It can be a very difficult task to find a entry level job without experience. Entry level jobs are the most sought after at the same time they are the highest in competition. Getting your foot in the door is tough, and getting that experience is even harder. But there are jobs out there that require as little as no experience. All you need is confidence, some knowledge of your desired field, and a positive attitude.
These days, in a time of uncertainty, it is increasingly becoming a common strategy for developing jobs to look for employees who have previous experience. While this makes sense from a business perspective, it ends up hurting potential employees who are trying to enter the workforce for the first time. This can be very discouraging to someone who has just graduated with a degree but has yet to gain experience.
Entry Level Jobs That Require Experience
- Write a powerful resume summary
No, this isn’t an outdated objective statement where you talk about your career goals 10 years from now. Instead, a summary statement is your chance to highlight who you are professionally and what you can do for a company.
Since you don’t have experience in the workforce yet, this is your opportunity to really show an employer what you can bring to the table. It should be short and sweet and to the point. Here’s an example of a resume summary for an entry-level job:
Recent cum laude graduate from top-ranking university with experience promoting brands and marketing products and services to businesses and consumers. Received recognition from the Humane Rescue Alliance for launching a Facebook adoption page for a local animal shelter, increasing adoption rates by 50%.
Your resume summary doesn’t need to be longer than a few lines, and you should tailor it to each job application so you can highlight your most relevant skills for the role in question.
- Create a skills section
Although you might not have work experience, you do have skills, so it’s important to create a skills section on your resume.
Don’t list skills like “communication” or “MS Word.” Instead, think about your hard and soft skills. Your hard skills will be the more technical skills you learned in your classes; maybe you’re a Photoshop pro or you know Python. Meanwhile, showcasing your soft skills on your resume are more personal skills, which includes:
A strong work ethic
Creative problem solving
Forward-thinking
Time management
Team player
You’ll also want to think about your transferable skills, or “portable” skills that employers look for — especially if you are making a career change. These are the skills you can take with you from experience to experience.
For instance, maybe you gained strong organizational skills in a volunteer role. That skill will “transfer” well to any job.
- Make a list of your achievements and activities
Sit down with a pen and paper and start writing a list of all your achievements and activities. Maybe you wrote for the college newspaper, were recognized in an honors society, or perhaps you were captain of your club softball team. Whatever it is, write it down!
From that list, you’ll want to pick and choose which experiences to include on your resume. Because you’ll want to tailor your resume to each job application with the most relevant experiences, this may look different each time.
But by brainstorming this “master list” of achievements and activities, you’ll boost your confidence (you probably have more experience than you think) and make it easier on yourself as you fill out job applications.
