Résumé With No Experience: How to Build One for Your First Job

If you have never worked, you can still build a good résumé by highlighting your education, courses, projects, volunteer work, skills, and school activities. Experience is not only a formal job with a signed work card: anything that shows responsibility and learning counts, and what you write must be true.

Minimum age for a first job

The Constituição Federal (Federal Constitution), art. 7, XXXIII, prohibits any work for those under 16, except as an apprentice from age 14. Between 16 and 17, work is allowed, but it cannot be at night, dangerous, unhealthy, or arduous, nor interfere with school attendance. For young people, apprenticeship is a common way in; see Young apprentice: how to sign up and find openings.

What to put on your résumé

1. Contact details: name, city, phone number with WhatsApp, and a simple, professional email address.
2. Objective: one sentence stating the field and type of job, such as "I am looking for my first opportunity in administration, focused on learning and growing."
3. Education: high school or a course in progress, institution, and expected completion date.
4. Courses and certificates: computer skills, languages, free courses, and workshops, with the number of hours.
5. Activities and projects: school or college assignments, student council, social projects, sports, volunteering, and helping out in a family business.
6. Skills: communication, organization, use of spreadsheets and social media, always with examples.

Describe each activity with what you did and the result, even a small one. Example: "I organized the school's food drive with 12 classmates and delivered 200 kg to a charity."

What to avoid

• Inventing experience or courses you did not take.
• Writing "no experience" in a negative way; focus on what you know how to do.
• Including too much personal information, such as CPF (taxpayer ID) and RG (ID card).
• Sending the same résumé to every opening.

Lei 9.029/1995 (Law 9,029/1995), art. 1, prohibits discriminatory practices in access to employment on grounds of sex, origin, race, color, marital status, disability, age, among others. A photo, age, and marital status are, as a rule, not mandatory on a résumé.

Where to look for a first job

• Sine and Emprega Brasil: free registration with your gov.br account, on the portal or in the Carteira de Trabalho Digital (Digital Work Card) app, which matches your profile with openings. See the guide to Sine (Sistema Nacional de Emprego, National Employment System).
• Apprenticeship and internships: programs that teach by doing. Check out How to get an internship in 2026 and Young apprentice: rights.
• Referrals: let family, teachers, and acquaintances know you are looking for an opportunity.

Prepare for the interview

Practice introducing yourself in one minute, explain why you want the job, and show a willingness to learn. See Job interview: common questions and how to answer them.

Frequently asked questions

Can I put volunteer work on my résumé?

Yes. State the organization, the period, and what you did. It is a valid way to show experience.

Do I need a work card to apply?

To be hired formally, the Carteira de Trabalho (work card) is required, and the digital version uses your gov.br account. To apply, the résumé is enough.

Can someone under 18 work?

From age 16, yes, within the limits of art. 7, XXXIII, of the Constitution. Between 14 and 15, only as an apprentice.

Read also

• Résumé: how to write one, what to include, and what to avoid
• Young apprentice: age, pay, hours, and rights
• Internships: intern rights under Lei 11.788 (Law 11,788)