How To Create A Good Linkedin Profile When You Have No Working Experience
Theres a bitter-sweet scene in The Grapes of Wrath where the head of the family approaches a bank branch to request a mortgage. Do you have any properties that you could use as guarantee? asks the bank clerk. Puzzled, the poor man replies, Well, if I already owned a house, I wouldnt need a mortgage, right? Something like that happens when looking for the first job without previous working experience. Your first job can land you in that kind of situation: you need work experience to find a job, but you need a job to have work experience. As always, the first step is the most difficult one. Thinking up ways to enhance your CV has always been a challenge. Now the really big test is to get a LinkedIn profile that makes people stop and take notice.
Fear no more its like anything else in life your approach and your attitude are the things you need to focus on. Sell yourself by bringing all your strong points to the fore that will do the trick. Playing to your strengths can open more doors than you would expect. Here are some points to work on to improve your chances of kickstarting your professional career.
1. Dont be afraid of being upfront about wanting working experience
2. Pay attention to technical details
3. Include any social work you are involved in
4. Remain active in your areas of interest
5. Keep your LinkedIn profile alive
6. Join groups
7. Mention personal projects that may highlight your abilities
Transform These Stories Into Simple And Compelling Action Statements
Now that you have solid stories for all the achievements you want to put in your resume, its time to describe them in simple, compelling and powerful action statements.
To do so, you can use the advice of Laszlo Bock, a former Google senior vice president of personnel operations, and articulate your experience like this:
To connect this formula with the PAR framework:
X is the PROBLEM you solved
Y is the RESULTS you achieved
Z is the ACTION you did
You can use this 3x components, X Y Z, in a different order, its fine.
For instance, you can start an action statement with what you did and end it with what you accomplished .
Academic Project Relevant To A Job
Including an academic project in a resume is straightforward. Include where the project took place, what class it was a part of, the title of the project, the date it was completed and a short summary of its purpose.
Example of how to list an academic project in a resume:Coral Springs University, Coral Springs, Florida Intro to Hospitality Course McDonalds Restaurant Analysis Group ProjectWorked within a team of 4 to analyze data on the revenue, size, and customer base of a popular fast-food chain in Florida. Created and presented findings during a course presentation. Was personally responsible for collecting data on McDonalds revenue and creating a PowerPoint presentation.
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Show Off Your Most Prominent Qualifications
Its time to doll your letter up.
Use your skills and experience as your little helpers.
Make the best out of them, and instead of giving examples of your past duties, really highlight them to show that youre the one that theyre looking for.
Use numbers and metrics to support your success and really make an impact.
Expert Hint: If youre writing an esthetician cover letter with no experience, talk about your academic experience or your non-industry-related professional experience instead. Maybe youve worked in retail or food service? You can always use the skills youve acquired at your previous job and explain how they will benefit your potential employer.
Emphasize Your Soft Skills
If you dont have much professional experience, be sure to highlight your relevant soft skills, such as your ability to remain calm under pressure, or develop a rapport with customers. Nearly any restaurant job requires customer interaction and the ability to handle high-stress situations, making soft skills essential for success.
Here are some important restaurant-related soft skills to include on your resume:
- The ability to work well under pressure
- Attention to detail
To emphasize your skills, you should also include examples of how you put your expertise to work in your resume experience section. For example, if you listed customer service skills in your resume skills section, you could add the following bullet to your work history:
Answered the phone to take upward of 20 bookings each night.
If youre writing a restaurant resume with no experience, you can still include soft skills on your resume. Just back them up with proof. For example, you may have picked up soft skills from the volunteer work listed on your resume.
Or maybe you captained the college lacrosse team, an experience that likely developed your leadership skills and ability to work in a team. These skills are also an asset in the restaurant industry.
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How Far Back Should Your Resume Work Experience Go
Your resume work experience should contain every piece of information that is relevant to you securing the role. This will dictate the amount of work experience in a CV that you might include.
If you have a 30-year career, you might choose simply to list the employers for the first 10-15 years and use your precious resume space to describe the most recent resume experiences. However, if your career is 15 years or less, you should definitely include resume work experience about everything.
In terms of the amount of work experience on your resume, try to give more information on the more recent roles. Make use of bullet points and solid text after your have listed the employer and date details – as you can see in our many resume samples.
