How To Get A Job Without Work Experience Or A Portfolio
Earlier on in life, as a young Nigerian job hunting, I rarely saw a job that didn’t require at least 2 years of experience. I would say to myself;
“I just graduated, how can I get work experience with no work?”
I always pondered on it, but never realized this scenario has a name. It is called The Permission Paradox. Basically, it says
“ You can’t get the job without the experience but you can’t get the experience without the job”
So how do you start if you are just starting out?
My cut on this is from a post by James Citrin on LinkedIn, which really packs a punch. James talks about 5 different strategies to help overcome the Permission Paradox. He says:
Learn More
Before starting your job hunting expedition, increase your skill set and learn more. You can do this free online through sites like Frintern or Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) sites like edx.org, coursera.org, udacity.com, and codecademy.com.
Get Creative and Be Willing to Start at the Bottom
I got all my jobs by first volunteering for free. And through my sheer zeal for the work, people were always there to help me get the paying job.
Barter
If you do not yet have a job, you have something of equal value; Time. Trade the time you have for work experience. Here is a story that illustrates this:
Earlier this summer, a new college graduate networked her way into an informational interview with a real estate brokerage firm.
She had a degree in history. As she was talking to the executive, who seemed overwhelmingly busy, a light bulb went off. “You seem incredibly stretched right now,” she observed and then asked the $64,000 question. “What would you do to grow your business if you had an extra day in your week?”
He paused and said he’d do a market research study for the young urban rental market.
She offered to do that for free and was able to communicate quickly how her analysis and writing skills developed for her thesis would give her the ability to execute the project.
He took her up on her offer and paid her $10 an hour for her work. After a few weeks, she presented her findings.
The real estate executive was blown away by the quality of her report, the clarity of her thinking, and the creativity with which she packaged her analysis. She was offered and has now accepted an entry-level job as a market researcher in the firm.
Now that’s a good combination of Barter and Creativity.
To build your work experience and portfolio for free and in days, sign up on Frintern.com.
Re-imagine Your Experience
For my first job, the company needed — among other things, someone to manage their social media accounts. I felt it would be a piece of cake, but as the interview progressed, the interviewer seemed less and less interested in me. I began to feel lost.
At that moment, the interviewer asked what were my hobbies, and I said “I blog”.
Immediately his face lit up, on seeing that I added “I have two blogs” and I quickly showed them to him. A few days later I started work with this company.
James also shared a story like mine, which shows how by re-imagining and re-phrasing your experience, your hobby or a random task you did, could even qualify as one of those job requirements you see on job ads. Here is the story of how one aspiring young professional did just that.
For an entry-level position in a food company, it listed “project management” experience as a critical requirement.
Initially this put off the energetic, enthusiastic graduate who was otherwise a great fit with the company and who resonated with the mission of providing customers with only the highest-quality organic food.
In discussing the dilemma, we walked through this individual’s experiences and were able to find something that fit the bill — when thought of and described in a different way.
A geography major who loves travel, he told how he worked with a group of his friends to “project manage” their recent three week trip across Eastern Europe — doing research into itineraries, finding the lowest fares and cheapest hostels, executing the reservations and bookings, collecting the money from his friends, and acting as “treasurer” for the journey.
In so doing, he was able to demonstrate the capabilities that the company was looking for — even though he was drawing on a completely non-professional experience.
The key lesson is that you may actually have more-relevant experience than you think.
And as the last point, build your network. Job opportunities are usually shared first between friends and who they know.
Be nice, helpful and friendly with whoever you work with, always give your best and stay smiling. To emphasize this, let me share how I got the opportunity to earn extra money as a Skills Trainer for NYSC during my service year.
As an undergraduate, I usually helped friends and strangers with their computers and gadgets when they had issues, most times I did it for free. It was tiring and I almost always felt like saying no.
During the orientation camp in my service year, I’m lying on my bed in the hostel when one of my “bed-mates” walks up to me and says “Would you like to work as a skills trainer for NYSC SAED program?” SAED means Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development.
On seeing my confused face, he explains:
“My brother also went to BUK (Bayero University Kano) with you. He told me that you’re very good with computers. He says you are also very nice, so I booked a meeting with the SAED director for you.”
I was shocked and excited at the same time. I accepted the offer, and I can say I enjoyed my time as a Skills Trainer while serving.
So when next you think you can’t get the job, stop that thought. Go online and get the skills, be creative about how you position yourself and know that you always have something to offer, you just need to sell yourself the right way.
Frintern.com is a personalised career accelerator that helps you learn and build work experience in a career you will love. Get started here.
