First Job (No Experience) — Resume Example & ATS Keywords

No work history is not no content. Coursework, projects, volunteering, and part-time gigs all count — frame them with the same verb + result structure professionals use.

Professional summary example

Recent graduate in business administration seeking a first analyst role. Led a six-person university consulting project for a local retailer that produced a stock plan adopted across three stores. Advanced Excel, intermediate SQL, and two semesters as a volunteer tutor — comfortable explaining numbers to people who do not like numbers.

Example bullet points

• Organized a 3-day school science fair with 200+ attendees, coordinating 15 volunteers and a $500 budget.
• Built a personal budgeting spreadsheet adopted by 30+ classmates, with tutorials posted to a study group.
• Volunteered 4 hours weekly at a community library: cataloged 300+ books and assisted visitors with searches.
• Completed a 40-hour online course in Excel (certificate) and applied it to track a student club's finances.
• Captained the school volleyball team to a regional final while maintaining a 9.0/10 GPA.

Writing tips for this role

1. Lead with education: school, expected graduation date, GPA if strong, relevant coursework.
2. Treat projects and volunteering like jobs — verb, task, measurable result.
3. Add a skills section with concrete abilities (Excel, Canva, English level) rather than traits.
4. Keep it to one page and let a clean template do the talking — no photos of hobbies or dense paragraphs.

ATS keywords to include

Common questions