Should I put seminars on my CV? Typically, a one or two-day seminar would not be included on work experience in a CV. If the training or educational event has a certain prestige or lasts more than a week, then you might consider including it in the education section, but as anyone can attend a seminar, it will not give a huge indication as to your individual level of suitability for the role. You will certainly have more important information to share.
Leave History In The Past
As a rule, you should only show the most recent 10 to 15 years of your career history and only include the experience relevant to the positions to which you are applying. So if you have anything really dated or random, remove it and use the space to bulk up other sections or add something more relevant.
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What Soft Skills Do You Have How Do You Identify Them
Identifying your own soft skills will require some introspection. To start this process, think about the times youve excelled at your job, noting the situation and the outcome. What skills did you use to help you accomplish the goal? What praise and feedback did you receive?
Youll also want to think about any conversations youve had with managers about your overall performance. Chances are, they praised your soft skills or maybe identified some soft skills you can improve upon.
If youre still having trouble identifying your soft skills, consider reaching out to co-workers, managers, or mentors. Ask them about your soft skills and specific instances in which these skills shined.
Including Your Strengths And Skills
Its easy to think that the most critical part of a phlebotomy resume is your work history. While that can make a big difference, you can beef up your resume a bit by including your strengths and skills.
Keep in mind that not all these skills have to reflect a career in phlebotomy. Sometimes, a skill like punctual can be more appealing to an employer than you may realize. So, dont be afraid to include whatever you think makes you unique from other possible employees.
Some examples of skills might include:
- Knowledge of medical terminology
- Extremely familiar with phlebotomy equipment, including butterfly needles
- Verified collection of different specimens
- Communicated with doctors and patients about their orders
Your list of responsibilities from past jobs will be unique to you. This is another area where you should avoid using generalities about phlebotomy jobs. Or, keep them to a small amount and focus on what you did that would be appealing to an employer. You can also include internships if they are applicable.
When listing your work history, always start with the most recent experience first. Then, work your way down in that order.
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Writing Tip #1: Should You Put A Career Summary Section
If you are an entry-level employee, including recent college graduates and someone with only a few years of experience, then you dont need to include a Career Summary section. Yet you can put a Career Summary section if you want.
On the other hand, if you are an experienced professional or a career changer, my recommendation is to include a Career Summary section.
However, be careful to not saying what 90% of other candidates are saying. Everyone will tend to describe themselves as a smart, driven and capable person, and therefore it seldom is a point of differentiation arguably you run more risk of doing yourself harm with something like that.
Experience To Include On A Resume For Your First Job
Once youve been working as a professional for a few years, your Work Experience section will fill the majority of your resume. Until then, its important you share how youre building skills relevant to the job youre applying for and emphasize experiences that demonstrate your work ethic.
1. Name and contact information2. Summary or objectivec. Description of role and achievement4. Education5. Skills6. Optional
Here are a few examples of experiences you may want to include on your first resume:
- Jobs like babysitting or mowing lawns
- Extracurricular activities, such as clubs and sports
- Internships or apprenticeships
- Volunteer work
Be sure to highlight the skills youve developed in each role, especially those included in the job posting. This is also where you should list any achievements youre proud of, such as improvements you made over time or specific goals youve reached.
For example, if you were applying for a customer service position with a retail store, you might compose your experience like this:
Neighborhood lawn services
- Mow, edge and trim lawns from early spring through mid-fall
- Maintain an average of five lawns per week throughout the season
- Use customer service skills to build relationships and earn referrals
- Grew client base from two homes to ten homes in six months
- Earned and maintained five-star review average on lawn service Facebook page
Dog-walking and pet-sitting services
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Writing The Work Experience Section
Writing the resume work experience section is one of the most influential and often trickiest resume sections to get right.
The work experience/job history on a resume is where past job descriptions and professional experiences give credibility to an application or interview. All the other information and sections on a resume, from hobbiesto the personal statement, frame the list of relevant work experience over the last 10 – 15 years. So, how do I describe my work experience on a resume?
This guide will show you everything you need to know about including work experience on a resume, including:
- How to list your current job and previous positions
The five-word rule. Think about five words that would be sum up your career. How would you describe your experience? Those five words should then come across incredibly strongly in the work experience on a resume. A hiring manager is not going to remember the sentences that you write, but if they stop reading with those five words in their minds, your resume will have done its job.
