{"id":7920,"date":"2021-08-17T02:42:02","date_gmt":"2021-08-17T02:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com\/?p=7920"},"modified":"2022-05-11T10:44:53","modified_gmt":"2022-05-11T00:44:53","slug":"5-proactive-ways-to-tackle-a-lack-of-experience-on-your-resume","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com\/5-proactive-ways-to-tackle-a-lack-of-experience-on-your-resume\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Proactive Ways to Tackle a Lack of Experience on Your Resume"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

A lack of relevant experience is the biggest complaint we hear from young people for not securing the roles they apply for. We get it \u2013 you need experience to get a job, but you need a job to gain experience.<\/em><\/p>\n

It might seem like a vicious circle, but there are a few strategies you can use to help overcome this as much as possible. More and more employers state they would rather recruit someone with the right attitude and \u2018mindset\u2019 over someone with years of experience.<\/p>\n

Which makes sense when you think about it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Someone with genuine enthusiasm and awareness of their relevant or transferable skills for the role they\u2019re applying for will definitely stand out \u2013 you just have to demonstrate this in your applications!<\/p>\n

HERE ARE FIVE TIPS ON TACKLING A LACK OF EXPERIENCE ON YOUR RESUME:<\/h3>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0 Tailor Your Resume<\/h4>\n

When applying for any role, with or without experience, you need to make sure you tailor your resume for the industry and specific job you\u2019re applying to. Utilising your personal profile and key skills section is ideal for this.<\/p>\n

Avoid standard or generic statements in your personal profile. A strong opening line will match you to the job you\u2019re applying for and tell the employer that you can do the job straight away.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t have previous experience, it\u2019s a good idea to pick up on the skills mentioned in the job advert and tell the employer where and why you have these skills. Don\u2019t make any assumptions \u2013 make it super easy for them to see why you\u2019re a great candidate.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0 Focus on Transferable Skills<\/h4>\n

Even though you might not have the same previous experience or job title on your resume, there are bound to be several cross overs in your skillset that you can pitch to the employer and use to highlight why they should hire you.<\/p>\n

Why else would you be applying for the job if you didn\u2019t have the skills needed?<\/p>\n

Again, make sure you use the job description and person specification and relate everything on your resume to this as much as possible. In your key skills section, bullet point the essential skills mentioned in the job description and back them up with an example of where you have achieved this skill. In your summary of the roles you have had so far, do the same \u2013 bullet point the skills mentioned and provide an example of how you meet them based on the experience from that job.<\/p>\n

Continuously highlighting these skills will help demonstrate to the employer you can do the job.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0 Think About the Language You Use<\/h4>\n

Sometimes, the same job has a different job title in different companies, but it\u2019s not just job titles. A company might use a very distinct language style that you can pick up from the job description and through researching the company.<\/p>\n

Match your resume language to the language the company uses. For example, if they have a more formal style, keep your application language formal too. If they\u2019re more modern and colloquial, again, match this with your application. This shows attention to detail but can also indicate to the employer you\u2019re a suitable candidate as you\u2019re already speaking their language.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0 DO something relevant<\/h4>\n

If you\u2019ve been applying for a particular role or have been trying to get into a specific industry and not having any luck, then it might be time to get a bit more proactive!<\/p>\n

There are so many opportunities to gain relevant experience now:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Through offering up some time to volunteer.<\/li>\n
  • Approaching companies directly to see if you can gain work experience.<\/li>\n
  • There are even virtual work experience programs you can do from the comfort of your own home.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    These are all great ways to achieve that relevant experience for your resume and prove to future employers you\u2019re serious about breaking into the industry.<\/p>\n

    If you\u2019re getting tired of not getting anywhere, then this is a great way to feel proactive, gain the experience and skills you want and give your resume \u2013 and your mindset \u2013 a positive boost!<\/p>\n

    5.\u00a0\u00a0 Be Confident!<\/h4>\n

    Confidence is key! You\u2019ve got to be your own biggest fan and celebrate your achievements and skills. This doesn\u2019t mean getting egotistical; it means having a strong awareness of your strengths, how your strengths\/abilities match the roles you want to do and articulating this positively to an employer.<\/p>\n

    Practice objection handling so that if an employer asks you about your experience, you don\u2019t say you haven\u2019t got any \u2013 you turn it around, so something like \u2018The closest experience I have for this role was an experience I had at school when I did ABC and achieved XYZ. I achieved THIS, which means I have THESE skills which line up well with THIS part of the job with yourselves.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

    This is what will impress a potential employer \u2013 positive and proactive!<\/p>\n

    REMEMBER:<\/h3>\n

    Don\u2019t apply for 100 jobs a day and not hear back. 9\/10 times if you\u2019re not getting anywhere, it\u2019s not because of experience or a lack of jobs, but how you\u2019re applying and how you\u2019re marketing yourself to employers.<\/p>\n

    Always keep a timeline of activity and if you\u2019re not getting the response you want, refresh what you\u2019re doing and seek extra advice where you can.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Reading Time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span> A lack of relevant experience is the biggest complaint we hear from young people for not securing the roles they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[25],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7920"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7920"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7922,"href":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7920\/revisions\/7922"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}