experience in cv

How to Get Experience to Use in Your CV as a Graduate Jobseeker

CHVack

— 5 min read
How to Get Experience to Use in Your CV as a Graduate Jobseeker

Including experience in CV writing is a problem for many graduates who are yet to find their first job. In such a situation, you're faced with the classic catch-22: you need experience to get a job, but you need a job to get experience. The good news? Traditional 9-to-5 roles are not the only way to showcase valuable experience in CVs. 

When employers talk about experience in a CV, they’re not just referring to regular full-time or part-time jobs. They’re looking for evidence that you can deliver value, take initiative, solve problems, and work well with others. That can come from a wide range of other experiences such as:

Internships – Paid or Unpaid

Internships are one of the most valuable forms of early experience. Whether paid or unpaid, they acquaint you with real-world tasks, tools, and team dynamics. Even a short-term internship (remote or onsite) can serve as much-needed experience in CVs. 

Example

Software Development Intern – StarTech Solutions

Remote | June–August 2024

  • Developed and deployed two new dashboard features, improving task completion rate by 11%.
  • Wrote unit tests and documentation to support ongoing code maintenance.
  • Participated in daily stand-ups and sprint planning as part of an Agile development team.

Freelance Work

If you’ve been searching for full-time on-site jobs since graduation without success, freelancing can be an option that provides the work experience you need to add to your CV. This could be anything from designing a logo for a local business to creating a website for a friend or writing blog content for a small brand.

Platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer, or local Facebook/WhatsApp groups offer freelance remote opportunities that match a variety of skill sets. 

Example

Freelance Web Designer – Various Clients (via Freelancer.com) Remote | November 2021–Present

  • Designed and built 11 responsive websites for small businesses using WordPress and Elementor.
  • Customized themes and integrated features such as booking forms, e-commerce carts, and blogs.
  • Received 5-star reviews from 99% of clients.

Volunteer Work

NGOs such as foundations, community-based organizations (CBOs), student clubs, and other nonprofits are always in need of extra help. Whether it’s designing a website for a foundation, managing social media pages for a CBO, or organizing an event for a student club, volunteering provides tangible accomplishments to list as experience in CVs. If you approach volunteering like a job (with measurable outcomes), it becomes a powerful CV asset.

Example

Volunteer Graphic Designer – SafeEarth Alliance Part-time | February–May 2024

  • Created posters, brochures, and social media graphics to promote climate change/net-zero awareness campaigns.
  • Collaborated with the outreach team to ensure visuals aligned with campaign goals and target audiences.
  • Improved public engagement on social platforms by 19% during the campaign period.

Projects Associated With Online Coursework

Certifications from platforms like Coursera, edX, Google Career Certificates, or HubSpot can add weight to your CV, especially if they include practical projects. Choose courses that are designed with real-world simulations or portfolio-based assessments so you’ll have tangible work to show in your CV.

Example 

Data Analysis Project – Google Data Analytics Certificate (Coursera) Completed January 2025

  • Cleaned and analyzed bike-sharing data using Excel and Tableau dashboards, revealing a 35% spike in weekday commuter activity.
  • Identified key user trends and created visualizations to support insights.
  • Summarized findings in a business report with actionable recommendations.

Competitions

Online and offline challenges like design contests or hackathons are proof that participants can solve problems under pressure. They often simulate real work environments and include projects that won’t seem out of place when used as experience in CVs.

Websites like Devpost, Kaggle, HeroX, or even LinkedIn often list upcoming challenges relevant to different fields. Many universities also host virtual competitions open to students worldwide.

Example 

UX Design Challenge – Adobe Creative Jam UX Designer | April 2024

  • Used Adobe XD to design and prototype an interactive onboarding experience for a language-learning app.
  • Applied design systems and accessibility guidelines to ensure usability across devices.
  • Judges praised interface structure and consistency; project ranked in top 5%.

Your Own Projects

You don’t need a client or permission to start a project. Create a blog, launch an e-commerce store, design a prototype app, start a podcast, or build a data dashboard. Personal projects show creativity, drive, and the ability to manage your own time – attributes that are valuable to employers.

Example 

Budgeting App – Personal Project October–December 2024

  • Developed a cross-platform budgeting app using Flutter for UI and Firebase for backend services.
  • Integrated real-time data syncing, user authentication, and interactive charts with Firestore and Syncfusion Flutter Charts.
  • Uploaded project to GitHub with documentation; regularly updated based on user feedback.

Academic Projects

Just finished a final-year project or postgraduate thesis? These can be deployed as experience in CVs as well because they require research, tools, planning, and collaboration.

Example

Final-Year Project – The Impact of Renewable Energy Policies on Urban Air Quality: A Case Study of Three Nigerian CitiesBSc Environmental Science | University of Nigeria | January–May 2025

  • Conducted primary and secondary research analyzing air quality trends in three major Nigerian cities from 2014 to 2024.
  • Used Python (Pandas, Matplotlib) and QGIS to visualize spatial data and model policy impact.
  • Submitted a research report (18,000 words) whose findings include a 15–25% decrease in NO₂ levels due to eco-friendly initiatives; made adequate recommendations based on findings.

Contribute to Online Community Projects

If you’re in tech, contributing to open-source projects on platforms like GitHub, for example, is a fantastic way to gain experience. Non-tech grads can also contribute in a variety of ways, for example, writing documentation, managing community webpages, or running user interviews. 

Example

Documentation Contributor – FreeCodeCampRemote | December 2024 – March 2025

  • Edited and updated tutorials and coding challenges for clarity and consistency.
  • Reviewed user-submitted guides and suggested improvements to align with platform style.
  • Helped moderate forum threads to support new learners and maintain positive discussions.

Ask for Shadowing Opportunities

Reach out to professionals you know and ask to shadow them for a day or two. Even brief exposure to real work environments will help you understand industry workflows and terminology. Some professionals might even give you small tasks to help you out.

Example

Job Shadow – Software Engineering Team, Netwave SolutionsRemote | March 2025 (3 weeks)

  • Observed Agile sprint meetings and code reviews within a mid-sized development team.
  • Completed a basic debugging task and walkthrough of a test environment with junior developers.
  • Gained insight into software deployment workflows, version control (Git), and collaborative tools (Jira, ClickUp).

Conclusion

Getting experience as a graduate doesn’t have to mean waiting for a regular job. Compelling experiences for a CV can come from freelancing, your own projects, volunteering, and more.

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