If you’ve just left school, college or university and are now looking around for your first job, application forms can seem very daunting. What do you put where it says ‘previous experience’ when you haven’t got any? It can seem like a mountain to overcome but, if you tackle it properly and logically, then it is perfectly possible.
Other than leaving the space blank, something which will make your application look ‘scant’ and ‘unfinished’, there are two basic options which, if you wish, can even be combined.
To begin with, always look at things from the employer’s point of view. If they are advertising a post for a ‘junior’, ‘trainee’ or ‘assistant’ then they cannot realistically be expecting the applicants to have a great deal in the way of experience. If a candidate did have experience in the job then they would be applying for something more senior.
Therefore:
- The employer is not expecting you to have experience
- Other candidates are going to be in the same boat
That’s the first thing. What the employer does need to know is that you understand and embrace the work ethic. This means that you know how to get out of bed in the morning, every morning, go somewhere, put your back into doing something and then keep at it, day after day, until you’ve seen it through. And all this to a good standard.
OK, so now we know what the employer is looking for, let’s deal with how to demonstrate that you have the desired qualities.
If you are fresh on the job market, a vital skill you need to learn is how to answer a question truthfully to your advantage. For example, if you were asked about your performance in a game you played at the weekend you might respond by saying you scored a goal but neglect to admit that you were sent off ten minutes later. You need to do likewise with your applications.
So, where it says ‘experience’, why not say about how you have organised your files and timetables (if you are applying for an admin job), about things you have made in arts and crafts (if you are applying for an apprenticeship), or about how you have helped on various committees etc (if you are applying for a customer services type job). In other words, find a school/college equivalent of the job and tell the employer about it. In doing so, you are demonstrating initiative, aptitude and enthusiasm about the post – 3 qualities that are very hard to come by.
The other possibility is to sign yourself up for some voluntary work. Even if it is only for a week or two, it will give you something concrete to tell employers about as well as demonstrating that you are a ‘worker’. It will also speak volumes about your character to an employer and will considerably boost your chances of getting job offers. It will certainly give interviewers something interesting (from their point of view) to ask you about – far better (for them) than the usual bland questions about school and college life.
So, there are two ways to overcome the dilemma of what happens when you have no experience.
Good luck.
