The Secret to Finding a Job With No Experience

One of the most common questions we get asked is how do I get a job with no experience? I want to share with you a secret that everyone needs to know, whether or not they have experience and before going on interviews. This little secret has nothing to do with your resume or the job itself. It actually has more to do with you as an individual, so you definitely want to pay attention.

The real problem is that you don’t know how to sell yourself to recruiters and get them to hire you despite having no work experience. In other words, you weren’t able to express your personal brand.

Perhaps you are a graduate or someone at the very early stages of establishing your career. Or you are someone who has a career, but you want to change to another industry completely. The thing you need to realise is that if you want to stand out amongst employers. You need to have something called a personal brand.

What is a personal brand?

So what is a personal brand? A personal brand is much like a business brand. We all know what a business brand is and there are ample examples out there. Branding is what makes an individual or company stand out from the rest. It helps to influence a consumer’s buying action. There are so many similar products out there sold by various companies, but what makes a consumer buy from Company A and not Company B? A large part is its brand!

“The first word in the phrase, “personal brand” is “personal.” Now add an “ity” to it, drop the “brand” and that’s what it really means. That’s the secret.”-Adam Ritchie, Adam Ritchie Brand Direction

The same goes for your personal brand. It has nothing to do with having the exact experience for that position or in that industry. Your personal brand is much more than the resume or the things that you say in an interview. Even though those are key tools that would help us get the job.

How do you express your personal brand.

Your personal brand is how you advertise yourself and it is what makes you unique. Your brand is the combination of skills, experience, and personality traits that makes you. It reflects your conduct, behavior, soft and hard skills, and attitude.

You use your personal branding to stand out from the crowd. If done right, you can land your first job with little or no experience. As an employer, they want someone who will be a good fit for their organisation. Most companies will offer on-the-job training for people who can demonstrate a positive demeanor. Hard skills can be obtained or learned but soft skills are personal traits that make up a persons character. These sometimes are harder to learn unfortunately for most people.

What do companies look for?

They look for people who are eager and helpful. They also want someone who can demonstrate that they’re capable. You can show them that what you have learned in the past, which you can bring with you and apply to this opportunity.

Companies also want someone who can demonstrate what makes them valuable. So, for example, if you’ve been able to do something or accomplish something in the past. You need to let them know and remind them how you can add value to their business. All those individual pieces clearly explain what your personal brand is to them.

If you want to have a strong personal brand, you need to be able to bring this all across in an effective and confident manner. You need to be able to use the experiences and the knowledge that you’ve gained up until now and tie them into your personal brand.

“All of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.”-
Tom Peters in Fast Company

The way to sell yourself.

The key to selling yourself is through your personal brand. Remember to use the stories and experiences that you’ve gained from the past to articulate who you are, what you’re capable of, and what makes you valuable. If you can showcase those, then that’s really going to help. You stand apart from the competition.

Just remember that realistically you do need the right qualifications. For example, you can’t be applying to nurse jobs if you don’t have the proper training. No matter how good your personal brand in this scenario is, without the proper hard skills, you don’t stand a chance.

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