Understand The Consulting Firms Language
- Problem solving: As a Consultant, you will be essentially a problem-solver. Thus, Consulting firms will assess the range of problems you had to solve and the impact you had
- Leadership abilities: As a Consultant, you will need to get things done while working with others. Thus, Consulting firms will assess your ability to work in teams and to create a climate in which people are motivated to do their best
- Personal impact: As a Consultant, you will need to gain the support and commitment of others. Thus, Consulting firms will assess your ability to develop relationships with people and your ability to influence someone to act upon your recommendation
- Drive: As a Consultant, you will work on new consulting projects every 3x months. Thus, Consulting firms will assess how comfortable you are with new situations and your ability to perform outside of your comfort zone
Another example with Bain & Companys expectations.
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How To Improve Your Resume When You Have Little Or No Work Experience
- 3 years ago
- /ByBrooke Faulkner
Resume writing is no easy feat. Even experienced professionals cringe at the daunting task of updating their resumes improving and tailoring it until it is deemed worthy by recruiters and employers. Its no surprise then that those with little or no work experience draw a complete blank and shy away from the task of resume writing.
While not having much work experience is definitely not ideal when it comes to resume writing, countless recent graduates face this surprisingly common challenge.
If you are one of the many people who are worried about putting together your resume due to lack of work experience, fear not! From specific things to you may have overlooked or thought were unimportant, to external things you can actually do to fluff up your CV, here are some tips for improving your resume:
Put Down Your Contact Information
Just like the name suggests, the first thing you add to your header is your personal and contact information.
Its the easiest part to get right, just keep it short and to the point.
In your contact information section, mention the following:
- First and Last Name
- A link to a professional profile or personal webpage
Make sure to use a professional-sounding E-mail.
I.e. something along the lines of
Youre sure to leave a wrong impression if you use an email you created back in preschool .
Pro Tip
Make sure to double-check, triple-check your contact information. After all, the recruiter cant contact you if you have a typo in your phone number.
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Resume With No Experience Examples
Writing a good resume for job is never easy, especially when itâs your first job and you have no experience to share. Yet, there is still a chance to make your no experience resume shine.
Later on, we will guide you through all steps, explain how to structure and format your document, and tell what hard skills and soft skills to include.
But before we tell you how to write a resume if you have no prior experience, letâs take a look at a sample resume to see what it should include.
Candidate Name
Job Title
Contact Info
Self-driven recent graduate with a degree in marketing, seeking to leverage proven leadership skills and thorough social media knowledge to facilitate marketing excellence at XYZ. Led the school council for two years and particularly succeeded in the social media marketing coursework.
Education
- Excelled in social media coursework
- Headed the school council for two years
- GPA 3.8
- key skills
- additional sections
You should include these sections in the same order. And, if you are wondering how to fill out a resume, continue reading, and we will guide you through every step.
Remove Your Objective Statement
This is one of the quickest things you can do to improve your resume, and one of the first things I check for when updating a resume for a client.
Objective statements are circa 2010 and unnecessary. It is clear what your objective is To land the job, internship, etc., that you are applying for. Instead, write a concise Career Summary or Professional Profile that describes who you are and what you have to offer in five-ish sentences or bullet points.
For those who still remember 10th Grade English, a Career Summary is like a thesis for your resume Its a preview of whats to come, without sharing all of the good stuff just yet.
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Use The Job Description
Pay attention to the exact phrase from the job description: managing budgets and budget management seem like theyâre the same, but a computer might be looking for an exact match. Use the exact wording from the job description whenever it makes sense!
These simple tricks will help you pass the Applicant Tracking System test. More than 90% of employers use this type of software to process all the resumes they receive, and more than 75% of resumes get rejected by the ATS before a human ever reads them. This means you have to write your resume for a computer first and a human second. At the end of this article, weâll tell you about a free tool to check if your resume will pass the ATS test.
Resume skills example:
Tom is applying for an entry-level business administrative position. Tom can pull many keywords from the job description and plug them into his skills section and his education section.
Core Competencies
-
Proven problem solving and issue resolution skills
-
Exceptional attention to detail
Most of the skills listed here were pulled from a job description. Tom can claim to have these skills because he used them in his classes or had exposure to them during his internship . Problem solving, issue resolution and attention to detail are personal attributes that will benefit him in professional work environments he may have gained these skills as a student, a team captain, or a club leader.