How to Land a Job without Experience
The lack of experience can be a crippling disadvantage in the struggling economies of today's world. In the job market where even people with years of experience are trying to find a company that can hire them, the recent graduates stick out even more so like a sore thumb in, seemingly, having almost nothing to contribute to the work force. It can be very easy to get discouraged about the potential job prospects (or a lack thereof). In fact, a lot of people return to school to get their second or third degrees just to postpone the hardships of searching for a real job, or hoping that a second Master's degree can heighten their chances of gaining employment.
The road to another extraneous degree and extra student loan debt can be avoided, however, with a few creative avenues that can be explored before giving up on the job search all together. There are ways to set oneself apart from the rest of the job-seeking herd and stand out in a positive way in the eyes of a prospective employer.
The first strategy is to take up volunteering activities that are related to the field of employment that looks desirable to a prospective applicant. Volunteering at a nursing home or at a hospital or helping out with administrative tasks at a law firm can lead to value job opportunities, especially as one proves himself or herself to be a hard-working, dedicated and capable volunteer over time. This is also a good way to make connections with potential clients and people who might be hiring for their firms in the future.The second option is to offering tutoring services to college students or those who are looking to acquire or perfect a skill. Whether it is advertising the services on a free job website, like Craigslist, or getting tutoring job opportunities as referrals from friends and family members, tutoring not only helps to boost one's resume, but it also pays decent money. Finding something that one is good at and then offering tutoring services in that area can jump start one's career or even one's own little tutoring business.Freelancing is another opportunity in lieu of nine-to-five employment. Many companies are not ready to hire full-time staff members just yet, but they are more than willing to contract out chunks of projects to capable individuals. The upside to freelancing is also that the freelancer gets to negotiate his or her own hours and has the freedom to have time off when such luxury is not as available to those who are confined to their desks for most of the day.
Another option is to look over one's resume and rethink the experiences attained in college as practical real-world experiences that can be listed as job skills. Are there any classes that were taken over the course of one's college career that can be counted as experience-gaining opportunities? Chances are that many college classes actually do offer invaluable and unique sets of attributes, and these should be listed accordingly in the designated portion of one's resume.
Unfortunately, in today's world it is tough to find gainful employment at a drop of a pin. It is an even harder task to find that good job opportunity for those who have recently graduated from college. However, resources that aim to help grads to obtain their first jobs are certainly out there. It is a matter of thinking creatively and thinking outside of the proverbial box to find the lesser-known opportunities to boost one's resume and land that coveted job.
