How to get a job

How to Get a Job

To successfully get a job, you’ll need to have the appropriate skills, work experience, personal branding, and qualifications to make it. Employers and recruiters are actively looking for top talent that can stand out in a tough job market.

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How to Get a Job:

In our step-by-step guide, we’ll lay out the process of getting a job with informative tips and quick steps.

Create a great resume.

Make sure your resume is legible.

Employers and recruiters use your resume to evaluate your skills, experience, and your value to their business or client. If your resume is riddled with errors or is difficult to read, the chances of an employer calling for an interview are lower.

From the start, your resume should be easy to read and understand. Make use of a legible font (Arial, Times New Roman) and ensure your details are consistent, concise, and clear. Try to avoid tiny fonts, dense blocks of text, excessive jargon, and inconsistent formatting.

How to Write a Resume (Basic Steps):

Keep your resume focused.

Your resume should either be tailored for a specific job or only include your basic information, such as your skills and previous work experience. Avoid adding information that is not necessary, as this might affect the length of your resume. Most employers and recruiters will ask for a resume that is no longer than three pages.

Highlight your transferable skills.

While you want to show off why you’re the ideal candidate for a specific role, you also want to showcase why you’re right for any role. Therefore, it’s important that you highlight your transferable skills which could be used in any job. These include technical, interpersonal, or communication skills.

Proofread your resume.

Before officially sending in your resume, make sure you give your resume a thorough review. Start by employing editing tactics like reading the resume from back to front, asking someone else to proofread it, or make use of editing software.

Build your online brand.

Build a professional brand on multiple platforms.

A strong and professional online brand will provide recruiters, employers, and networking contacts with a positive impression of you. While a physical resume is vital during the hiring process, more and more recruiters are looking at your online material. These include blogs, videos, published articles, podcasts, social media accounts, and online resumes.

The modern job search is largely conducted online. Therefore, it’s important that you take the time to create social media profiles on multiple platforms. If you already have profiles, include details about your work experience and qualifications, and always strive to deliver quality content, especially if you’re applying for a job in media.

Make use of LinkedIn.

For job seekers, your LinkedIn should be a top priority. Make a LinkedIn profile and keep it up-to-date and interesting. Your profile should include your job experience, qualifications, and any skills you have. To help your profile stand out, write a headline that accurately describes what you do instead of using a generic title.

Identify the type of business and industry you want to work in.

Consider your work experience and skills.

Before you start actively searching for a job, it’s wise to identify the type of businesses you’d like to work at and the industry you’re interested in entering. This will depend on your previous work experience and skills. By zoning in on what you really want, you can start targeting the right businesses during your job search.

Create a list of businesses you’d like to work at.

Gather information about the business and check their official website for any updates about job opportunities. Some businesses also opt to advertise job opportunities on their company website instead of a professional job board. In these cases, job seekers may even be able to sign up for email alerts or directly contact the business.

Search for job listings.

Search on popular and niche job boards.

Now that you’ve completed a resume, established an online brand, and zoned in on your target audience, you can start searching for job listings. Be sure to research the best job search engine sites, job banks, networking sites, and niche job sites. Top job boards include Indeed, Craigslist, Linkedin, and Monster.

Keep your job search focused.

Start by using keywords that match your interests, the location where you want to work, and the industry you’d like to work in. By doing this, you will receive more relevant job listings to review.

Make use of advanced search options.

Popular job boards like Indeed, SimplyHired, and Monster provide users with an “Advanced Search” option to help navigate through thousands of job listings. With this option, you can easily search by keyword, location, job title, company, type of job, date posted, and more.

Only search for jobs you qualify for.

Screening and applying for all jobs is simply not efficient. Be sure to only check out the jobs you qualify for in terms of skills, experience, and qualifications. This way you’ll have a better chance of being selected for an interview.

Set job search alerts.

To help simplify the process and save time, identify two to three job boards you like and sign up for daily job alerts. With this option, you’ll receive a daily list of new postings directly to your inbox, ultimately saving you from weeding through the same listings each day.

Tailor your cover letter.

Create a detailed and concise cover letter.

