at detail and follow up? Come up with those key skills that you would envision using in that
    next opportunity and make those key words stand out.
    Qualification Summary: You then want to have a short paragraph that summarizes your qualifications. The
    worst thing you can do with this paragraph is make it like a cookie cutter paragraph. For example, where
    you say you’re a team player or you say those things that everyone else says on their resume. There is no
    way that your resume is going to stand out if you say exactly the same thing as everybody else.
    You really need to think about those things that will grab the reader’s attention for that paragraph. The
    paragraph should reflect who you are and what your particular strengths and focus are. Think about the
    things that your managers, your peers, and your employees would say about you or the things that really
    stand out in their minds about you.
    Wolf Gugler & Associates, Limited www.wolfgugler.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Resume Tips
    I have seen resumes in every way, shape and form. Most resumes that people
    send me have typos, they’re unprofessional or they have misspelled words.
    They just don’t do a good job in representing that person. I’m going to take
    you through some basic tips on how to write a resume that will stand out.
    Resume Tip #1: Resumes should be no longer than two pages
    The most critical part of your resume is the first half of the first page
    because resumes are read in seven seconds. That’s it folks – seven seconds.
    So you want to write your resume so that when people read it they can
    glance at the most important items that you want them to see in that seven
    second time-frame.
    Louise Kursmark, resume expert and my co-author, had this to say recently:
    “The trend that I’m seeing is toward shorter, crisper resumes. Even for
    senior executives, I seldom if ever produce more than two pages, and I make
    sure that all the material can be quickly absorbed in quick bites. When a
    resume is quickly viewed on a computer screen or a BlackBerry, it needs to
    instantly communicate key information. So I work hard to create a quick
    read with high impact.
    Resume Tip #2: Most people will only read the first half of the first page
    If you have enticed them enough in that first half then they will probably
    want to read on. So what do you do in that first half of that first page?
    Name and Contact Information: Well of course you put your name and
    contact information.
    Target Opportunity or Industry: What I also like to do is put your targets.
    What are you targeting? Are you targeting strategic marketing? Are you a
    leader in strategic marketing? Put that on there—say that you’re a strategic
    marketing manager or strategic marketing leader for example. Tell the reader
    what specifically you’re looking for.
    © 2009 LJD Consulting, Inc.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Pretty solid tips. Good stuff.
    Resume Objectives

    ReplyDelete
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  5. now a days market give prefrence who have relivant experience... But after getting graduate degree it become difficult to remain the experience column empty... These tips are very good to overcome this problem

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    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Fuda Shiro,
    I am looking for resume writing tips for sales resume at entry level position.
    I got so much idea about how to write a resume from above blog post.

    ReplyDelete
  7. It is really a bit hard to make a resume that has no work experience. It would be better if you asked some help from professional resume writing Calgary first.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow, You have shared fantastic information about resume writing for fresher. Your information are very useful for me and my all friends because we are recently completed our study.
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