Finding your first internship or your first job requires you to write a good CV. But as you should already know, it can be difficult to make a good curriculum vitae when you do not have much work experience. It does not mean, however, that it is impossible. Here are our tips!
Expand your Professional Experiences
When you do not have much experience, you have to know how to highlight the rare internships, but also the extra-curricular activities and the projects that you have been able to carry out. If you have done an internship of more than one month in a company, briefly indicate the achievement, the file or the project on which you worked.
Be precise, possibly indicate figures obviously without lying: “Update of a file of 500 customers” for example. If you are looking for your first job, take care of the presentation of the end of studies internship which is your longest and most recent experience and which will be peeled by the recruiter. A CV creator can help with this task.
Also mention any projects and achievements carried out in community life, volunteering, sport, artistic life, science, the media. For example:
- “Cyclo-tour project: world tour of energy innovations. 10 countries visited, 15 initiatives, see Cyclo-tour blog”.
- “Class representative and delegate to the school board”
- “Animation of a YouTube channel for popularizing IT, 10,000 subscribers”
Avoid Useless Fillings
Only select experiences and activities that make sense for the job sought. For instance, if you are aiming for an internship or a managerial position, anything that shows that you know how to work in a team or that you have already taken on responsibilities is interesting. If you are targeting a social profession, humanitarian initiatives, experiences with different audiences can be a plus.
On the other hand, there is no point in mentioning small jobs – such as selling pancakes or babysitting – if you are applying for an internship in IT. The goal is not to fill in or to put the largest number of things on your resume. On the contrary, it can prevent the recruiter from perceiving your central project.
To sort it out, put yourself in the place of the company that could hire you. What could interest them about you? What qualities are expected in this type of position? If you are responding to an ad, pay attention to the skills required. Then think about what parts of your life might testify to these qualities and skills.
