“At least one year of experience” — you have probably seen this line in job ads many times. To get a job you need experience, and to get experience you need a job. This loop stops many people: recent graduates, young people from the regions, women returning to work after years at home. The good news: when employers say “experience”, they usually mean evidence that you can handle a real task, not an entry in your employment record. And such evidence can be built without formal employment. Below we go step by step through where to get your first experience, how to turn it into a portfolio, and how to present it in your CV and at an interview.
What employers really mean by “experience”
When an employer asks about experience, they really want to know three things:
- Can you do the job? In other words, can you use the necessary programs, methods and tools in practice.
- Are you reliable? Do you meet deadlines and take responsibility.
- Can you work in a team? Can you ask questions and accept comments and feedback.
An internship, volunteering, a study project or a small job for someone you know can answer them too — if you document it properly. So your task is not to feel discouraged, but to create and collect evidence of experience.
Internships: the most direct route
An internship lets you see real work processes from the inside for a short period. Some are paid, some are not; what matters is that you do real tasks and can earn a recommendation.
Where to find internships
- The “Careers” section on the websites of large companies and banks. Many publish special programmes for young people there.
- Job search websites and Telegram channels: search for words like “internship”, “intern” or “trainee”.
- Your school, college or training centre. They often have links with partner organisations.
- Small businesses: the accounting office next door, a shop, an advertising agency. Even if they do not post vacancies, they may welcome an extra pair of hands.
Offer yourself
Do not wait for an advert. Write a short, specific message: who you are, what you have learned, how you can help and how much time you can give. Imagine Malika, who has just finished an accounting course. She writes to three small firms in her district: “I can help organise primary documents and prepare reports in Excel, three days a week.” Two do not reply; the third invites her for a one-month trial. This is normal — silence says nothing about your worth; it is a numbers game.
Volunteering: useful work and experience at once
Chosen well, volunteering is a full source of professional experience. Non-profits, mahalla events, schools and libraries always need help.
Examples of volunteering by profession:
- Marketing and social media: running an organisation’s Telegram channel or Instagram page, drawing up a content plan, preparing an event poster.
- Design: creating invitations, certificates, banners or a presentation template.
- IT: setting up a simple website or registration form for a small organisation, putting its computers in order.
- Accounting and data analysis: keeping an expense spreadsheet, analysing survey results in Excel.
- English: leading a conversation club for children, translating documents.
Agree clearly on the task, time frame and expected result first, and at the end ask for a short reference.
Study and personal projects: experience you create yourself
If nobody gives you a task, invent one. A personal project that tries to solve a real problem shows an employer initiative and independence.
Project ideas by field:
- Programming: a simple family budget tracker, a notice-board bot for your mahalla, an app for keeping a list of books.
- Data analysis and Data Science: take an open dataset and turn it into charts and conclusions; for example, a table tracking the weather or price changes in your region.
- Design: a concept for a new logo and menu for a local shop (clearly labelled as a concept).
- Marketing: a one-month content plan and competitor analysis for an entrepreneur you know.
- Accounting: bookkeeping for one month of operations and a report for a fictional company.
- Mobilography: a short phone video about a local craftsperson.
When choosing a project, follow one rule: a small but finished project is better than a big unfinished one. Start with something you can complete in two weeks.
A portfolio: making your experience visible
A portfolio shows an employer “I can do this” with results, not words. It looks a little different in each field.
IT and programming
Developers usually keep their code on open platforms such as GitHub. Write a short description for each project: what it does, which technologies it uses and how to run it. A clear, tidy description often impresses more than the code itself.
Design
Designers use platforms such as Behance or a simple PDF portfolio. For each piece, show the task, your solution and the result. Employers are interested not only in nice pictures, but in your thinking process.
Marketing
Content samples, a campaign plan, “before and after” figures (for example, if the number of followers grew, explain which actions led to it). Even if the numbers are modest, show them honestly.
