The thought of beginning your job search is intimidating, but even more so if you don’t have what’s typically considered ‘professional experience.’ Maybe instead of interning you spent your summers working a part-time job, doing volunteer work, helping out your family, or focusing on a dedicated hobby. Whatever your reason, it’s OK – you can still position yourself competitively in your job search, even if you don’t have any traditional professional experience. What matters is your ability to frame the experiences and transferable skills you do have when searching for and applying to jobs.
Building your narrative and professional profile
Landing your first job is all about framing your narrative, as daunting as that may be. Here’s where to begin:
Narrowing down career paths
Start by curating a list of your strongest skills, followed by a list of those you'd like to build out. If you’re struggling with identifying your strong suits, consider some of the projects you’ve worked on throughout your education or in your personal life. What was your role on the project? Why is that task something that someone else might not have been able to do well? Thinking through these elements can help you identify your skill sets.
The roles you apply for should hone in on skills you already possess (so that you can add value to the company) as well as those you lack (to ensure you’re setting yourself up for growth).
Additional reading:
What To Do When You Aren’t Sure Which Career Path To Choose
10 Career Ideas for Liberal Arts Majors
10 Career Ideas for Finance Majors
4 Signs You Should Pursue a Career in Leadership
Creating a standout LinkedIn profile
If you don't have a LinkedIn profile, make one right now and flesh it out. Your profile will serve as your catch-all for experience, and will help you develop your resumes and cover letters. Include your education and any relevant coursework, clubs, Greek life, societies, or volunteer work you were involved with, as well as work experience, if any. Yes, that means your summers as a camp counselor and your semesters waiting tables. Be sure to include a broad scope of your roles and responsibilities!
Additional reading:
A Guide to Optimizing Your LinkedIn Profile to Help You Stand Out In Your Job Search
Why Students Should Build a Personal Brand on LinkedIn – And How to Do it
4 Ways to Get a Professional LinkedIn Headshot on a Budget
Resumes that get you noticed
You'll be glad you started with your LinkedIn, because now it's time for your resumes. Pro tip: have multiple resumes in your arsenal. As you come across different job applications, you’ll start to notice nuances across different companies and the roles they are hiring. Each resume should be catered to the position to which you're applying with respect to the role as well as the company culture and mission. For example: include your role as Treasurer of the Accounting Club on your application to JPMorgan, but replace it with your summer as a Camp Counselor when applying to a teaching role.
Rule of thumb, if you have any work experience (camp, serving, etc.) 9 times out of 10 you’ll want to include it because it shows that you know what it means to work. For those of us that don’t, focus more on your activities in and out of school, focusing on your responsibilities and what you accomplished while holding those roles.
Additional reading:
8 Tips to Craft a Resume That Will Stand Out in the Job Search
How To Showcase The Skills You’ve Gained From Campus Clubs
5 Ideas for Revamping Your Resume Design
Cover letters to set you apart
Never skip writing a new cover letter, and never don’t apply to a job that requires a cover letter simply because you don’t want to write one. As much as a chore as writing these can be, they’re one of the first chances you have at making a lasting impression. When you do your research on a company, pick out a few points that resonate with you and reference them in your letter. For example, if a tech company values thinking in first principles, you could reference that time that your Physics class couldn’t figure out how to create a ramp that would yield the right acceleration rate, and you went against the grain with a new approach that blew your professor away. A good cover letter wouldn’t stop there, but would explain that it wasn’t just an accomplishment. It resonated with you that you were able to prove that there was more than one way to get to the right answer, and that you uncovered your passion for creative problem solving.
Whatever the example, you want to choose something that shows that you align with what the company is doing and how they are doing it, which is why it’s imperative that you don’t recycle cover letters. This is your opportunity to separate yourself from other candidates, so proofread and write a letter that was really meant for that company. You'd be surprised how many candidates get ruled out for mis-stating the position they're applying for or submitting a lackluster, recycled cover letter. If you don't care, you can’t expect them to.
Additional Reading:
5 Tips For a Standout Cover Letter
The Interview
Turn anything into a “transferable skill.”
When you make it to the interview stage, take a moment to realize that you actually made it there. You’re not fooling anyone – the hiring manager is aware that you have no internship/professional experience, and they want to meet you anyway. They clearly see some potential in you, so take this opportunity to prove that you do.
Rule of thumb: Don't let anyone make your experience waiting tables or serving on the board of an organization feel small. It is all about framing and selling your experience. While some companies take professional/internship experience seriously, there are plenty of companies that recognize a candidate's ability outside of office settings.
After extensively researching the company, prepare which of your past experiences yield relevant, transferable skills. If you're interviewing for a sales role, they might ask you if you have experience cold-calling. Instead of saying "No but I'm open to it," you might say "No, but I spent two years waiting tables where I communicated face-to-face with new people, built relationships, and handled negative interactions with unhappy customers, so I’m more than comfortable calling people on the phone.” A good hiring manager would hear that answer and understand that this means the candidate is coachable and has thick skin.
Don't forget to interview the interviewer.
Don’t forget that an interview is not just an assessment of you as an employee, but also an opportunity for you to ensure that the company is one that fits your needs. For example, is this a company and position that will allow you to grow and acquire the skills you are seeking? While few employment offers are perfect, you’ve got to know your worth when assessing an offer.
Additional Reading:
6 Things You Should Know About a Company Before a Job Interview
How To Prepare For and Ace a Phone Screen
15 Smart Questions to Ask at the End of a Job Interview
Assessing offers
Coming out of college, you might feel so hungry for work that you'll take the first offer you get. Before you jump into an opportunity that isn’t right for you, here are some things to consider while assessing your job offers:
Compensation
It's hard to believe, being a fresh grad, that you deserve any amount of money, but believe it. Use resources like Glassdoor to see what others in a similar role are making (whether it's at the company you're interviewing with or similar companies). It's also important to understand that taking a regional sales job falls under a different bracket of income than taking one at a NYC start-up, so be sure your research on any role falls under comparable geographic regions.
Culture, Growth and Alignment
Assessing offers isn't all about the money though – make sure you're looking at the full package. Yes, I mean things like equity and benefits, but also culture, growth and alignment. If you pay attention, these things should be evident within your interview. What was you interview experience like? Did you feel welcome or intimidated? Did they focus more on qualifications or skill sets? Was there mention of upward mobility? It’s crucial to consider these questions as you interview, because if the company falls short of conveying any of these things, you want to be equipped with the right clarifying questions.
Some smaller benefits, like office snacks, free coffee, or flexible PTO are some other cultural indicators, as they often mean that a company is trying to create a comfortable and nurturing work environment. Also, they’re just great perks. While you may have to sacrifice some things for others (money for culture, benefits for mission alignment), understand what's important to you and pick the offer that fits best.
Additional reading:
7 Terms That Will Likely Show Up In Your Job Offer, Defined
9 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Accepting a Job Offer
How to Negotiate a Higher Starting Salary for an Entry-Level Role
8 Things Besides Salary You Can Negotiate in Your First Job
Moral of the story, don’t let the Entry Level: 1-3 years experience required postings discourage you. Remember to focus on identifying your skills and honing in on any and every example of how you’ve used them. Your stories are yours to tell, so tell them in ways that accentuate your capacities. There are plenty of companies that recognize potential in the young and inexperienced and are willing to give you a shot.