How to Write a CV With No Work Experience

Quick answer

Lead with education, then add skills, projects, volunteering, leadership and certificates you can prove. Write a short profile only if it says something specific. Use the South African Government's CV guidance as a checklist, and do not copy every personal detail onto a CV you send to a private employer.

What the government CV page asks for

The South African Government page on compiling a curriculum vitae describes a CV as a short account of education, work and skills. It lists personal information, education, languages, computer skills, employment history including part-time work and volunteering, skills, awards, leadership and references. It also says you should change the CV for the job and proofread it.

That page includes identity number, marital status and state of health. Those items belong on a form that asks for them, such as parts of a public-service application. For a private employer, a name, phone number, email and town are usually enough. Do not put your identity number on a CV you email to an address you have not verified.

Education

Put the highest study first. For matric, name the school, the year, and whether you have a National Senior Certificate or are awaiting results. List subjects only when they matter to the advert, such as Mathematics, Accounting or a language of tuition.

• School, qualification and year.
• Subjects the advert mentions, with the result if you have it.
• A tertiary qualification in progress: institution, programme and expected completion year.
• Do not upgrade a grade 11 report into a completed matric.

Projects, volunteering and activities

These sections replace the job you have not had. Give each item a name, a date and one concrete task.

Example entries

• Life Sciences project, grade 12, 2026. Surveyed water use at school and presented findings to the class.
• Tutor, grade 11 mathematics, two afternoons a week during term. Prepared worksheets and marked practice exercises.
• Representative council of learners, 2025. Took minutes at meetings and communicated decisions to the class.
• Family spaza, weekends. Received stock, recorded cash sales and served customers.

Family work and sport count when you describe the task. Captain of a team is leadership only if you say what you organised. A certificate counts if you can show it. A workshop you attended is not a qualification.

Skills and the profile

List skills you can demonstrate: email, spreadsheets, a language you can speak with customers, a driver's licence if you have one, or a specific program you used in a project. Computer skills is too vague. Microsoft Excel: recorded sales and sorted a list is specific.

A profile is three or four lines under your name. Use it to state what you are applying for and the evidence you have. An example: Matriculant with Accounting and Mathematics, seeking a finance trainee role. School project on a small business's monthly records, and weekend retail experience.

Leave the profile out if it only says that you are hard-working, passionate or a team player. Those words do not help an employer choose.

References and tailoring

The government page says references should be people who can speak truthfully about you, and that you should confirm they are willing and that their numbers still work. A teacher, tutor supervisor or the adult who saw your volunteering is appropriate. Do not list a relative unless the advert allows it, and do not invent a manager.

Tailoring means you reorder the CV so the requirement in the advert appears early. If the advert wants customer service, the retail task goes above the science project. You still tell the truth. You do not create a job title, a matric result or a computer course you did not complete.

What not to invent

• A company name, job title or dates of employment.
• A driver's licence, computer certificate or language you cannot use.
• Someone else's project described as your own.
• A professional registration or student number that is not yours.
• A referee who has not agreed to be contacted.

The Department of Employment and Labour says work seekers must not pay for employment services. Do not pay a person to write a CV that invents experience, and do not send the finished CV to a recruiter who asked for a fee.

A simple order

1. Name and contact details you actually answer.
2. Profile, only if it is specific.
3. Education.
4. Projects, volunteering or leadership.
5. Skills and certificates.
6. References, or the line References available on request if the advert does not demand names yet.

Keep it to one or two pages. The government guidance says a CV should be short. Proofread names, dates and phone numbers before you send it. The CV Builder on this site can hold a draft. The CV Checker can help you see whether the sections are clear. Neither tool submits an application.

Checklist

• Every date and result matches a document you can produce.
• Each activity has a task, not only a title.
• The first half of the CV answers the advert.
• No identity number on a CV going to an unverified address.
• Referees have agreed.
• The file name includes your surname.

Information can change

Rules, forms, closing dates and programme requirements change. Treat this guide as a way to prepare and to know what to check. The official page for the institution, employer or funder is the version that applies to your application.

Official sources

• Compiling a curriculum vitaeThe South African Government's own CV checklist, including tailoring and references.
• Finding a jobThe Department of Employment and Labour's job-search publication, including CV contents and the warning not to pay a private agency.