How to create a CV for your first job in 2026
Recruiters hire juniors with clear potential. Lead with motivation, skills, projects and learning—not empty buzzwords.
📋 Structure for first hires
- Contact + headline (“Junior data analyst seeking first role”)
- Profile — enthusiasm + 2 concrete skills
- Education — degree, relevant modules, grade if strong
- Projects — coursework, hackathons, GitHub, freelance
- Experience — internships, part-time, volunteering
- Skills — tools you can demo
🎯 Projects beat empty experience
Describe what you built, stack used, and outcome (users, speed, grade, repo stars). Link portfolio or demo.
🤝 Volunteering & part-time
Leadership in clubs, tutoring, retail—show reliability, teamwork, customer empathy.
🛠️ ATS for juniors
Simple layout, keywords from the ad, honest skill levels. No fake “expert” tags.
🎯 Conclusion
Show curiosity, proof of work and coachability—your first CV is about trajectory, not tenure.