JOBS RESOURCES
That’s pretty frustrating. Even job postings
for waiting tables come with this high barrier of
entry nowadays. Marketing, communications,
sales and administrative jobs now all want candidates with years of related experience.
Don’t be discouraged. If you really think about
it, it’s impossible for all jobs to really require previous experience. If all jobs really required experience, everyone would be unemployed.
How do you bootstrap your career? The first
thing is to accept that you’re not going to get
your dream job right away. In fact, your first job
may not be that amazing, but you’ll get to use
that experience to sidestep into something better,
so you might as well go for it.
Let’s talk about getting one of those jobs you
definitely could do if it weren’t for the experience
barrier. For this, you’re going to have to respin
any and all life, work and volunteer experience
to look transferrable. You probably have transfer-
rable experience, you just haven’t realized how
you can spin it in the cover letter.
If you’re looking at a sales position, consider
the fact that maybe you used to babysit or petsit.
Play up how you interacted with your clients
and built a business network. You weren’t just
looking after children- you were coordinating,
scheduling, answering phone calls and running a
business. See how professional that looks when
you spin it this way?
If the job requires lots of interaction and
people skills, talk about volunteer projects
you helped organize. Generally, these sorts of
things take a lot of phone calls, planning and
interacting. Let the employer know about your
accomplishments when it comes to working with
people in any sphere.
If the job requires computer skills, demonstrate your knowledge of computers and use
of spreadsheets for school. You may not have a
LSG
work experience bullet to show off your qualiications, but you can play yourself up by including a
“skills” section at the top of the page.
Use connections. If a family friend needs a
part-time assistant at work, go for it. Volunteer
for a short term if necessary. Even this much will
give you documentable experience you can use
to land your next position.
Don’t view that “1-2 years” statement as a
reason not to apply. Employers optimistically put
high requirements on wanted ads, even though
they may hire an “underqualified” person in the
end. Spin your skills and life experience to get an
employer’s attention. Prove to them with your
skills and life experience you really can do the
job. u
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JANUARY 1 – JANUARY 7, 2016
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