UK CV With No Experience: Layout, Tips & Example

UK recruiters expect a two-page A4 CV in reverse-chronological order. Open with your name and contact details, add a short personal statement, then education, then any paid or unpaid experience, then skills and interests. Leave out a photograph, your date of birth, marital status and National Insurance number: UK employers should not ask for them, and including them can expose you to discrimination.

• GCSEs and A-levels (or Scottish Highers) with grades – add predicted grades if you are still studying.
• Work experience placements – a fortnight in an office still gives you something concrete to describe.
• Part-time and weekend jobs – bar shifts, delivery rounds, retail and tutoring all evidence reliability.
• Volunteering – charity shops, coaching, food banks, National Citizen Service.
• Skills and certificates – languages, first aid, a driving licence, software you genuinely use.

Keep it to three to five lines and write in the first person. Name the role you are answering, give one or two pieces of evidence with a figure attached – a grade, a fundraising total, the shift pattern you sustained – and say what you want next. Phrases like “hard-working team player” tell a recruiter nothing they can check.

• School leaver: lead with qualifications and any paid work; mention an Extended Project Qualification or Duke of Edinburgh's Award if you have one.
• Graduate: add a placement year, your dissertation title, a society committee role or a campus job.
• Career changer: gather transferable skills into a short block above your employment history and explain each move in one line.

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