No Work Experience? Make Your Resume Look Good With These
So, you are on the lookout for your first job to get work experience. But, you seem to be facing aserious issue: All entry level jobs require experience. You feel stuck. How do you get work experience if all the jobs you are interested in are only interested in people who have experience?
This is a common problem among fresh graduates. The good news is that experience does not only come in the form of previous jobs. The following is a list of tips you can refer to so that you can effectively create a resume for your first job.
- Start with a professional summary
Before jumping into anything else, present an overview of yourself. Show the hiring manager why you are suitable for the position you are applying for. Let your qualifications shine through in a well-written professional summary. Normally, a professional summary is only one to three sentences long. You can opt to present it as a bulleted list or a short paragraph.
They say it takes an average of six seconds for a hiring manager to decide whether a resume is worth his or her time. So, make your professional summary strong enough to keep the hiring manager reading through your whole resume. Make sure to tailor your professional summary to the position and for the company you are applying for. - Add your school experiences
Right below your professional summary, add your educational attainments. If you have a specialized degree, list it down. As you have no work experience, you can expand on what you learned in your major classes or chosen electives. Enumerate the classes which you think will be relevant for the job you are applying for. You can even add and briefly describe your thesis in this section.
If you had an impressive average, add that as well. Do not hesitate to add your scholastic achievements. Were you a consistent merit card awardee? Did you bag the award for Best in Science? Did you graduate with latin honors?
Also, include relevant school events or clubs that you joined. Even a task as simple as managing a school play will add flair to your resume. Just make sure that the experiences you list down will be useful in the job you are applying for. - Include extracurricular activities
Volunteer experience is almost as good as professional experience. This gives the hiring manager an overview of your values, interests, and work ethic. Highlight the talents that you used and developed in these experiences. Think about all the transferable skills you learned through volunteer work. Most of the time, volunteer work allows people to hone their
communication and organizational skills.
If you think you are still lacking experience and want to add value to your resume, consider taking on internship jobs. Most internship jobs do not have many requirements. You can look for short internship stints while you are in the process of applying for your first full-time job. Who knows? Your internship job might even turn into a full-time job after a while.
Both paid and unpaid internship jobs are great. Not only do they add value to your resume, but they also let you network with people within and outside of your industry. Having good connections is always a plus when applying for a job. - Jot down your skills
You do not need work experience to earn impressive skills. Maybe you have always excelled in your math courses. Or maybe, your artistic work have always gotten compliments from family and friends. Ask your loved ones! They might tell you that you have always had the knack for organizing parties and events. Some may even reveal that you are a great listener (This is a sign that you have good interpersonal skills!).
Get a notebook and list down all the skills you can think of. Asses which ones are most relevant to the job you are applying for. As much as possible, be specific with the skills you place. Add numbers wherever relevant. Make your resume short but striking. - Show personality
There are several rules in creating a professional resume: Proofread it until there are zero grammatical errors. Make the layout look clean and crisp. Structure it in a way that keeps the reader interested from start to end. Keep the content sounding professional. Have a formal email address.
Now, take a look at your resume. Does it still feel lacking? Even while a resume is expected to look polished, it never has to be boring. If you are applying in a creative field, you might want to showcase your design skills through the layout of your resume. Otherwise, keep the design simple. Let your personality shine through words, instead. If you think your resume needs an extra lift, consider adding a small section for your interests and hobbies. However, make sure to assess if these are relevant to the job you are applying for.
If you are hesitant about adding a section for your personal interests, consider showing your personality in your cover letter instead. Regardless if one is required, think of the cover letter as a necessity. - Know your keywords
In modern-day hiring, keywords are of utmost importance. Many large-scale employers make use of the applicant tracking system (ATS) to help them sort through the numerous applications in their hands. Tilt the playing field in your favor and know what specific keywords you will need to catch the hiring manager's attention. Analyze the job description. Most of the time, you will find keywords here. Incorporate these keywords wherever relevant in your resume. Usually, you can easily add these in the professional summary and skills section.
Follow these tips and show your dream company that you are suitable to work for them. Even with no work experience, you can definitely package yourself as the ideal candidate. If you truly believe that you can be an asset in the company, you will not have much of a complicated time crafting your resume.
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JobStreet.com and jobsDB are part of SEEK Asia, which is the leading online employment market place in Asia. SEEK Asia covers 7 countries namely Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
SEEK Asia is the extension of the Australian Securities Exchange listed company called SEEK. The company's purpose is to help improve people's lives through a better career. SEEK Asia's database consist of over 500,000 corporate hirers and over 24 million candidates.
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