You have not yet done an internship or a work-study placement in human resources, and yet you have to send a CV. The blank page is daunting, especially when job ads ask for “some first experience”. The good news is that an HR recruiter does not expect a beginner to have already run a payroll or a redundancy plan. They are looking for something else: signs that you understand the job, that you have already been reliable somewhere and that you know how to learn. These signs exist in your background, provided you know how to find them. This article goes through your CV section by section, from master’s projects to student jobs and volunteering.
What a recruiter expects from an HR beginner
Not experience, but clues
For an internship, a work-study role or a first assistant job, the recruiter knows they will train the person. So they are looking for clues of potential rather than complete know-how:
- an understanding of the job: do you know what an HR department does day to day, beyond recruitment?
- reliability: have you already kept commitments, met deadlines, handled confidential information?
- technical basics: some knowledge of employment law, a spreadsheet you master, ease in writing;
- a coherent plan: why HR, and which specialism attracts you?
The empty CV trap
Many beginners leave their experience section almost empty, because they think only “HR” experience counts. That is a mistake: a waiting job, a youth worker assignment or a leading role in an association says a lot about your reliability. The work consists of translating them into the language of the job, without distorting them.
One page, no more
A beginner’s CV fits on one page. This constraint forces you to choose the most telling elements. To see a complete example, look at the HR intern CV example.
Education and master’s projects first
Put education at the top
Without significant professional experience, your education is your main argument. Place it at the top of the CV, just after the summary, with the exact title of the degree, the institution and the dates.
Select the useful courses
Do not copy the whole curriculum. Choose three or four courses linked to the role: employment law, payroll management, sociology of organisations, recruitment, work psychology. This is what the recruiter wants to check.
Showcase projects
Group projects, case studies, dissertations and supervised projects are real experience, provided you describe them precisely. Compare:
Before
Group project on employer branding.
After
Supervised project for a small local company: analysis of its job ads and careers page, interviews with two managers, recommendations presented to the managing director.
The second version shows a real client (even an anonymous one), a method and a deliverable. The recruiter can ask you about it.
The dissertation
If your dissertation is on an HR topic, mention it with its title. A dissertation on onboarding new employees or on structured interviews gives you a solid topic of conversation at interview.
Turning a student job into useful experience
What student jobs prove
A job in catering, retail, logistics or youth work proves several things an HR recruiter appreciates: punctuality, keeping up a pace, dealing with customers or users, sometimes training newcomers. If you recruited, trained or planned, even better.
Finding the HR angle, without making it up
Ask yourself three questions for each job: did you take part in welcoming or training newcomers? Did you manage schedules or cover arrangements? Did you handle personal or confidential information? If the answer is yes, write it down.
Before
Crew member in a fast-food restaurant.
After
Crew member, then trainer of new crew members in a fast-food restaurant, over two summers: welcoming and on-the-job training, involvement in weekly schedules.
If the answer is no, simply describe the job with its real responsibilities: a recruiter prefers an honestly described job to an embellished role.
Temporary assignments and fixed-term contracts
A temporary assignment shows you a staffing agency from the inside, from the worker’s side. It is a real argument if you are aiming for agency recruitment. Our article on moving into recruitment from another career shows how people from other jobs make the most of this kind of experience.
Volunteering and responsibilities
An underestimated source
Volunteering is often a beginner’s best “HR” experience. Recruiting volunteers, organising an event, managing a schedule, leading a team, keeping a budget: these are directly transferable skills.
Describe it as experience
If your role was significant, place it in the experience section, with a title, a period and bullet points. For example:
Volunteer coordinator for a student homework-help association: recruited and welcomed volunteers at the start of each year, weekly schedule of sessions, monthly meeting with partner schools.
The reader finds the vocabulary of their job in it: recruitment, onboarding, planning, relations with partners.
Elected responsibilities
Class representative, elected member of a university council, member of an association’s board: these roles show that you can represent people, carry issues and negotiate. They echo employee relations, an important part of the HR function.
The skills and tools to show
Skills proven elsewhere
Your skills section should reflect what the previous sections have shown: basic employment law, writing, organising interviews, managing schedules. Our article on the skills to put on your HR CV helps you sort them by job.
Tools named honestly
- a spreadsheet, with two or three specific functions (pivot tables, XLOOKUP);
- an HRIS or ATS if you have used one, even in class or on a project;
- the collaboration tools you master;
- basic knowledge stated as such: “basic payroll knowledge” is more credible than claimed mastery.
Languages
State your real level, ideally with a reference (European framework level or test score). English is an asset in international groups.
The summary that ties everything together
At the top of the CV, a two- or three-line summary states your level, what you have already done and what you are looking for. Our article on the HR CV summary offers an example for each level, beginners included.
Moving on to formatting
When your sections are ready, open the editor and create your CV for free. You do not have to worry about layout: the tool takes care of it, and the resulting file is read correctly by applicant screening software, which matters all the more for a beginner, whose CV has no well-known company name to catch the eye. For another entry-level model, see the HR assistant CV example.
Frequently asked questions
Can you apply for an HR role with no experience in the function?
Yes, especially for an internship, a work-study role or an assistant job. Highlight your education, your projects, your jobs and your volunteering, and show that your plan has been thought through.
Should you put a photo on a beginner’s HR CV?
It is not compulsory in France. If you include one, choose a professional, understated photo. It adds nothing about your skills, and having no photo does not count against you.
What should you do if your CV seems too short?
Develop your projects and volunteering experience with precise bullet points, add a “Projects” section if you have several, and check that your education details the useful courses. A well-filled one-page CV is better than a padded one.
Should you mention jobs unrelated to HR?
Yes, if they show your reliability or responsibilities. Describe them briefly, with the angle an HR recruiter cares about, without inventing duties.