The old catch 22. You want a job, but you don’t have any experience. What can you do?
It’s something everyone struggles with. Well, not everyone. Some people have nepotism help them out. But not everyone!
As a junior recruiter, one of the things that I was constantly dealing with at this one company was the endless run of people without experience.
It seemed that every high school and college graduate had my direct number. I’d get resumes sent daily by people who had no experience.
Some people were entitled and thought that it was my sole purpose in life to get them as job as an advertising executive or a social media manager. All without having an iota of work experience.
Other people were more humble and simply wanted a job, any job.
Needless to say, I’ve got a lot of experience dealing with people who have no experience.
It’s tough out there to get a job. The old joke about how an entry level job requires 2 years experience? Yeah, that’s no joke.
Employers don’t want to hire people who don’t have work experience. And if you can’t get a job, you can’t get work experience.
Well, as someone who has dealt with this before, I wanted to tackle this as my first article for the website.
If you have your own tips or stories, feel free to message me and let me know!
What If You Have No Degree?
Alright, let’s say you have no degree. What should you do? Well, don’t panic. There are a lot of people who don’t have a college degree and are working.
While it might seem like everyone has a college degree, that’s simply not the case.
There are many jobs where you don’t need a college degree.
Now, if you’re talking about a high school degree, then that’s more problematic. I would caution everyone reading this to make sure you obtain at least a GED.
Honestly, in the workforce, if someone does not have a high school diploma at this point in time, employers are very fast to discard your resume.
But even if you don’t have a high school degree, it’s not a lost cause. There are many manual labor jobs and retail jobs that do not require a high school diploma. Places such as fast food and retail are great.
Places like McDonalds even have programs for employees to obtain their High School diploma.
In a later piece I’m planning to cover some of the best jobs for people without experience. I’ll go into more detail about what jobs you can get: Retail, Warehouse, Non-Profit, Government, and Labor Work.
Does It Help if you Have a Degree?
It sure does. If you have a college degree, then more doors will be open for you. It’s just true.
But that does not mean that you will get a job just because you have a college degree.
Why? Well, because a college degree isn’t as hard to get as it used to be. Now, anyone who applies can get into some college and as long as they apply for government loans, they can pay the college fees.
Of course, they’ll end up in debt, but that’s a new story.
But if you do have a college degree you will at least be considered for jobs that people without a high school degree don’t have a short at.
But the problem is still experience. Even with a college degree you need to have experience to get that job.
That experience might be internships, or creatively worded voluntary work. But experience is always necessary for most jobs.
If you don’t have any experience, you have to create it. At the very least you need to include something that suggests you are capable of work.
Pad Your Resume: Sell Yourself
If you’re stuck on the blank page and need something to boost your resume, then think outside the box.
Have you done volunteer work? Well, then list that on your resume.
Have you managed any programs at your school? Done after-school tutoring? Well, then list that on your resume.
The point here is to model your resume on that of a person who has work experience. Even if you’ve not had an official job where you were paid a salary, you should be able to list something.
Did you do volunteer work at an old age home? List that.
Did you volunteer to do after school tutoring? List that
Were you part of a local community volunteer program? List that too.
The goal is to pad your resume.
If you simply have a blank space where your work experience should be, then you are doing yourself a disservice.
3 Simple Steps to Help You Get Started
I get it, it’s tough to get your foot in the door if you don’t have experience. That’s why sometimes it helps to think outside the box and have some tricks up your sleeve.
Here are three ideas you can use.
- Friends and Family- Don’t Feel Proud
Here’s a secret that you might not know. Most people get their jobs from friends and family. If you know someone who works in corporate recruitment, internal Human Resources, then straight up ask them.
The dirty fact is that friends hire friends. The company might require the jobs to be publicly posted, but people who work in Human Resources and talent acquisition always hire there friends first if there is an opening.
Many times, the people who run the company don’t even know the extent of it. As a recruiter, I’ve heard it before. A C.E.O will come to a staffing firm and complain that they have poor performance and productivity. After a consultant does an analysis, they find that the internal hiring team was simply hiring friends, family and associates.
It’s at every level of the work force: non-profits and regular companies all deal with it.
So, if you can’t beat them, join them.
- Temp Agencies- Don’t Be Intimidated
If you’ve been submitting resumes online and have not gotten any response, then you might want to try a staffing agency.
I know, staffing agencies get a bad name and I totally get it. I’ve worked at them, I should know. But here’s the thing. Sometimes they can get you quick work. And it won’t cost you anything.
There are some staffing agencies that won’t have work for new grads and people without work experience, but there are also staffing agencies that deal in short term, low skill, entry level work.
Sometimes the staffing agency won’t list the type of jobs that they fill. Which means that you’re going to have to send out emails, make calls, and waste your time chasing leads that don’t exist.
It can be a waste of time, but it’s all worth it if you can land something.
Here’s my tip. If you connect with a recruiter at a temp agency, then make sure you let them know that you’re open to any job. Do not present yourself as someone who is picky. Recruiters hate dealing with candidates who have no experience, but they hate even more people without experience who are super picky.
Ideally, you will want to get some sort of short temp job. Take anything and then jump on it. Once you’ve got that listed on your resume, problem solved you are no longer someone who has “no experience”.
If you look at the temp agency website and they list roles that definitely require experience: Network Engineers, Bookkeepers, Accountants, Technical Positions then you should prepare to never hear back.
But if you see that they are advertising for general labor, general office work, and general administrative positions, then send in your resume and provide your availability to them. Try and connect with a recruiter who works there. Maybe even reach out to them on LinkedIn to let them know you are available for any sort of work that comes along.
- Take Your Shots: Missing Doesn’t Count
Finally, what I want to stress to everyone is that it is important to try. No one will laugh at you for applying for a job and not getting it. You need to be humble, yes, but you also need to get out there and see yourself.
Here’s the truth of the matter. If you are looking to find work, you need to put yourself out there. That means you need to submit resumes to as many places as possible.
Don’t make the mistake of only applying for your dream job. If you are only sending your resume out to roles that are hard to get, then you will be disappointed.
Make it a point of applying to all sorts of short term roles. Remember, the object isn’t to land your dream job right away. The goal here is to simply land a job and start building a resume for the future.
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