What is a CV with no experience?
A CV with no experience focuses on what you can do, not what you have done. You highlight transferable skills, relevant coursework, volunteer work, and personal projects instead of a long work history. A skills based format or functional CV lets inexperienced candidates group hard and soft skills with proof from school projects, group projects, and community involvement.
Why choose a skills based format?
Hiring managers in South Africa care about potential, communication skills, and work ethic. A skills-first structure makes key skills easy to scan, improves ATS matching, and works well for school leavers and a high school student seeking a first job. It also suits pivots into digital marketing, admin, or IT where new skills come from online courses and self study.
Steps to write a CV for a job with no experience
Choose a clean CV template
Pick a simple, ATS-friendly cv template with clear headings, bullet points, and consistent spacing. Keep it to one or two pages.Add accurate contact details
Include your full name, phone, email, and city. Do not add sensitive data. Make sure contact details match your cover letter and LinkedIn.Write a focused personal statement
State your job title target and value in 3 to 5 sentences. Mention transferable skills, time management, self motivation, and one result from a personal blog, volunteer roles, or group projects.Build a skills section with proof
Create an own section for skills. Split into hard skills and soft skills. Add one line of relevant experience evidence for each skill.Show education and relevant coursework
List your educational background, academic achievements, and relevant coursework. Add online courses and certifications with dates.Replace job history with experience blocks
Use unpaid work, volunteer experience, extracurricular activities, and personal projects to prove results. Quantify outcomes.Tailor to the job advert
Mirror terms in the job description and job advert. Prioritise relevant skills, technical skills, and language skills listed by the employer.Polish for ATS and humans
Use clear headings, simple sentences, and consistent bullet points. Save as PDF unless the employer requests another format.
How to structure contact details so employers can reach you fast
Full name, mobile, professional email.
City and province in South Africa.
LinkedIn and a personal blog if it shows skills gained or project management.
Optional: GitHub or portfolio link for technical skills or digital marketing samples.
Communication skills: what to highlight and how to prove them
Recruiters scan for communication skills, teamwork, and problem solving. Show them by:
Summarising a sports team captaincy or student council role.
Citing presentation marks, debate results, or event coordination.
Linking these to the specific job and the outcomes you achieved.
CV examples: what good looks like for South African job seekers
Study good cv examples to see strong cv writing, short sections, and measurable results. Look for layouts that place skills and relevant experience near the top. Notice how examples justify hard skills and human skills with quick evidence.
Using a CV template and a cv stand to get started faster
A ready-made cv template speeds up drafting and reduces formatting errors. Careers hubs, university centres, or an online cv stand often provide ATS-friendly options. Choose a template where the skills section and education section are prominent for cv with no experience.
Education section: how to showcase qualifications without job experience
Include school, dates, and location. Add:
Relevant coursework aligned to the job application.
Academic achievements and awards.
School projects and group projects that demonstrate critical thinking, project management, and time management.
Foreign language or additional language skills.
Online courses that prove new skills and initiative.
Skills section: hard skills and soft skills with proof
Hard skills
Microsoft Office, Google Sheets, basic SQL or HTML, Canva or Figma, entry-level analytics.
For digital marketing: keyword research basics, Google Analytics, Meta or TikTok campaign setup.
Soft skills
Work ethic, self motivation, teamwork, customer service, adaptability, and problem solving.
How to prove them
One-line evidence per skill. Example: “Microsoft Office: built a grade-tracking workbook for a group project that improved team accuracy by 15 percent.”
Relevant experience without formal jobs: what to include
Volunteer work and volunteer roles with outcomes.
Unpaid work such as tutoring, family business support, or community events.
Personal projects like a personal blog or simple app.
Extracurricular activities including sports team leadership or student council initiatives.
Digital marketing example: turning coursework into relevant experience
Create a mini campaign for a school club.
Track reach, clicks, or sign-ups.
Present results in bullet points with numbers.
This converts learning into relevant experience for a potential employer even without prior industry experience.
Cover letter: why it matters for inexperienced candidates
A short cover letter connects your story to the specific job.
Open with the value you bring and the role title.
Map 2 to 3 strong skills to the job description.
Cite one quantified result from a project, volunteer experience, or coursework.
Close with availability and contact details.
Applicant tracking system: simple rules to pass the scan
Use standard section names like skills section, education section, and work history.
Keep graphics and tables minimal.
Repeat key phrases from the job advert naturally.
Save as PDF unless instructed otherwise.
Administrative assistant example: quick outline you can adapt
Personal statement targeting administrative support.
Skills section with Microsoft Office, calendar management, and communication skills.
Education plus relevant coursework in business studies.
Experience from front-desk volunteering, event sign-in coordination, and records filing with metrics.
Professional experience vs job experience: what if you have a little of both?
If you have limited job experience, keep the skills based format but add a short work history. List title, organisation, dates, and two achievements. You still lead with skills and relevant experience gained from projects and learning.
Common CV writing mistakes in South Africa and how to fix them
Generic CV not tailored to a specific job. Fix by mirroring the job description.
No evidence for strong skills. Add numbers and short outcomes.
Cluttered layout. Use clean bullet points and one font.
Missing language skills or location context. Add “Cape Town, South Africa” and proficiency levels.
Quick checklist for South African job seekers
Title targets the role.
Personal statement is concise and relevant.
Skills section split into hard skills and soft skills with proof.
Education section includes relevant coursework and academic achievements.
Experience shows skills gained from volunteer work, unpaid work, and projects.
Content reflects the job advert and job description.
File exported cleanly and contact links work.
Mini samples you can copy
Personal statement
Motivated high school student seeking an entry-level digital marketing role. Strong communication skills, time management, and basic analytics from online courses and a club campaign that reached 2,300 views. Keen to apply hard and soft skills to support audience growth for a potential employer.
Skills bullets
Microsoft Office: produced a budget tracker used by a committee for three events.
Project management: coordinated a three-person group project and delivered two days early.
Customer service: assisted 120 visitors at a community open day with positive feedback.
Your first step to employment: apply what you have learned today
You can write a CV that wins interviews without long job history. Use a functional CV to highlight skills, convert learning into relevant experience, and support it with a clear cover letter. Keep language simple, proofread, and tailor to each job application.
Call to action: choose a cv template, draft your skills section with evidence, and adapt it to one real job advert today.
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👑 Achievement: Recently developed an AI-powered diagnostic tool that reduces medical screening times by 60% for early-stage cancer detection
🙈 Quirk: Proudly carries a vintage flip phone, a stark contrast to his cutting-edge AI work
The Flip Phone Rebel
Despite developing state-of-the-art AI technology, Alex Rodriguez sports a beat-up flip phone that's become something of a local legend in San Francisco's tech circles. "It's my conversation starter," he jokes. "I can build complex machine learning algorithms, but I refuse to give up my trusty Nokia."
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His colleagues often tease him about the phone, but Alex sees it as a symbol of his unconventional approach to technology. "Just because something is old doesn't mean it's not valuable," he says with a grin. "Same goes for people, algorithms, and apparently, mobile phones."
A graduate of Stanford's computer science program, Alex embodies the innovative spirit of San Francisco's tech ecosystem—proving that breakthrough innovation can come from someone who still uses T9 texting.
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Till next time,