As you search and find jobs, you’ll come across various application requirements. A cover letter is not always required but when it is, make sure your cover letter is detailed and concise. It should not simply be a repetition of your resume. Instead, use your cover letter as an opportunity to explain why you are the ideal candidate.

Create a generic draft that you can tailor for each job.

Customize the introductory paragraph (which should hold most of your information), your relevant skills and abilities, and the reason you want the job. By tailoring a generic version, you will save time while also bettering your chances of getting noticed.

A cover letter must include:

To help avoid mistakes that could lead to failed job applications, read through our guide on common cover letter mistakes.

Part 11: All the best advice we could find on how to get a job

By Benjamin Todd · Published April 2016 · Last updated April 2017

On this page:

This article is part of our 2017 career guide, and hasn’t been updated in a while. If you’re interested in the ideas here, you want to check out our newer key ideas series too.

When it comes to advice on how to get a job, most of it is pretty bad.

Many advisers cover the “clean your nails and have a firm handshake” kind of thing.

A coach on AOL says that “you need business cards in your pocket at all times.” Which is great advice for job applicants who are so qualified that strangers at parties want to hire them, if only they had their email address.

Over the last five years, we’ve sifted through a lot of bad advice to find the nuggets that are actually good. We’ve also provided one-on-one coaching to hundreds of people who are applying for jobs, and hired about 20 people ourselves, so we’ve seen what works from both sides. Here, we’ll sum up what we’ve learned.

The key idea is that getting a job is about convincing someone that you have something valuable to offer. So you should focus on doing whatever employers will find most convincing. That means instead of sending out lots of CVs, focus on getting recommendations and proving you can do the work. Read on to get a step-by-step guide.

Reading time: 15 minutes.

The bottom line

Table of Contents

Let’s be blunt. You’re not entitled to a job, and hiring is rarely fair. Rather, getting a job is, at root, a sales process. You need to persuade someone to give you responsibility and a salary, and even put their reputation on the line, in exchange for results.

We’ll list key advice for each stage of the “sales” process: (1) finding opportunities (leads) (2) convincing employers (conversion) and (3) negotiating. The common theme is to think from the employer’s point of view, and do whatever they will find most convincing.

While the rest of this guide is about working out which job is best for you and the world, here we focus on the practicalities of taking action on your plans. Just bear in mind there’s no point using salesmanship to land a job that you wouldn’t be good at – you won’t be satisfied, and if your performance is worse than the next best applicant, you’ll have a negative impact.

We wrote this article to prevent the opposite situation: we’ve seen too many great candidates who want to make a difference failing to live up to their potential because they don’t know how to sell themselves.

Stage 1: Leads

A lead is any opportunity that might turn into a job, like a position you could apply for, a friend who might know an opportunity, or a side project you might be able to get paid for.

You need lots of leads

We interviewed someone who’s now a top NPR journalist. But when he started out, he applied to 70 positions and got only one serious offer.

This illustrates the first thing to know about leads: you probably need a lot of them. Especially early in your career, it can easily take 20 to 100 leads to find one good job, and getting rejected 20 times is normal. In fact, the average length of a spell of unemployment in the U.S. as of February 2016 is seven months, so be prepared for your job hunt to take that long.The mean duration of unemployment is 29 weeks, or about 7 months.
Source: St Louis Fed, Archived link, retrieved 26 March 2016

However, there’s much you can do to raise your chances of success, which is what we’ll now cover.

How to get leads: Don’t just send your CV in response to job listings, use connections

Many large organisations have a standardised application process e.g. the Civil Service, consulting and Teach for America. They want to keep the process fair, so there isn’t much wiggle room. In these cases, just apply.

But what do you do after that? The most obvious approach is to send your CV to lots of companies and apply to the postings on job boards. This is often the first thing career advisers mention.For instance, the UK’s national career advice service lists internet job listings and looking for advertised vacancies as their first two tips. Archived link, retrieved 5 June 2016.

» rel=»footnote» aria-label=»Footnote»> 3 That means you need to send out one hundred resumes just to have a 10% chance of landing a job. This is because once an opportunity is on a job board, it’ll be flooded with applicants.

