How to Write Your Resume When You Lack Experience

It’s not easy getting your first shot at a great job opportunity when you don’t have any job experience to back you up. You’re probably asking the age-old question right now. How can you ever get experience if a company doesn’t want you without experience? Well actually, companies will hire you with little-to-no experience if you know how to charm them into it.

How can you charm a company into hiring you? Your resume has a lot to do with it. By creating a resume that highlights any and all experience you have (no matter where it comes from) you can convince a company that you’re right for them. While this is not always an easy task for anyone who doesn’t know how to write a certified resume, it is possible. Here are some tips to help you out …

Create a Functional Resume

While the standard resume style is chronological, for those who have little experience, have gaps in their work history or are switching careers, the recommended resume style is functional. The functional resume allows you to categorize by your skills, accomplishments or other highlights, rather than listing your job history in order. In other words, it allows you to showcase everything you have done rather than shining a light on what you haven’t.

Don’t Forget Campus Jobs and Volunteer Events

If you have yet to work what would be considered a “real” job then it’s good to focus on anything you’ve done that required responsibility. If you worked on campus clearing dishes in the cafeteria, this is definitely a job. It may not be a corporate job, but it shows that you are able to handle responsibility.

And if you don’t have paid work experience, you could list the volunteer opportunities you took on whether you completed a project for Habitat for Humanity or answered phones at your uncle’s barber shop. Anything you can list that shows you know how to take on projects and completely them successfully can help a potential employer understand what you may be capable of.

Highlight All Rewards and Major Accomplishments

Also, it’s a great idea to highlight any rewards you received, whether you won an academic reward, or received a certificate for being the best student ambassador, you want to show that you not only complete projects, you excel at them. Anything that you can include to give an employer that “Aha!” moment when looking at your resume, it’s good to add it.

It can be intimidating to think about creating a resume when you feel that you have no experience to add. But once you take time to look through everything that you’ve accomplished in your life (work-related or not), you’ll find that you have a lot more to brag about than you think.