Accounting and office work
Portfolios are rare here, so one makes you stand out. Gather Excel spreadsheets without personal data, sample reports, course assignments and certificates in one folder.
Portfolio checklist
- 3–5 of your best pieces (not many, but good ones).
- For each piece: the task, your role, the tools, the result.
- No confidential data belonging to other people.
- Links work, and files open on a phone too.
- Study and concept work is honestly labelled as such.
Contacts, recommendations and your network
Many vacancies are never advertised — they are filled through people who know and trust you. You can build a network from scratch:
- Stay in touch with fellow students from your courses and trainings. They are looking for work too, and you can share opportunities with each other.
- Take part in open events, meetups and online communities in your field. Ask questions and help others.
- Create a profile on a professional social network (for example, LinkedIn) and add your projects to it.
- Ask a teacher, mentor or volunteer coordinator for a written recommendation. Send a short, specific request saying which piece of your work you would like them to mention.
Important: always ask a person’s permission before listing them as a referee on your CV.
Small paid tasks: your first clients
Small paid jobs are a strong source of experience, because you answer to a real client: a presentation for an acquaintance, posts for a small shop, tidying a family business’s records, English help for a schoolchild.
Things to watch for:
- Agree on the task, deadline and result in writing beforehand (even in a messenger chat).
- When you finish, ask the client for a short review and permission to add the work to your portfolio.
- Never accept offers where you have to pay money yourself “to get started” — that is a sign of fraud.
- If this activity becomes regular, check how to register it properly using official sources (my.gov.uz, lex.uz).
How to present your experience in a CV and at an interview
In your CV
- Rename the “Work experience” section to “Experience and projects”. Include internships, volunteering, projects and small paid tasks.
- For each item, write sentences that start with a verb and end with a result: “Created and ran a three-month content plan for an organisation’s Telegram channel”, “Analysed survey results in Excel and prepared a report”.
- Put the link to your portfolio near the top of your CV.
- If you had a long career break, do not hide it: a short note such as “2021–2024: caring for my child; during this time I completed a course in …” is enough.
At the interview
When answering questions, use a simple structure: situation — task — action — result. For example: “While volunteering, event registration was done by hand (situation). I was asked to organise it (task). I set up an online form and a spreadsheet (action). Registration became faster and there were fewer mistakes (result).”
If someone asks, “But you don’t have any experience, do you?”, do not become defensive. Answer calmly: “I don’t have formal work experience yet, but here are projects where I did exactly these tasks” — and show your portfolio.
Common mistakes
- Only replying to job ads. Proactive offers and searching through contacts bring better results.
- Waiting for perfection. Hiding your portfolio for months because it is “not ready yet”. Three simple pieces are better than nothing.
- Sending the same CV everywhere. Each time, bring forward the projects that match the requirements of that specific vacancy.
- Undervaluing your experience. Do not say “I was just a volunteer”. Explain specifically what you did.
- Exaggerating. Presenting a study project as work for a real client will quickly come out at the interview and damage trust.
- Not collecting references. A month after the work ends, people forget the details. Ask right away.
A 30-day plan for your first steps
- Week 1: choose a target position and write down the requirements that repeat across 10 job ads.
- Week 2: start one small project and write to 5 places about volunteering or an internship.
- Week 3: finish the project and prepare a portfolio page or folder.
- Week 4: update your CV using the “Experience and projects” approach and send at least one application or offer every day.
Within a month you will move from “I have no experience” to “here is my work”. That is a big difference.
Final thoughts
First experience is built from small steps. Internships, volunteering, personal projects, small paid tasks and a tidy portfolio answer the employer’s main question: “Can this person do the job?” Be patient, document what you do and be kind to yourself: rejections are a normal part of the journey.
If you want to learn a new profession from scratch or strengthen your skills through practical projects, see our association’s free programmes in digital and vocational fields. Once you have chosen a suitable direction, you can submit an application.