Moreover, the positions on job boards need to be standardised and mainly at large companies, so they don’t include many of the best positions.

The best opportunities are less competitive because they are hidden away, often at small but rapidly growing companies, and personalised to you. You need a different way to find them.

The key is to find leads in the way that employers most like. Employers prefer to hire people they already know, or failing that, to hire through referrals – an introduction from someone they know.

Think about it from their point of view. Which would you prefer: a recommendation from someone you trust, or 20 CVs from people who saw your job listing on indeed.com? The referral is more likely to work, because the person has already been vouched for. It’s less effort — screening 20 people you know nothing about is hard. Referrals also come from a better pool of applicants — the most employable people already have lots of offers, so they rarely respond to job listings.

*Focus on the right ways to source candidates.
Basically, this boils down to “use your personal networks more”. By at least a 10x margin, the best candidate sources I’ve ever seen are friends and friends of friends. Even if you don’t think you can get these people, go after the best ones relentlessly. If it works out 5% of the time, it’s still well worth it.
When you hire someone, as soon as you’re sure she’s a star you should sit her down and wring out of her the names of everyone that you should try to hire. You may have to work pretty hard at this.

Archived link, retrieved 5 June 2016.

We think this advice is reflective of best practice, at least in the technology industry, which is widely seen as a leader of best practices more generally. This article in the New York Times also describes how referrals are becoming more widely adopted as a key method of hiring across the business world:

“In Hiring, a Friend in Need Is a Prospect, Indeed”, Nelson Schwartz, 27-Jan-2013, Link.

But job seekers usually get things backwards — they start with the methods that recruiters least like.

Source: “What Color is Your Parachute?” 2015 edition

Moreover, applicants find around 50% of jobs through connections, and many are never advertised. So if you don’t pursue referrals, you’ll miss many opportunities.

How to get referrals

You need to master the art of asking for introductions. We’ve put together a list of email scripts you can use.

To get referrals, here’s a step-by-step process. If you’re not applying for a job right now, skip this section until you are.

Remember to use the scripts when asking for introductions.

Recruiters and listings

We prefer the above tactics, but recruiters can be worth talking to, and are often more effective than just making cold applications. Look for those who have a good network in the industry you’re interested in. If you want to work in an organisation with a social purpose, check out ReWork. There are also recruiters who specialise in new graduates e.g. GradQuiz (UK).

Stage 2: Conversion

When you’re in contact with someone who has the power to hire you, how do you convince them?

Again, think about it from their point of view. Once at 80,000 Hours, we were trying to hire a web engineer. Most applicants just filled out our application form, while one sent us a redesigned version of our career quiz. Which application is more convincing? The person who sent the quiz was immediately in the top 20% of applicants, despite having very little formal experience.

Employers are looking for several qualities. They want employees who will fit in socially, stick around and not cause trouble. But most importantly, the employer wants to be sure that you can solve the problems they face. If you can prove that you’ll get the results the employer most values, everything else is much less important.

So how can you go about doing that?

When the process is highly standardised

In these cases, like Teach for America or many government jobs, you have to jump through the hoops. Maximise your chances by finding out exactly what the process involves, and practising exactly that. For instance, if it’s a competency interview, find out which competencies they look for, then have a friend ask you similar questions. Some public service organisations publish the rubrics they use to assess candidates.

The most useful thing you can do is find someone who recently went through the process, ask them how it works, and, if possible, practice the key steps with them. Sometimes there are books written about exactly how to apply.

Most employers, however, don’t have a fully standardised process. What do you do in those cases?

If you’ve already done the same work before, then you just need to practice telling your story. Skip ahead to the interview tips. But what about if you don’t have much relevant experience?

The basic idea is: do free work.

Do free work

The most powerful way to prove you can do the work is to actually do some of it. And as we saw, doing the work is the best way to figure out whether you’re good at it, so it’ll help you to avoid wasting your own time too.

Here are three ways to put that into practice.

The pre-interview project

This is what the web engineer did with our career quiz, as above.

