Journey Start Template: The First Professional Step

The Journey Start template is for anyone not yet in the workforce: a student, an intern, or a complete beginner. Its structure shows what you can do, what you have learned, and what you have built — instead of imposing an empty experience section that implies a deficit.

The steps

1. Open it and start with one line saying who you are and what you are aiming at
2. Add education, then academic or personal projects
3. Write each project in three bullets: the brief, what you did, what came out
4. Split skills into what you know and which tools you use well
5. Delete any section you cannot fill rather than leaving it empty

Practical tips

• A personal project you completed alone beats a course you never finished
• List only verifiable skills: a language, a tool, a certificate
• Keep it to one page — thin content over two pages reads as emptiness

Common mistakes to avoid

• Copying an experienced person's CV and emptying it, which produces a hollow document
• Writing ambitious goals with nothing behind them, like "become a manager within a year"

Frequently asked questions

Should I say I am still a student?

Yes, clearly, with your expected graduation year. Employers need it to know whether you are available full-time or for an internship.

What if I have no project at all?

Build one small project in your field within two weeks — a simple site, a small data analysis, a test campaign. A small project changes the whole CV.

Links for this guide

• See the Journey Start template
• Read the guide on writing about yourself