{"id":10,"date":"2026-03-19T14:20:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T14:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joblaunchsa.co.za\/blog\/?p=10"},"modified":"2026-03-19T14:37:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T14:37:50","slug":"learnerships-cv-tips-bursaries-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joblaunchsa.co.za\/blog\/learnerships-cv-tips-bursaries-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Write a CV With No Work Experience \u2013 South Africa 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Just finished matric and have zero work experience? You&#8217;re not stuck \u2014 you just need to know what to include instead. South African employers hiring for learnerships, YES Programmes, and entry-level roles don&#8217;t expect you to have a work history. Here&#8217;s how to build a CV that gets you noticed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1. Start with a strong Personal Statement<\/strong> Write 3\u20134 sentences about who you are, what you&#8217;re good at, and what you&#8217;re looking for. Keep it simple and honest. Example: <em>&#8220;Motivated matric graduate from Johannesburg with strong communication skills and a passion for customer service. I am punctual, a fast learner, and ready to work hard. Looking for an entry-level retail or admin role where I can grow.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2. List your Matric results<\/strong> Include your subjects and symbols. Strong marks in English, Maths, or Accounting are valuable to employers. Don&#8217;t hide poor results \u2014 just focus on what you did well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>3. Include all experience \u2014 paid or unpaid<\/strong> Never did a formal job? That&#8217;s fine. Include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Volunteer work (church, community, school)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Helping a family business<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Babysitting or domestic work<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>School leadership roles (SRC, sports captain, debate team)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Any community projects<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For each, write: what you did, how long, and what you achieved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>4. List your skills honestly<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Microsoft Word \/ Excel \/ PowerPoint<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Driver&#8217;s licence (code 8 or 10)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Languages you speak fluently<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Customer service experience (even informal)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Any computer or social media skills<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>5. Keep it to ONE page<\/strong> No work history = no need for more than one page. Use a clean, professional template. Avoid colours, photos, and fancy fonts. Black and white, simple layout, easy to read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>6. Proofread everything<\/strong> Spelling mistakes kill applications. Read your CV out loud, then ask someone else to check it. One typo can cost you an interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Use our free CV Builder at JobLaunchSA to create a professional CV in under 10 minutes \u2014 no design skills needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just finished matric and have zero work experience? You&#8217;re not stuck \u2014 you just need to know what to include instead. South African employers hiring for learnerships, YES Programmes, and entry-level roles don&#8217;t expect you to have a work history. Here&#8217;s how to build a CV that gets you noticed. 1. Start with a strong [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cv-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joblaunchsa.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joblaunchsa.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joblaunchsa.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblaunchsa.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblaunchsa.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/joblaunchsa.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15,"href":"https:\/\/joblaunchsa.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10\/revisions\/15"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joblaunchsa.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblaunchsa.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblaunchsa.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}