See some more examples in this article (8min read, also where we got the term “pre-interview project”).

Speaking from personal experience, we’ve overseen four years’ worth of competitive application processes at the Centre for Effective Altruism, and doing either of these would immediately put you in the top 20% of applicants, even if your suggestions weren’t that good. It demonstrates a lot of enthusiasm, and most people hardly know anything about the role they are applying for.

Trial period

If the employer is on the fence, you can offer to do a two or four week trial period, perhaps at reduced pay or as an intern. Say that you’re keen to work there and feel confident that you’ll work out. Make it clear that if the employer isn’t happy at the end, you’ll leave gracefully.

Only bring this out if the employer is on the fence, or it can seem like you’re underselling yourself.

Go for a nearby position

If you can’t get the job you want right away, consider applying for another position in the organisation – like a freelance position, or a position one step below the one you really want. Working in a nearby position gives you the opportunity to prove your motivation and cultural fit. When your boss has a position to fill, it’s much easier to promote someone he or she already worked with than to start a lengthy application process.

How to prepare for interviews

If you can show an employer you can solve their problems, you’re most of the way there, and you can ignore most of the interview advice out there. However, you won’t always have time to prepare, and there’s more you can do to become even more convincing.

Here’s the best advice we’ve found on preparing for interviews. It’s also useful for getting leads while networking. If you’re not actively looking for a job right now, skip this section for now.

His research is based on surveys of 35,000 salespeople, and draws from the existing literature, making it one of the most thorough reviews we know. Moreover, most advice is about low value sales, which turn out to be quite different.

Rackham not only found the techniques that the best salespeople use, he then trained people in these techniques and showed they made them more effective compared to a control group who received normal sales training.

Prepare your three key selling points ahead of meetings. These are the messages you’ll try to get in during the discussion. For instance: 1) I have done this work successfully before, 2) I am really excited about this company, 3) I have suggestions for what I could work on. Writing these out ahead of time makes it more likely you’ll mention what’s most important, and three points is about the limit of what your audience will remember. That’s why this is standard advice when pitching a business idea. If you’re not sure what you have to offer, there’s an inventory exercise at the end of the article on career capital.

Focus on what’s most impressive. What sounds better: “I advised Obama on energy policy” or “I advised Obama on energy policy, and have worked as a high school teacher the last three years”? Many people fill up their CVs with everything they’ve done, but it’s usually better to pick your one or two most impressive achievements and focus on those. It sounds better, it makes it more likely you’ll cover it, and it makes it more likely that your audience will remember it.

Prepare concrete facts and stories to back up your three key messages. For instance, if you’re applying to be a web engineer, rather than “I’m a hard worker”, try “I have a friend who runs an organisation that was about to get some press coverage. He needed to build a website in 24 hours, so we pulled an all-nighter to build it. The next day we got 1,000 sign-ups.” Rather than say “I really want to work in this industry”, tell the story of what led you to apply. Stories and concrete details are far more memorable than abstract claims.For a popular summary of the research on how to do memorable communication, see Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath, Link. It puts a major emphasis on using stories, analogies and concrete facts to make ideas more memorable.

Work out how to sum up what you have to offer in a sentence. Steve Jobs didn’t sell millions of iPods by saying they’re 30% better than mp3 players, but rather with the slogan “1,000 songs in your pocket”. Having a short, vivid summary makes it easy for other people to promote you on your behalf. For instance “He’s the guy who advised Obama on climate policy and wants a research position.”

Prepare answers to the most likely questions. Write them out, then practice saying them out loud. The following three questions normally come up: (1) Tell me about yourself – this is an opportunity to tell the story of why you want this position and mention one or two achievements (2) Why do you want this position? (3) What are your questions for us? Then usually the interviewer will add some behavioural questions about the traits they care most about. These usually start “Tell me about a time you…”, then are finished with things like: “exhibited leadership”, “had to work as a team”, “had to deal with a difficult situation or person”, “failed” or “succeeded.” You can find a list of common interview questions here.

