For many, it may seem like no employers are welcoming rookies anymore. Every job opening lists work experience in its requirements, and recruiters and HR managers always ask about your previous workplaces and projects. Fresh graduates feel confused: ‘What should I do now?’ We understand their concerns, so we have some tips on how a person without prior work experience can increase their chances of landing a job.
To address the issue, here are 11 steps that will help you find a job faster and with less stress. These steps are also applicable to those who want to change their career paths significantly. You just need to replace the word ‘rookie’ with ‘changing careers’!
Identify Your Strengths
Everyone has their strong and weak points, so understanding your strengths is crucial, especially during the job-seeking process. It can be challenging to determine the exact qualities that make you stand out from others and how they can contribute to the team and the company.
Start with your hobbies and interests. Even if you don’t have any now, try to remember your teenage years. There is so much to learn about yourself! For example, you’re probably highly disciplined if you were an athlete for some time, or you might be very focused, dedicated, and patient because you enjoyed puzzles. A love for languages, good communication skills, the ability to make new friends easily, and a high level of responsibility are all strengths that people often don’t recognize, even though they are essential for many jobs.
What’s next? Make these characteristics shine more than the ‘work experience’ section. To do this, you need the right resume format.
- Understanding your strengths and weaknesses is very helpful in landing a job.
- Hobbies and interests often develop soft skills that are important in any job.
- To create a strong impression with little to no experience, prioritize your skills.
Create a Skills-Focused Resume
Many people now use resume templates to create a better version of their career summary, and they are doing the right thing! The only nuance is that the templates differ depending on the goal a person chooses.
Most resumes are traditionally structured, with work experience taking the best and most important place. However, this format is not suitable for a rookie. That's why there is another group of templates – skills-focused ones.
Such a template is very beneficial for those who don’t have experience in the field but have a strong set of skills that a job opening requires. The main part of completing this type of resume template is identifying which skills you may offer from the list of the company’s requirements.
To gain a deeper understanding of the matter, we also recommend checking out our article ‘8 Resume Mistakes,’ where we discuss common errors people make on their resumes and offer advice on how to improve or avoid them.
- Templates are very useful for creating a correct resume, but it’s important to use the right format.
- For a person without necessary experience in the field, a skills-focused template is the best option.
- However, when completing this template, it’s crucial to have a deep understanding of the job requirements.
Prepare for Interviews
It may seem like there is nothing you can do to increase your chances at the interview, but there are some things you can do. First of all, a video resume can help you earn extra points.
A video resume on uHired is a compilation of answers to specific questions we provide you with. These questions are generated by AI and based on your uHired profile. Having a video resume is sowing the seeds for your future career. A correctly structured and well-recorded video resume is a powerful weapon for creating a lasting first impression, setting you apart from others.
Secondly, do your research before the interview. This research includes looking through the company’s website, reading employee and customer reviews, and preparing for questions. The first two points are for you to create a full image of the company and evaluate how good it is as an employer and as a vendor. The third one will help you feel less stressed and more prepared when the interview takes place.
- One useful action you can take is recording a video resume.
- Video resumes create a lasting impression while making you stand out among the candidates.
- Preparing for interviews, which includes exploring the company's website and reviews, and preparing for interview questions, will help you both build a picture of the company and feel more confident.
Seek Internships and Volunteer Projects
People usually imagine work experience as a direct cooperation between a company and an individual, where a person does a particular amount of work and is paid for it. Well, in some ways, they are not wrong. However, there are plenty of opportunities you may miss if you only stick to this perception.
For example, volunteering is often considered relevant experience, even though the work you do is not paid. Internships and apprenticeships are some of the best options for gaining necessary experience in the field. Some intern programs even pay for part-time or full-time work.
Apprenticeships may not be the best option for those who have already graduated, as they also offer classroom learning. However, they can be ideal for those who want to completely change careers and need both money and training.
- Volunteering is a valuable experience most employers take into consideration.
- Internships may be the best option for recent graduates. Some of them may be paid.
- Apprenticeships are ideal for changing careers because they offer a paid full-time job along with some theoretical classroom training.
Self-Development is Key
A person should possess a list of skills and knowledge to start a new career. Being educated enough, which doesn’t always mean having a diploma, is essential. However, some people think that if you have all the skills to apply, then that’s pretty much enough for the rest of your life.
Of course, this perception is wrong. Lifelong learning is the exact thing that will allow you to be a valuable employee in any sphere, at any level, and at any point. The world around us changes so rapidly that it’s hard to adapt to everything promptly. That is why self-development is the key to keeping up with the times and gradually becoming a leading specialist in the field.
- Building a successful career requires knowledge and skills essential in the field.
- To stay a competitive employee, one should always improve their competence.
- Lifelong learning is the key to becoming a true specialist.
Prepare for Questions About Lack of Experience
As we’ve mentioned earlier, it is crucial to be prepared for typical interview questions. And it’s quite logical that if you don’t have experience in the field or have decided to drastically change careers, interviewers will definitely ask you about it. Don’t be afraid of these questions. The impression you will make on the interviewer does not depend on the answer itself but rather on how you present it.
