7 Steps to get any job without experience
I never understood why companies expected us to have 3 years of experience for a junior role. So, I spent years studying the reasons behind it. I wanted to find a loophole.
And I found it:
Companies expect X years of experience because it's their way of saying:
"I want to see the value you can give to me upfront."
"I want to see the tangible results you can provide."
"I want to reduce the risk of hiring someone who cannot perform the job."
I was so pleased to learn this!
Because this means that if I found a way of showing my value with real results, any job could be mine.
The problem is, most people don't know their value. And if they don't know their value, how on earth are they going to sell it to someone else?
Here you will learn to find and sell your value to companies with confidence, even if you don't have experience.
1. Immerse in the Topic:
Let the games begin!
The goal of this step is to start understanding the topic. You will reach a foundational level in less than 15 hours by teaching yourself the basics.
For this, I recommend choosing books that explain the general ideas behind the area of your interest.
How to immerse yourself in any topic:
Listen to 2 audiobooks (average time per book is 4 hours)
Watch YouTube videos (2-3 hours)
Listen to podcasts (2 hours)
Read a blog (1 hour)
Aim for a minimum of 10 hours, and you will have achieved a foundational level in your topic.
Example:
You are a Human Resources professional with no experience. In this step, you read or listen to a book about Leadership and another about Management. Then, you find a Human Resources podcast and a YouTube Channel about organizational management. You spend 15 hours, and now you're starting to have an idea of what this is all about.
Well done! You have reached a foundational level.
2. Make a Summary of Your Learnings:
Grab your phone's audio recorder and start verbalizing what you've heard and read so far.
Take out your notebook and begin writing a summary by hand.
Open your favorite software tool (Mine are Trello and Notion) and start documenting those summaries.
Speaking is an excellent method for storing that information in your "hard drive" (your brain!).
Another effective approach is to meet with two friends: one who is unfamiliar with the topic and another who is knowledgeable about it. Simply explain what you remember, and you'll notice how that information sticks with you forever!
3. Find Ways to Gain Experience
Remember, our main goal is to identify our value and package it beautifully for our new employer.
So the more real-life experience we can gain, the better.
Even if it's a 2-hour/week volunteering position.
Here, you have many options!
Shadowing: One of the best ways to gain real-world experience by far. Shadowing means that you will be following and observing the person performing the job that you want to learn. The best way to find these opportunities is by using your network. Always start with your colleagues and friends and go from there. If you happen to find someone on LinkedIn that you want to ask for shadowing, remember to invest in them first before asking for anything.
Offer to do more tasks at work: The great thing about corporate jobs is that most of them require the same skills. Say that you are an Admin Assistant and want to gain some experience in Finance. You can easily speak to your manager and ask to assist the Finance team during or after hours. This "Initiative" will speak more than a thousand words, and you will impress many people in the office. All the lights will point to you when there is an opening in the Finance department.
Volunteer: I know from experience that it's hard to find a specific position in a non-profit organization. However, NGOs are not the only way to volunteer! You can offer to volunteer for a small business or self-employed entrepreneurs to gain experience in the specific area you want. They will welcome any help they can get! Plus, you will build more connections. Do this for a few hours a week, and you will have immersed yourself in the industry you want.
💡At the end of every single day, grab your diary and take note of the skills you used, the tasks you completed, and any results you achieved. Don't let anything slip from your memory!
4. Start a Personal Project:
Focus on initiating a personal project that fulfills any of the following:
It makes you use the skills you want.
It makes you use the knowledge you gained.
It puts you in contact with people who could hire you.
It brings you to the industry you want.
It makes you part of a community.
There is only one requirement for it to work fast.
Do it in public.
But I didn't say online, Gotcha ;)
When I started looking for another project management role in the software industry, the first thing I did was start posting about project management and software on LinkedIn. I wrote about the projects I was running, the methodologies I used, and how I resolved conflicts.
Two weeks later, I received a message from the CEO of the company where I work now. I think this doesn’t need more explanation.
Do you want to know why this happened?
Because 99% of people don’t do this.
What is a personal project?
Blogs: You can start a blog to share what you’re learning. You have the option to talk about ALL of your interests at the same time.
Starting a new X or Instagram account to talk about small learnings.
Coffee Chat Group: If you want to be out of the online world, you can start a monthly Coffee Chat Group to discuss the topics you are learning. You will be surprised how many people you will attract who have the same interests.