Practice the meeting, from start to finish. Meet with a friend and have them ask you five interview questions, then practice responding quickly. If you don’t have a friend to help, then say your answers out loud and mentally rehearse how you want it to go. Ask yourself what’s most likely to go wrong, and what you’ll do if that happens.

Learn. After each interview, jot down what went well, what could have gone better, and what you’ll do differently next time.

To learn more about sales, our top recommendation is SPIN selling, which is based on in-depth research by Neil Rackman.See SPIN Selling by Neil Rackman.

His research is based on surveys of 35,000 salespeople, and draws from the existing literature, making it one of the most thorough reviews we know. Moreover, most advice is about low value sales, which turn out to be quite different.

Rackham not only found the techniques that the best salespeople use, he then trained people in these techniques and showed they made them more effective compared to a control group who received normal sales training.

Stage 3: Negotiation

Negotiation begins after you have an offer, once the employer has said they’d like to hire you.

Most people are so happy to get a job, or awkward about the idea of negotiating, that they never try. But ten minutes of negotiation could mean major benefits over the next couple of years. So actually consider doing it.

For instance, you could ask the employer to match your donations to charity. That could mean thousands of dollars of extra donations per year, making those ten minutes you took to negotiate among the most productive of your life.

You could also negotiate to work on a certain team, have more flexible hours, work remotely, or learn certain skills. All of these could make a big difference to your day-to-day happiness and career capital.

Negotiation is not always appropriate. Don’t do it if you’ve landed a highly standardised offer, like many government positions — they won’t be able to change the contract. Also don’t do it if you’re only narrowly better than the other candidates or have no alternatives. And definitely don’t negotiate until the employer has made an offer — it looks really bad to start negotiating during the interview.

However, we think negotiation should be tried in most cases once you have an offer. Hiring someone takes months and consumes lots of management time. Once an employer has made an offer, they’ve invested many thousands of dollars in the process. The top candidate is often significantly better than the next best. This means it’s unlikely that they’ll let the top candidate get away for, say, a 5% increase in costs.

It’s even more unlikely that they’ll retract their initial offer because you tried to negotiate. Stay polite, and the worst case is likely that they’ll stick to their original offer.

Negotiation should be most strongly considered when you have more than one good offer, because then you have a strong fallback position.

How to negotiate

Explain the value you’ll give the employer, and why it’s justified to give you the benefits you want. The idea is to look for objective metrics and win-win solutions – can you give up something the employer cares about in exchange for something you care about? For instance:

Lots has been written about salary negotiation, so this hardly scratches the surface. Here’s a good guide (30 minutes). Ramit Sethi also has tips (14 minute video and free pdf guide in exchange for newsletter sign up). If you want to get more advanced, check out the book Getting Past No by William Ury, who developed the negotiation course at Harvard Law School.

Negotiate after you’ve started

Once you start the job, try to perform as well as possible, and then negotiate again. Most employers will be very unwilling to lose someone who’s already doing excellent work. Just bear in mind, most companies have a standard review process, so wait until then to make your ask.

Stay motivated

The job search may be one of the hardest things you’ve ever done — you’ve probably never been rejected 30 times in a row before. And you may have to do most of it alone. It makes online dating look easy.

This means that you’ll need to throw every motivational technique you know at the job hunt. For example, set a really specific goal like speaking to five people each week until you have an offer, publicly commit to the goal, and promise to make a forfeit if you miss it. We know one job seeker who, although he is liberal, promised to donate to the Trump campaign if he missed his goal.

One of the most useful approaches our members have found is pairing up with someone else who’s also job hunting. Check in on progress, and share tips and leads. Alternatively, find someone who was recently successful at a similar hunt and is willing to meet up and give you tips.

To get more practical tips on how to motivate yourself, check out the book The Motivation Hacker by Nick Winter. And we have another article that lists evidence-based ways to stay happy, productive and motivated.

Check out our advice on different jobs

The best way to get a job depends on the type of job you’re pursuing. Go to our career reviews and scroll to the end of the profile to see customised advice for each type of job.

Never job hunt again

Your job hunts will get easier and easier as you build career capital.

The most important thing you can do to put yourself in a better position is to gain more connections, so you can get better referrals. We have tips on that here and in the next article.

