Landing a Job with No Experience

It’s the old adage: you need experience to apply for a job, and you need a job to gain experience. So how do you get started?

You might be fresh out of university, or a school leaver looking to begin your career. You may have absolutely no experience at all; or you could have some limited experience in another sector.

It doesn’t really matter which industry you’re applying for: the job market today is highly competitive. Universities are churning out ever-more graduates, and global fluctuations have made stability a thing of the past.

It might look impossible to break into your chosen sector, or to gain any experience at all.

But the reality is that it’s very achievable. With the right mindset, anyone can make themselves employable.

So here’s a few tips we’ve put together for landing your dream job without any experience.

It goes without saying that you need to be laser-focused on the job you’re applying for. Employers want to know why you’re applying for their company specifically; as well as assess your interest in the sector more generally. 

We’ve all applied for a job just because it’s an open vacancy and there are bills to pay. That’s okay: sometimes it can take a little longer to get to where we want to be. But if this is the case, you need to put the work in to appear as if working in this sector is your long-held dream. 

Put simply, you need to be a master of both your firm and your industry. Fortunately for you, there’s a wealth of information available online.

Scour your firm’s website for news updates and blogs. This will give you a sense of the company’s interests, ethos, and work culture. Look out for press releases detailing new initiatives, and be ready to describe the strengths of these projects; as well as any suggestions you might have on what to improve. 

Additionally, check out the leadership team of your firm – not least because they’re likely to be interviewing you. See if they’ve posted anything on LinkedIn or made appearances on news programs or YouTube interviews. This level of insight will help you stand out from other candidates.

Then do some research into your sector. This can include industry journals and magazines, as well as interviews with leading figures. University websites often have excellent career information and advice. In the US, you might try the Bureau of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook to find out more; in the UK, Prospects.ac.uk has a fantastic overview of multiple sectors. So read up on everything you can!

The best candidates can fashion any of their attributes or skills to the job at hand; and this applies to inexperience, too.

This won’t land you the job in and of itself, but it’s a good way to turn a negative into a positive.

Reframe your inexperience as a willingness to learn. Present yourself as a candidate with strong potential – and one who can be sculpted into an outstanding employee. 

If you can, point to the diverse parts of your background, including your education, previous experience, and volunteering opportunities, to demonstrate your adaptability and wide range of interests. Whatever you’ve done previously, you’ll be able to transfer a few core skills over to your new role. This can include communication and team skills. 

Emphasize that you can fit into any work culture and learn quickly. To this end, it might be good to take some relevant online courses to bolster your skills; this is a good way of demonstrating that when you put your mind to things, you can master any skill.

Let’s say you’re looking for a marketing role, and you have some prior knowledge of the sector; this might have come from your studies, online courses, or simply your interest in the industry. Why not embark on a project to demonstrate your skills?

As you might expect, it’s difficult to design and execute a one-person marketing campaign; so you might turn your job hunt into a marketing campaign instead. Set up a blog and detail your experiences of the job market; you might record yourself preparing for an interview, or share the most amusing rejections you’ve been given. You could connect with others looking for similar roles, or ask friends and family for interview tips and advice. 

In doing so, you’ve branded yourself and turned your job hunt – something you’d be doing either way – into a valuable commodity. What better way is there of standing out from the crowd?

You can do this kind of thing for plenty of industries. If you’re a budding software engineer, create your own website to demonstrate what you can do. Or why not build your own app?

The point of this isn’t to generate your own success. If it were that easy, everyone would do it! Instead, it’s to demonstrate your skills, abilities, and passion. It makes you more than just a CV and covering letter; by attaching a face to a name, as well as seeing examples of your work, you’re far more likely to break through to the interview stage.

While it’s easier said than done, another key tip to breaking into your industry is to make connections. It’s an unfortunate truth that many roles, especially in certain sectors, go unadvertised, instead open only to internal applicants or friends-of-friends. Without experience in a given sector, you may think you don’t have any connections to take advantage of. But this probably isn’t true.

Firstly, (politely) squeeze your friends and family for every drop you can get. Rack their brains to discover any second- and third-hand connections they might have. Regardless of their seniority or role, a way in is a way in. 

And if you are getting in contact with a mutual acquaintance, you’ll want to be as polite and friendly as you can. If you come across as demanding or desperate, you won’t get anywhere. So simply express your interest in their sector or firm, ask if they could possibly offer any help or insight, and leave it there. 

If you can’t find any contacts through your wider network, develop your own. Today, everybody is online, so use social media to reach out to anyone you can. As before, stay polite and to-the-point; explain your interest in the sector and request some assistance. You might not get anywhere; but it only takes one person to make all the difference.

The best way to address your inexperience is to get some experience! Internships and work experience are a way of getting a taster of the industry without needing formal experience beforehand. 

In fact, many candidates bolster their resumes with work experience before applying for a full-time role. Others get taken on by a firm directly after an internship, having impressed with their aptitude and attitude. 

It’s also a good way to build connections and contacts within the industry; even if you don’t get hired when your work experience concludes, your colleagues will have you in mind for future roles. Again, it’s all about a face to a name.

While it’s true there’s no skill or experience requirement to apply for work experience, the downside is that the candidate pool is much wider. So treat applying for an internship as if you were applying for a job: do your research, demonstrate your passion, and relate your existing skills to the industry. 

Even with the right experience, landing a job can be tough. And without that experience, you might feel like you’ve got no chance of breaking through.

But don’t lose hope. With enough dedication, you can achieve the success you’re looking for.

Whatever role you’re going for, the first step is thoroughly researching your company and sector. Be ready to talk about the firm’s recent output and what you liked about it. As well as the challenges facing your industry and some ideas you have to address them.

You’ll also want to think closely about your skills and attributes and tailor them to the job at hand. You will have some relevant life, educational, or voluntary experience, so use it. Being inexperienced isn’t an automatic barrier to getting a job; so be open about it, and sell yourself on your passion and ability to learn quickly.

If it’s applicable, it’s a good idea to get creative with your field to make yourself stand out. A blog, side projects, or getting engaged with online marketing can all demonstrate your passion for your sector. It’s not about going viral; it’s about showing that you love your sector so much that you engage with it in your spare time.

Leveraging connections, no matter how obscure, can also be a good way of getting into your industry. Everyone is part of a wide network, stretching from friends and family through to distant acquaintances. So find out who’s in your industry and start asking questions. Even if you just get a few interview tips or insights into the sector, it’ll be worth it.

Of course, if you really want to boost your chances of entering the industry without experience – get some experience! Internships and work experience programs are there for a reason: they’re designed to get you started in an entry-level role. These spots do tend to be competitive, owing to a wider pool of candidates, so you’ll need to draw on everything you have to stand a chance.

And if you’re interested in interning, why not consider interning abroad? It’s the chance to develop your industry skills and knowledge, all while immersing yourself in the culture of another country. It’s not just about work experience; if you learn to thrive in a new city, you’ll succeed anywhere.

At Beyond Academy, we offer 18 different industries across 14 fantastic international locations. Whether you’re looking for law internships in Seoul or journalism internships in London, we can find you the right firm to kickstart your career. We can help you with your application and offer an array of fantastic resume boosting tools and resources. 

So if you’d like to find out more, contact us. Together, we’ll begin planning your world-class internship so you can finally land that job!