How do I write a resume with no work experience?

Lead with projects and education instead. A couple of real, deployed projects with links, plus relevant coursework, prove ability convincingly. Hackathons, open source, and freelance work all count as experience.

Should I include my GPA?

Only if it helps — roughly 3.5+. Otherwise leave it off; a strong project section carries far more weight than a GPA line.

How long should an entry-level resume be?

One page, always. You don't yet have the experience to justify two, and a tight, focused page is exactly what new-grad reviewers expect.

Entry-Level Software Engineer Resume Example

With little or no full-time experience, your resume has one job: prove you can already build software. Projects, internships, and coursework do that — when each one shows what you built and what it did, not just that it existed. The example below leads with real, deployed work.

What makes a strong entry-level software engineer resume

Put projects front and center. For a new grad, a projects section with real, deployed work and links is the single most convincing thing on the page. Treat each project like a job: what you built, the stack, and the result (users, a feature, a metric). "TripSplit — 600+ users, deployed" beats "completed coursework in web development."

Make internships count. If you've interned, lead each bullet with the impact you had on a real team — a feature shipped, tests added, a bug fixed in production. This is the closest thing to professional experience you have, so quantify it.

Use education well, then move on. List your degree, graduation date, and relevant coursework or honors — but don't let it dominate. GPA is optional; include it only if it's strong (≈3.5+). One concise education block is plenty.

Beat the keyword filter and keep it to one page. Mirror the languages and tools in the job description, keep the layout simple and single-column, and resist padding — a focused one-pager reads as more confident than a stretched one.

Key skills and technologies to include

Languages: the ones you've actually built with (Python, Java, JavaScript/TS)
Web basics: a framework (React/Next), HTML/CSS, REST APIs
Fundamentals: data structures, Git, SQL, testing
Bonus: anything from internships/projects — cloud, Docker, a database

How to tailor this example to your experience

Reorder the sections to lead with your strength: strong internship → experience first; no internship → projects first. Swap in your own projects (with live links and repos), and match the tech to each job posting. No deployed projects yet? That's the highest-leverage thing you can build before applying — even one polished, live app changes the resume.

Frequently asked questions

How do I write a resume with no work experience?: Lead with projects and education instead. A couple of real, deployed projects with links, plus relevant coursework, prove ability convincingly. Hackathons, open source, and freelance work all count as experience.
Should I include my GPA?: Only if it helps — roughly 3.5+. Otherwise leave it off; a strong project section carries far more weight than a GPA line.
How long should an entry-level resume be?: One page, always. You don't yet have the experience to justify two, and a tight, focused page is exactly what new-grad reviewers expect.