Also focus on developing strong skills and crushing it in your work. The best marketing is word of mouth — employers seeking you out rather than the other way around. If you’re great at your job, then people will actively want to refer you to employers, because it’s doing them a favour as well as you. Read our article on career capital to find out how to never have to job hunt again.

Conclusion

Getting a job can be an unpleasant process, but if you go through the steps in this article, you’ll give yourself the best chance of success. And that will make sure you fulfil your potential to find a satisfying career and contribute to the world.

Apply this to your own career

What are the most important three steps to take in order to get into your top options?

Try to be as specific as possible. Some good examples: complete an online course in statistics; follow up with my boss at my last internship; read my top-recommended problem profile. The key steps probably involve speaking to people.

When are you going to do each of these? Many studies have shown that writing down when you’ll do a task makes it much more likely you’ll actually do it – it’s called an “implementation intention”.

Read next: Part 12: The most powerful way to improve your career: Join a community.

Or see an overview of the whole 2017 career guide.

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Notes and references

*Focus on the right ways to source candidates.
Basically, this boils down to “use your personal networks more”. By at least a 10x margin, the best candidate sources I’ve ever seen are friends and friends of friends. Even if you don’t think you can get these people, go after the best ones relentlessly. If it works out 5% of the time, it’s still well worth it.
When you hire someone, as soon as you’re sure she’s a star you should sit her down and wring out of her the names of everyone that you should try to hire. You may have to work pretty hard at this.

Archived link, retrieved 5 June 2016.

We think this advice is reflective of best practice, at least in the technology industry, which is widely seen as a leader of best practices more generally. This article in the New York Times also describes how referrals are becoming more widely adopted as a key method of hiring across the business world:

“In Hiring, a Friend in Need Is a Prospect, Indeed”, Nelson Schwartz, 27-Jan-2013, Link.

His research is based on surveys of 35,000 salespeople, and draws from the existing literature, making it one of the most thorough reviews we know. Moreover, most advice is about low value sales, which turn out to be quite different.

Rackham not only found the techniques that the best salespeople use, he then trained people in these techniques and showed they made them more effective compared to a control group who received normal sales training.↩

How To Get a Job With No Experience

By Indeed Editorial Team

Updated May 18, 2022 | Published February 4, 2020

Updated May 18, 2022

Published February 4, 2020

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In this video, we take you through 4 essential steps of getting a job and if you stick around until then end, we’ll unleash an interviewing tactic that’s going to help you stay poised under pressure.

If you are just starting in your career or looking to change positions or industries, you may feel limited by a lack of experience. However, every professional has been in the same position at some point in their career. If you approach your job hunt with the right strategy, you can use your relevant skills and abilities to show employers you are the right candidate for a job, no matter how much experience you have. In this article, we go over some steps you can take to get a job without any experience to help you become a stronger candidate.

How to get a job with no experience

Whether you are just out of college or trying to switch industries, there are a lot of things you can do to compensate for a lack of experience. Here are 11 steps you can take to gain new qualifications, improve your overall application and impress employers:

1. Highlight your transferable experience

If you are changing careers, you can use the work experience you have to show your potential to succeed in this new role. The best way to approach this is to frame that work experience in a way that is more relevant to what you want to do. Look for the transferable skills that you have developed in your previous career or experiences and emphasize those on your resume.

For example, if you currently work as a barista but would like to switch to bartending, you have a lot of transferable skills, including customer service, following recipes to create beverages and keeping the workspace clean and compliant with health and safety codes. Even if your current job is not very closely related to the career you want, there will likely be a few skills or job duties that overlap.

2. Emphasize your soft skills

For individuals changing careers, your soft skills will almost certainly be among your most transferable skills. Soft skills include things that are not industry-specific but are still essential for doing the job well. They include things such as:

Attention to detail

Adaptability or flexibility

For those with no work experience at all, think about other ways you might have cultivated or demonstrated some of these soft skills. Look at any volunteer experience and extracurricular activities you have for examples of these skills. Use that experience on your resume to demonstrate soft skills.

