It’s one of the most frustrating and common conundrums that many adults have to face when they reach a certain age. How can you go about reaching for your dream job if you don’t have any previous experience in that field? Sometimes job hunting can feel like Goldilocks, they don’t want you if you are underqualified, they don’t want you if you are overqualified ... you can’t seem to please them no matter what you do or show! It’s harder to achieve, but it can be done. Here is how to get on the career ladder without experience.
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1. Personal Blog
It can always be worth submitting a personal blog along with your application, especially if you are applying for a position that involves writing work but you haven't held an official position in such a field before. It can give the employers an idea of your skills and of the kind of voice that you have, and will look much more creative and forward thinking than just sending off an application with no extra features.
2. Keywords
Before writing out a personal statement and/or tailoring your resume to the job in hand, take a close look at the advertisement and brief and highlight the keywords that keep cropping up in the employers’ statements. Once you have some keywords, you can then go on to use them in your own documents in order to match your application as best to the listing as possible. It will strike a chord with the readers.
Frequently asked questions
3. Networking
Don’t feel ashamed or embarrassed about squeezing as much influence and opportunity as you can out of your contacts and networks, that is what they are for after all! The world of employment can often be one about who knows how rather than who is best qualified, so if you have an ‘in’, don’t feel bad about putting the feelers out to see if you can use it to your advantage!
4. Cover Letter
When it comes to the details of your actual CV or resume, there is only so much there that can set you apart from the rest, so you should be putting all of your energy into writing the perfect cover letter. If you can strike a chord with a reader after only a few sentences and make them like you before the turn page; it might not actually matter when they see that you don’t have all of the relevant experience.
5. Social Media
You need to be expecting your social media platforms to be spied on when applying for a job, so take that in to consideration and make sure that you don’t have anything glaring on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. that could kill your chances in a second. The more professional and mature you can come across, the better chance you stand of being considered despite your lack of experience.
