No Experience? Don’t Let That Stop You Getting a Job
Maybe you have recently graduated or finished College and are on the market seeking your first “proper” job. Or perhaps you are looking to change direction in your career and try something new. Maybe you have been out of the workplace for some time either taking a career break or because of unemployment. Whatever the reason you lack experience you are facing a major challenge but let us help you;
Know the relevance of your skill set
Some educational qualifications, such as law and accountancy, show clear career paths. In contrast, geography and history are ranked lowest for helping graduates obtain employment. Many employers fail to appreciate how skills gained studying for these courses are equally valuable – this is why it is vital you communicate the relevance of your skill set. Think hard about what your education has given you the ability to do and how you can apply this in the workplace.
Show you can learn, relearn, and learn again
The ability to learn new skills is vital for the workplace of the future. So the key thing to demonstrate to employers is that you have the work ethic and ability to learn new skills. Likewise, it is important to realise that your current skills are not necessarily outdated. For instance, you may be an older candidate and wary of social media, but I bet you can write a professional business letter and engage with people of all levels.
Update your skills if necessary
If you have been out of the workplace for some time it is a good idea to update your skill set before you put yourself on the market. The Job Centre can help you here, there are 100s of organisations offering up to date skill training and the Job Centre will put you in touch with a training provider in your area. If you are not up to going on a training course with other people, look at training that is available online, I think you will be surprised at what is out there.
Get experience if you have none
If you have absolutely no experience to put on your CV, or have no experience gained in the last couple of years. This is an easy thing to obtain. All charities welcome volunteers, whether this is working in a charity shop or trying to collect funds for the charity, there will always be a need. So don’t sit around, get yourself some experience. Anything is better than nothing.
Get yourself a good CV
Nowadays, no employer is going to look at you without first studying your CV. Now you may wonder what on earth can I put on a CV when I haven’t ever worked or worked years ago. 99% of people will have worked at some point in their life, it would be very, very unusual for an individual to never have had a job. If you have just come out of education, you probably had a little part time role whilst studying, maybe in a shop or possibly in a bar. If you’re returning to the work place after a break you may have to go back twenty years to drag up some experience but its still experience and could be relevant. If you can’t prepare your CV yourself, get help from the Job Centre or look online for CV formats.
Sell your soft skills
If you lack hard skills or maybe don’t have any at all, sell the skills you have. If you are just out of education for instance you will be good at learning new skills, you probably will enjoy teamwork and maybe you will have the ability to work to deadlines. As an older worker returning to work you may have experience of managing a household budget, you will have maturity and common sense and you could be more reliable than someone younger. Look at what you can offer and ensure these attributes are on your CV.
Look everywhere
Don’t just rely on the Job Centre or an Agency find you a job get looking yourself. You need to let no stone remain unturned. Get your self online and look at job portals, send your CV to large employers in your local area, talk to friends who are working to see if they know of any jobs going where they are employed. Look everywhere. Getting a job takes effort, one is not going to land in your lap, you will need to get to work in order to obtain one.
Get some temporary work
There are lots of temporary jobs around many of which require no real experience. Don’t turn your nose up at a job just because it is not permanent – it could become permanent if you do a good job. Temporary work is an excellent way of gaining experience and also getting your foot in the door with major employers who maybe would ordinarily reject your CV.
Control your own destiny
Setting personal goals and self-leadership is all about taking responsibility for your own actions. The ability to drive your own professional progression can have a transformative effect on your employers business. It is a very attractive trait for employers and of course it is transferrable to all jobs. On your CV, online profiles and during interviews give clear examples of any training completed or qualifications achieved. Make it very clear to a prospective employer how study has developed you professionally.
Selling yourself is definitely a skill
Don’t just provide a list of skills and qualifications when communicating with employers. Each time you apply for a role go over all your attributes and look at them from the perspective of that particular job. This may make job hunting more time consuming than you are used to, but five jobs applied for carefully are better than 50 applications written generically.
It is not hard to get a job without experience, but you do need to work at it, if you put in the effort you will obtain a role, if you don’t you will remain unemployed. Motivation is essential, no one is going to give you this skill, you need to create it yourself. Getting a job is actually a full time job in itself and requires a great deal of effort. So get on with it!
Good Luck
Angela Burton