How to Get Hired When You Don’t Have Experience

Must get a job to have experience, must have experience to get a job…

It’s an endless cycle that can make even the most accomplished college students feel insecure. You’re worried that you don’t have the skills employers want, and you’re not sure that you bring anything to the table (other than your eagerness to get a job in the first place).

Relax: We created WayUp to give college students a fair playing field in the job market and the opportunity to connect with employers who would be willing to take a chance on young hires, but even with WayUp in place (you’re signed up, right?), there are a few things you can do to make sure that you win employers over — even if the experience section of your resume is almost nonexistent.

Stop apologizing

Whether you’re writing your cover letter or answering the What’s Your Greatest Weakness? interview question in your interview, you should never, ever reference your inexperience during the job search. By doing so, you’re disqualifying yourself early on in the game, when you should be framing the conversation positively around your candidacy.

Be confident: Every single professional — from your older friend working their first full-time job to the Sheryl Sandbergs of the world–had to start somewhere and convince an employer of their worth, so stop apologizing for your inexperience and start showing off the qualities that make you employable.

Talk up your extracurriculars, classes, and leadership experience

College has provided you with the perfect opportunity to develop skills you’ll need in the workforce. You develop discipline through your classes (no one’s telling you to), teamwork through your extracurriculars, leadership experience through group projects, greek life and so much more — and that’s just the beginning. Think about what you’ve learned so far in college, and choose the opportunities that would definitely catch an employer’s attention. (Hint: making sure to speak to the desired skills and qualifications listed in the job description will give you a huge advantage.)

Start your own personal project

Employers love self-starters. When you use your spare time to start on your own initiatives or passion projects, your motivation and drive make you an extremely competitive candidate. Start your own student organization on campus; write a blog and recruit a few writers on campus to be a part of your team. Rally your classmates for a cause you care about. Your inexperience won’t be a disadvantage when you show how eager you are to dive into new experiences.

As Natalie Portman said in her Commencement speech to the Harvard Class of 2015, inexperience can be an asset that allows you to think outside the box and implement creative change. Be empowered by your college experiences and focus on what you do bring to the table: Employers won’t have confidence in you unless you have confidence in yourself. Speaking of employers, the 7,000+ businesses on our site are looking to hire college students just like you – and we strongly suggest you take them up on it! Apply on WayUp to get the experience you need!