HOW TO GET A JOB WITHOUT EXPERIENCE

by @ibnamoo

The ‘tension headache’ of most graduates is getting a job. It becomes a ‘migraine headache’, when all the jobs you see require certain years of experience, because “you actually need to work to get the experience”. How do you get a job without experience, or how do you get the experience without a job?

Here are 8 tips for getting that job of your dream with little or no experience for it:

1. Find your passions in life – Open up a spread-sheet on your computer (Google Docs, Excel, etc.), and start making a list of anything that you

are passionate about. Mine would be something like: entrepreneurship, start-ups, video games, cooking, web apps, Hip Hop, etc. We are trying to give ourselves some leads on where to take our research.

2. Start to research companies that are in an industry associate with your passion – Don’t worry about what your position would be, or if they have openings listed on their website just yet! Let’s just look for the companies that interest you. A good place to look is industry blogs, Google, or even curated lists like the Inc. 500 or 5000. Once you have your list of 10 to 12 companies, feel free to jot down the different types of jobs you might like to have at these companies. This next part is CRITICAL, write down what you like about the company. Even simple things that you notice can play a big part.

3. Create a LinkedIn account to research your potential boss – Go to Linkedin.com and open an account. When prompted, import that contacts that you feel you could connect with, from your email. There is a powerful network effect on LinkedIn that allows you to see more users/employees from companies through your connections. After that, start looking at the people that work for the companies you are researching. Look for your potential boss, co-workers, executives, and just the overall feel for the people that make up the culture of the company. From this research, you should be able to tell how you are connected, what similarities you have from work experience in the past, and other clues about recent changes at the company. Add the contacts that you find on LinkedIn, to the spread sheet.

4. Prepare for and carry out a call to your future boss – With the information that you have collected; you are going to call your future boss to get this process started. This is best to do, before you send in your resume. The first thing to note is that this is a great way to set yourself apart from every other joker that submits a resume. Grab the information you got from your research and call the company. Mention who you are, why you like/are interested in the company, why you are calling that specific person, that you are thinking about your next career move, and ask what they look for in a team member. Use the information that you get and let them know that you are very interested in joining the team, if that is the case.

5. Ask for the next steps and push forward through the hiring process – When you end the conversation, ask if you can come into the office to chat about opportunities. This is a great time to share your resume, if that is what they want next. So if they ask for the resume upfront, tell them you can come in to drop it off. From here, it is business as usual when it comes to interviewing and hired. After that interaction- assuming it goes well- you have separated yourself from the rest of the applicants. In the case of a company without a job posting, you probably don’t have any competition and despite what you might think, this is a highly successful way to look for jobs/network with companies you like. In some cases, they will create a job for you. Can you imagine telling your friends and family that your next job was created just for you?

6. Know your professional skills- Know what makes you different from the other person, what you like doing and what you do not like doing. Know the skills you possess which must have been reflected in your academic or extracurricular activities. They could be marketing, negotiating or leadership skills. If there is need to develop them, this is an opportunity to do just that.

7. Reflect your skills in your resume in a way that enhances them, not otherwise - You have acquired a number of excellent skills. It is important you package them well in your CV. The content might be superb and the packaging not attractive. Make your content and packaging catchy. Put your skills, activities and achievements in an attractive way in your CV.

8. Acquire experience through internship programs and volunteer activities- Most graduates see their first few years in the labour market as the money making period. As such, they think of the salary rather than the experience. This is a faulty perception. See your first few years as the time to gain experience and improve on your skills. Take up voluntary jobs and internship programs paid or not. These would help you sharpen your skills.

........................................................ UNILAG GONG.....................................................................