TL;DR
Your first CV is built from what you actually have: your education with GPA, capstone projects, co-op training, courses, and skills. Order them in that sequence instead of the experienced-professional order, write a three-part summary, and export a one-page real-text PDF. Taqdeem's Graduate template ships with exactly this order.
What do you have when you're "without experience"?
The biggest graduate mistake is looking at the CV through what's missing: no previous jobs, so nothing to write. In truth, your university years produced plenty of material for a complete CV - it's just scattered: a capstone you spent months on, a co-op or summer placement, courses and certificates, volunteering, student activities you led, and technical skills you taught yourself. Your first CV's job is gathering that scatter into an order employers understand.
- Education: major, university, graduation year, and GPA if it's strong.
- Projects: your capstone and serious coursework projects, with tools and outcomes.
- Training: co-op, summer, or Tamheer, whatever its length.
- Courses and certificates: from recognized providers like Doroob, Google, and Coursera.
- Volunteering and student activities: especially anything with leadership or organizing.
- Skills: technical first (software and tools), then soft skills backed by evidence.
The right section order for a graduate CV
An experienced professional's CV opens with experience because it's their strongest card. Yours mirrors the same logic: open with YOUR strongest. After contact details and the summary comes education, then projects and training, then courses, skills, and languages. And an empty "Work Experience" section shouldn't appear at all - nothing reads worse than a heading announcing a void.
Contact details
Name, target title ("Accounting graduate"), city, phone, a professional email.
Summary
Your specialty + strongest credential + one numbered impact from a project or training.
Education
Degree, university, year - and GPA if it's 4.5/5 or higher (or equivalent).
Projects and training
The heart of your CV: capstone and co-op written as numbered achievements.
Courses and certificates
Newest and most job-relevant, with the issuing provider's name.
Skills and languages
Named tools and software, then languages at your honest level.
A full example: a real-style graduate CV
Lama Al-Harbi - MIS Graduate
Summary: MIS graduate with first-class honors, passionate about data analysis; completed an analysis co-op and seeking an entry-level role.
Education: BSc in MIS, King Abdulaziz University, 2024 - GPA 4.8/5.
Projects: Capstone: a Power BI sales dashboard cutting weekly reporting from a day to an hour.
Training: Data-analysis co-op, Elm, 2023 - analyzed 1,200 customers' data and unified 5 data sources with SQL.
Courses: Data Analytics Certificate, Google (Coursera), 2024.
Skills: Advanced Excel, SQL, Power BI, Python for analysis, reporting.
Do
Notice nearly every line has a number or a named tool. That's what makes a "no experience" CV read like the CV of someone who has actually done things.
One page, and a file systems can read
A graduate CV is one page, almost without exception: whoever stretches to two pages without experience ends up padding, which dilutes their strongest material. And the file itself must be a real-text PDF that automated screening and the Jadarat parser can read - not an image, not decorative design. Taqdeem's Graduate template gives you both ready-made: the exact section order above, a calm green header, and real text in every export.
Start your first CV with the Graduate template: education and projects first, with free PDF export.
Try the Graduate templateThe final checklist before sending
You aren't "without experience" - you have a different kind of it. Your first CV's job is presenting it in the job market's language.
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Frequently asked questions
Should I include a low GPA?
No. GPA is optional information: include it when it flatters you (typically 4.5/5 or a high very-good), quietly omit it otherwise, and let your projects and certificates lead instead.
My co-op was only two months. Is it worth listing?
Yes, without hesitation. Two months inside a real organization is the most valuable thing on a graduate CV. Write it as experience with at least one tangible achievement, and state the duration honestly.
Do I need an English version of my first CV?
It depends on your target: Jadarat and government bodies want Arabic, while international companies and tech want English. Safest is preparing both from the start - in Taqdeem the English version generates straight from the Arabic.
My CV is done. Where do I apply first?
Three channels are enough to start: Jadarat for government jobs and HRDF programs (like Tamheer), LinkedIn with a complete profile, and the careers portals of the specific companies you want.
Try these tools
Read next
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