If you are changing careers, show your passion for a new possible job and highlight projects, tasks, and skills you had in your previous position. Try to focus on how a company can benefit from your past experience and assure them that it’s very beneficial.
If you are a recent graduate seeking your first-ever job, emphasize your knowledge, skills, and enthusiasm. Rookies are eager for knowledge, so having them on the team means you have several very energetic, passionate, and diligent people.
- The fact that you lack experience is not as important as your attitude toward it.
- For those who are changing careers, it’s better to showcase that your previous experience is a benefit.
- For recent graduates, it’s crucial to focus on skills and willingness to learn.
Embrace Rejections
A rejection is not a failure - it’s an experience. People with great careers have had as many rejections as approvals. So, it’s one of the natural processes of life. However, it’s important to learn how to perceive rejections correctly.
Firstly, try to understand why it took place. Talk to an interviewer and ask them openly if you have the opportunity. If you don’t, try to figure it out yourself. Secondly, evaluate how important it is for your career or yourself to solve the raised problems. Determine whether you are truly missing something important or if the company is looking for something specific that is not practically necessary, such as acquiring a new skill that other companies don’t require. Thirdly, don’t give up.
- Think of rejections as gaining experience, not as failures.
- Evaluate or ask directly what you lack to land the job.
- Then, decide how important it is for your future career to develop what’s missing for a particular job.
Regularly Apply to New Positions
Continue applying. Don’t be afraid to have several interview appointments at a time. Both you and an employer want to choose the best option, not the first available one. While applying and attending interviews, form your own opinion about the company. Write down all pros and cons if you want to have a clearer understanding.
Simply applying and sending the same resumes won’t work as effectively. We recommend using resume checking and tailoring tools. Resume checkers can help you compare a job opening with your resume and highlight missing keywords, skills, etc. Tailoring tools can automatically add everything that’s missing, simplifying the endless process of filling out both applications and your resume for every opening.
Some rookies may not understand what it is all for. There are two main reasons. The first one is application tracking systems, or simply ATS. These programs evaluate every candidate’s application and resume based on keywords from the job opening. So, having all of these keywords on your resume is crucial.
The second reason is that if your resume passes the ATS check, it will be reviewed by an HR specialist. They can clearly see when your resume is written especially for their company and when it’s the same for everyone. Obviously, the tailored version grabs much more attention.
- It’s completely normal to continue applying even if you already have one or two interviews scheduled. Never put all your eggs in one basket.
- It will become much more effective if you tailor your resume specifically for every job opening.
- Tailoring is useful for both passing ATS checks and making a good impression on the recruiter.
- To make it easier, use resume checkers, which will help compare and tailor your resume according to the job opening.
Develop Communication Skills
All skills may be divided into hard and soft skills, both of which are necessary for every job. Nonetheless, communication skills are on a whole other level. Unlike most hard and some soft skills, communication abilities are valuable for a person, not only as an employee.
Well-developed communication skills will help you pass the interview, adapt to a new environment in a new company, create the right first impression with your team, and much more. Good communicators are more likely to be promoted and achieve leadership roles more often.
- All skills are divided into hard and soft, and into specific and essential skills.
- Communication skills are among the most important.
- Developing them will help you build relationships more easily, become an efficient team member, and position yourself for leadership roles.
Don't Neglect Learning Extra
This one is similar to self-development. However, in the ‘self-development’ step, we’ve talked about continuous learning and never stopping improving your competence. This step is about expanding your horizons. That’s the difference between a good specialist and a true professional: while a good specialist is knowledgeable and competent enough in the field, a professional is knowledgeable in general. Professionals are curious about everything in the world, which helps them overcome unforeseen issues and situations brilliantly.
Don’t limit your horizons to your job only; be open to everything, because you never know when it may become useful.
- Lifelong learning should consist not only of necessary knowledge in your field but of general knowledge of the world around you.
- Specialists are good at their job, professionals possess a wide range of expertise.
- Becoming a valuable employee means opening your horizons.
Set Gradual Goals for Professional Growth
Rather than dreaming of becoming a millionaire and an executive director in 5 years, it is much more effective to set smaller but more realistic goals. By achieving these small goals, you will be able to see your own growth better and stay motivated longer.
For example, if you are new in the company, the best goal might be to receive a positive first evaluation. Then, you will likely be eager to contribute to a big project and achieve great results. After that, it’s beneficial to work hard to earn a promotion, and so on. If you set your goals this way, you will see your hard work, dedication, and success when you look back.
- If you really want to see results, set small achievable goals instead of big, imaginative ones.
- Achieving two or three mini-goals usually leads to the next step on the career ladder.
- This strategy of goal setting will help you stay motivated longer and allow you to see your progress more clearly.
Getting a job without experience is achievable if you're willing to show initiative, learn, and present yourself as a valuable candidate. Embrace challenges, strive for development, and remember that even the most successful professionals started from scratch. Your experience will grow with you, and one day you'll confidently speak about your successful career journey!