You don’t need a job history to write a great CV. Ask any school leaver what’s stopping them getting a first job, and most say the same thing: “I’ve got no experience.” Every advert wants someone who’s done the job before. But here’s the good news: most young people already hold the key. They just haven’t been shown how to use it. This usually isn’t a skills gap. It’s a communication gap and it’s fixable in an afternoon.

The Real Gap Is Translation, Not Experience

National surveys of UK employers ask the same question every year: what makes a young person  employable? One of the largest recent studies, from the think tank Demos, found 57% of employers value transferable skills such as teamwork, reliability, communication, resilience over technical, job-specific ones. Just 10% rated technical skills higher. Teamwork alone was valued by 81%.

None of that is only learned on a payroll. You build it in a group project, a five-a-side team, looking after younger siblings, sticking with a hobby that gets hard. Employers know this – yet the same research found only 1% of 18–25-year-olds felt a lack of transferable skills held them back. The substance is there. What’s missing is the sentence that turns “I look after my little brother most evenings” into words an employer recognises: responsibility, reliability, time management.

Turning “I Just…” Into CV Language

The fix is a simple formula: role, what you actually did, and one number if you can manage it. That last part turns a vague claim into proof:

The same goes for schoolwork. A group presentation is teamwork under pressure. Months of exam revision is self-management, which is one of the most valued qualities there is, and every school leaver has already practised it. Put education first on the page, and call the section “Experience,” not “Employment”.

You’re not starting from zero. You’re starting from everything you’ve already done, it’s just that you haven’t written it down yet.

Try This: Three Questions to Ask Yourself

“List your experience” rarely works — the good stuff stays hidden until someone asks the nosy follow-up. 

Ask yourself, or get a friend to ask you out loud:

• “Volunteering” or “sports” — what did you actually do, and for how long?
• Ever gone beyond what was asked? Stayed late, taken on more? That’s initiative, proof included.
• Any project you’re proud of? Name what you built and how it went.

What they actually did	How it reads on the CV
Looked after my younger siblings most evenings	Family Childcare – regular after-school responsibility for two children, including meals, homework and bedtime routine.

Varsity Blues July / Aug 2026