For those of you who have been reading my blog tips and know a little bit about me, you know that I have two brothers — a Veteran who did two tours in Iraq and an Ex-Con.
Both of them have been in a great place for a while now, but my one brother struggled for a long time, having no job experience. Part of his issue was his criminal background, and though I tried to help him, he decided to work for my dad with his business instead, which I find admirable. 🙂
Anyhow, why do I tell you this story? To bum you out? (hey, do people still say bum? LOL) No, not to bum you out. I tell you this story because I want you to know that just because you have no experience does not mean it’s the end of the world.
It just means that maybe you take a BUS ride to your dream job, at first, but eventually you’ll be ROCKETING!
What I mean by this is that, in the beginning, you have to just take whatever job that’s outside of your field — to DIVERSIFY your skillset.
It means that sometimes it’s a trade-off, and you have to take on jobs that pay less so you can learn DIFFERENT skills.
My brother’s 38 years old, and is he going to stop trying new things? Nope.
Look at me. I’m turning 42 this year, and I’m trying my hand in social media and blogging when I had absolutely NO experience in it. I even had no social media presence for 10 flippin’ years from 2008-2018.
Check out what I posted on Facebook when I got back online. LOL
BTW, I am still horrible at social media — I don’t go on LinkedIn, Insta, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter, and TikTok as much as I should. I get better at it every day though, don’t give up on me just yet, and definitely connect with me everywhere!
Right now, I just have so little time between my toddler son (don’t have one of these until you’re ready!!! LOL) and working on stuff for you guys — emails, videos, blog tips, etc. Oh, and ask me if I’m getting paid for any of this stuff? NOPE. That’s how much I care about this Unemployment Crisis and YOU! Ugh. Ok, enough of this mushy stuff… back to the topic at hand! 🙂
First, let me explain the different categories of workers who have little to no experience. This is important for you to know, because you might not even know that you fall into one of these categories, and absolutely nothing to be ashamed of if you do. 🙂 Everybody’s gotta start somewhere!
1) NO EXPERIENCE (IN ANY FIELD OR INDUSTRY)
- Recent Grads who never had a job other than being a student
- Stay At Home Parents (SAHPs) who never had a job other than being a parent (although I argue that being a full-time parent is one of the hardest jobs on the planet!)
- Just anyone with no work history whatsoever
You might think you have the toughest time getting your foot in the door, but believe me, you don’t. You just have to lower your expectations just a bit — don’t worry, it’s only temporary! I’ve said this before, but it’s a strategy called “Sacrifice the Queen”. You sacrifice pay to reap other more worthwhile benefits like experience or valuable skills. These are trade-offs.
Jobs with LOW BARRIERS OF ENTRY like those requiring little to no experience tend to pay less, but there’s usually MORE of them, so LESS COMPETITIVE. Plus, compared to higher paying jobs, they’re WAY LESS STRESSFUL!
2) NO EXPERIENCE (IN OTHER FIELD OR INDUSTRY)
- Workers who have SOME or a LOT of experience in a COMPLETELY Different Field but absolutely NO experience in the field that they are applying for
3) LITTLE EXPERIENCE (IN THE FIELD YOU WANT TO BE IN)
- Workers who had 1 Month to 2 Years of Experience in the Industry or Field you are applying
- Recent Grads who had Student Jobs (incl. Student Government)
Ok, so now for the fun part. If you fall into one of the categories above, what do you do?
How Do I Get Hired with No Experience? Or What Job Can I Get with No Skills?
Step 1: Go to my Jobs For You Page here and click on the No Experience, Will Train jobs. It will direct you to search results on Indeed.
Step 2: Read the job postings that you really want carefully. If you spend more time deciding on what to watch on Netflix than the job posting you applied for, then you might want to reconsider. Read this blog tip on how to read them the right way and why it’s important.
An overview of the entire job hunt process is here.
NOTE: Please take no offense with the recommendations below — these suggestions are intended for those who want to change careers and have no idea where to start.
If you don’t like the selection, pick a different one. I take no offense — it’s your life, my dear! 🙂 You always have a choice. You are SMART, and you should TRUST your gut.
Where Can I Find a Job With No Experience?
Step 3: REVAMP YOUR RESUME to the job you are applying for. For example, if you are going for a Project Coordinator position, google search “best entry-level project coordinator resume”. Go through about 3-4 sample resumes and pick the best bullets from each of them. Pull them into your own resume and fit the wording to make sense.
Make sure that your resume gets past the bots — take it from this ‘ol tech veep here. LOL
If you have a bit of experience, make sure that you quantify your resume because even if you make it to the human recruiter, you have to prove to them that you are better than the rest.
Step 4: Once you get a callback, prepare for the interview.
Step 5: Once you get the job offer, I don’t recommend it when you have no experience, but if you have some experience, and you feel up for it, try negotiating like a pro.
Final Thoughts
Whether you have no experience, little experience, or you’re trying to break into a new field, when it comes to entry-level jobs, it’s not forever. Nothing is forever. It will only be for a short time.
It’s however long you need until you gain enough skills to move to the next higher paying job.
So it should only last until you learn enough. That’s how that works. Sometimes we find ourselves stuck because of what life throws at us. Maybe we’ve been dealt some pretty bad blows. It’s never too late to pick yourself up and figure things out.
I’ve always been the underdog and the outlier. Statistically, I was never supposed to graduate from college. It took me nearly 10 years to graduate. I went to about 6 different colleges or so. I never gave up. I don’t care where you are in life. Don’t you give up. You followed me on TikTok. You watch all those minute videos. You subscribed to my site. You read my blog tips. You subscribed to my YouTube. You watched those longer tutorials. You go through all these lengths. Don’t tell me you’ve given up. You’re a fighter, I can tell. You’re like me.
You just need knowledge and that’s what I’m here for. I’m giving you the best of my 20 years as I said on my homepage. I seriously mean it. Every darn word. I will keep thinking of new ways to better teach you and improve your successes.
Just don’t give up. I really want to see you succeed.
For more valuable tips, don’t forget to check out the rest of them here and the videos. Stay connected with me for more career advice and more job alerts — subscribe to my newsletter below, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. I want to see you succeed!!!