Start a book club: Make a list of the last 5 books you loved and set a catchy title for your book club. Tell all your friends and colleagues about it. You only need 1 more person to get started.
Starting a podcast: You can interview industry experts or even people like you. And summarize every episode in one big learning lesson.
Once you start your project around the area where you want to gain experience, you will start catching attention and building authority.
This is exactly what I’m doing by writing this Newsletter.
5. Make samples of your work
Here's where you will get to produce your first 'tangible' outcome. Something that we can touch and feel, and most importantly, show to others.
In my experience, I got to show off my samples of work during interviews in an incredible way.
The interviewer was impressed by the templates I produced and how I explained them to her.
How to make a sample of your work?
Use your knowledge and experience from steps 1-4:
Maybe you wrote a post and someone commented on it, sparking an idea.
Maybe you learned something in an audiobook and want to create your own version of it.
Maybe you came up with a way of making easy instructions or an automation to do that task that everyone hates.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
Project managers: Make a project status report and a project charter template.
UX Designer: Screenshot an awful app and improve it - just one page.
Developer: Make a small working software that does that thing you always wanted.
QA & Compliance: Make a template of an internal audit using an ISO standard of your expertise.
For office roles:
Make a training matrix and a training plan for a company of 500 employees.
Make a process flowchart of an activity in a way that saves resources and time.
Chemical & Environmental Engineers: Design a small water treatment plant.
Journalists: Write articles around the industry you are interested in.
IT Support: Make a list of the 10 most common IT Support issues and write a troubleshooting diagram to solve them.
6. Make a case study
In simple terms, a case study involves gathering industry data, identifying a problem, proposing a solution, and presenting the results.
I've created many case studies, and the easiest way to make them is as follows:
While shadowing or volunteering, find a real problem, a genuine pain point that the business is facing.
Look at that problem from different angles, especially just before bed, so you can come up with creative ideas.
List your ideas, proposed solutions, and plan.
Conduct research. Find similar studies applied to other scenarios. Check out online news, Forbes, or academic articles.
Present those results and their assumptions.
You might think, "But I didn’t do the work."
Do you really believe that?
There's a lot of value in researching how your own ideas would work!
You'll be presenting industry data, your ideas, and results that could be applied to their organization.
A considerable amount of value, trust me.
For instance, let's say you aspire to be an Organizational Manager for a company struggling with high turnover rates. The company spends a lot on training due to employees leaving frequently, which slows down activities. You then develop a Case Study titled “Applying Work in Pairs in a 10-person HR Department.”
You find three studies that analyze working in pairs in small organizations. You present those results and explain how they could be applied to prevent activities from slowing down in that organization.
Use my free Case Study template, to impress your future employer now!
7. Sell Your Work
Now it’s time to network hard!
You’d be the smartest person on this planet if you started the personal project I mentioned before. 😎
Imagine if you had a podcast and were interviewing industry experts, or if you were running a coffee catch-up. Or if you were posting online. 💣
Networking would come to you like a magnet.
You’d be attracting numerous people from the industry you want to belong to!
Networking is becoming easier and easier; you only need to put yourself out there.
But don’t worry if you’re not doing any of that. Just read my article about how to message on LinkedIn, here link.
Whatever method you use, once you are in front of a potential hiring manager, you must show:
Your passion
Your experience (yes! shadowing and volunteering are ways of experience!)
Your work samples (make a list!)
Your Case Study!
You’ve made yourself so attractive to employers that you have no idea.
You don’t need a full-time contract to do all the above.
You just need to want to do it.
And do it.
Why does it work?
Because you’d be showing that:
You are proactive
You have ideas
You don’t fit the mold
You are driven
You are resilient, persistent, self-motivated, and results-driven.
You have research, analytical, writing, and presentation skills.
You are unique
Without the need for saying any of those words.
You will stand out from the 99% of people who applied for the role only begging for an opportunity.
Employers will beg YOU to work for them.
You don’t have work experience? Make it yourself.
Final thoughts
Not having experience is not a problem. Being passive about it is.
Starting a project of your own shows more value than listing skills on the resume.
Companies love proactive individuals who speak with their actions.
Sell yourself with a case study and samples of work, and companies will forget that you don’t have actual “experience”.
If you found this valuable, follow me on Instagram to keep growing your career.
See you next week.
