How To Manage Lack of Experience When Job Hunting

Job hunting without much work experience can be really frustrating.

Employers will tell you that you need more experience, but how are you supposed to get it if no one will employ you?

Here are a few tips that will help you bypass your lack of experience in your job search. 

1. It doesn’t have to be about the formal experience; it can be about personal traits you bring to the job, or other less formal qualifications.
2. It is not necessary for you to have every single qualifications listed in the job advertisement; people get hired all the time without being a line-for-line match with the job posting. You should have most of the qualifications, you definitely don’t want to apply for jobs that ask for 10 years of experience when you have been working for one year.
3. If the Job Ad asks for three to five years of experience and you have two years, and you can write a really good cover letter and point to great achievements in those two years, then you can go ahead and apply.
4. Yes, it would be nice to step into full-time employment, but if no one’s offering you a job, look for ways to get more experience for your résumé. Part-time jobs, internships, volunteering or even just doing projects on your own can mitigate some of that experience deficit and make you a stronger candidate.

While all of the tips above help strengthen your candidacy when you don’t have much experience, it’s also important to be realistic about the types of jobs you’ll be considered qualified for. In a tight job market, where employers are bombarded with highly qualified applicants, there’s little chance of them considering people who are less qualified.

You will have the most success if you carefully target jobs you truly can prove you can succeed at – not just jobs where you think “I could do that,” but jobs where you can point to specific evidence that you will excel.

What is reflected in your cover letter, résumé and interview are what will make them excited about hiring you?