Landing Your First Job Without Experience

Another Sunday, as someone that might have been in the market for a minute I decided to write about something that I wish I read earlier. Hiring and interviewing people has given me a view of things from a different perspective and I’ll be answering one of the questions that might be bugging you. How honest should I be?

You’re seeking your first job and probably looking to build your career from this but how do you get in when you lack experience? You are probably fresh out of college or you have been in the market for a while and you are wondering what you are not doing right. The truth is that as much as everyone knows this fact “you need to start somewhere” every Job description you read has a reference to years of experience.

First, let us talk about pay, Many places you read about your worth and not selling yourself short which is TRUE but greater than what people think you’re worth is your self-worth, and initially, they are mutually exclusive. You might need multiple interactions with people for them to understand your value. So, be as flexible as possible at least for now and that will expand your chances.

Now let’s talk about experience, truth is you have experience whether it’s schoolwork or your time in retail, those are experiences and as much as that might not be ideal, the way you craft those might be just what lands you that your first Job. I know that personally because I seek out passion. I call it The Kick. If you are able to relate the most basic thing you’ve done to the role you are seeking then you are Gold.

I have read a lot of posts about Landing your first job with no experience and many people avoid discussing honesty. The sad truth is that even for an entry-level role, they would pick the person with two to four years of experience over the actual entry-level person. So how honest should you be? I would say Just enough.

Yes! Just enough to land you the role, and No you are not compromising your integrity as long as you can do whatever you said with little to no assistance. Lookup people in that role and see what they are doing and if possible try to engage them in conversations and you will be amazed at the sense of professionalism you would have when writing your résumé or answering questions in an interview. Learn their struggles and relate them to yours this will help reshape your responses.

I know being in the job market is crazy, especially for your first role but don’t give up, it is one day at a time. The only advice I’d give you is to always have in mind that 20 people are applying for that same position and you have to show them why you are the best out of the rest. Keep that mindset!

That is it for this Sunday, gotta run 🙂