Do a little background research into your desired industry to find out which soft skills are most sought after in candidates for the position you are applying for. Try to focus on examples and work experience that demonstrate those specific skills.

3. Build a network

The power of networking with the people doing what you want to do cannot be overstated, no matter which industry you want to work in. Reach out to professionals through social media or email and invite them out for coffee or ask if they would be willing to talk to you over the phone. Ask them questions about the work they do and what advice they would give to someone just starting in their field.

These are known as informational interviews. They are a great way to learn more about the career you are interested in while also making personal connections with people in the industry. While you do not want to directly ask for a job or recommendation the first time you meet someone, you should take some time to talk about what your greatest strengths are and what steps you plan on taking to make yourself a stronger candidate.

You might not become extremely close with every person you talk to but the more informational interviews you do, the more likely you are to build real connections that could translate to professional recommendations later on. Make sure to be friendly and appreciative during these conversations, and focus on learning more about the career and connecting with the person you’re talking to.

4. Take lower-paid or unpaid opportunities

One way to get the career you want is to work your way up from the bottom. Find an entry-level position or even an internship and build your experience from there. It might not pay as well as you would like, but it will give you some critical work experience to put on your resume.

If you can’t afford to take a pay cut or work in an unpaid internship position, try to find something part-time or flexible enough to allow you to earn the income you need from another job while gaining the experience you need from this lower-paid or unpaid opportunity. Working two jobs may feel like a lot, but taking on the extra workload now will pay off over time as you can show some real work experience when you apply for better-paying jobs.

5. Be clear about your motivation

Without demonstrated experience on the job, employers will naturally want to look for proof that you are actually interested in this specific career and not just looking for a job to pay the bills. Even if an attractive salary is one of your primary motivators, you should be ready to clearly explain why that particular career appeals to you.

Your potential to learn the skills and meet the demands of the position is heavily dependent on how motivated you are to do well. Try to be as specific as you can in explaining why you are determined to work in this field. Talk about a personal connection you have to the work or a moment that inspired you to pursue this career. You can also discuss your long-term career goals on your resume, in your cover letter and during an interview.

6. Do it on your own

For many careers, especially creative ones, you can prove you are capable of the work by coming up with side projects on your own. If you want to be a writer, set up a free website and start posting your writing to it. If you want to work in marketing, develop a strategy to promote yourself through social media and digital marketing. If you want to work in carpentry, start crafting some pieces in your garage.

Coming up with your own projects will not only demonstrate that you have the skills required to do the work you want to pursue, but it also shows an incredible amount of initiative. It tells employers that you are so passionate about this work that you spend your free time doing it.

7. Find your own way into the career

Not every career path is a straight line. If you can get a job at a company you want to work for doing the work you currently do, this may be a good strategy for you. Once you’re working for them, you can start planning ways to transition into the new career you want to pursue.

For example, if you are an aspiring fashion designer who currently works in customer service, find a job as a receptionist in a clothing brand’s office. Once you’re there, you can talk with the designers, offer to assist them with their work and get their advice on how to work your way into a designer role.

8. Go back to school

If the career you want is completely unrelated to what you are currently doing, consider going back to school for it. While strong credentials aren’t a substitute for work experience, they still signal to employers that you have demonstrated interest and potential. They will be more likely to take a risk on an entry-level candidate if you can show them a strong educational background.

Here are a few other advantages of going back to school:

Networking: The professors teaching classes in the field you want to work in will usually have some professional connections. Stay after class and attend office hours to build relationships with your professors and ask for their help in connecting you with potential employers.

Internships and training: Many degree programs, especially those designed to prepare you for a professional career, include or at least offer internships or hands-on practical training. If it isn’t built into the curriculum of your program, you can speak to your advisor to find out what opportunities they offer.

Career resources: Your professors, advisors and other staff in your department can all help you figure out your options, plan your career and prepare for your job search. More importantly, they will be able to give you advice that is industry-specific and based on their knowledge of your unique situation and qualifications.

References: Professors can be great references to list on your resume. They will be able to frame your educational achievements and skills in a way that employers in your industry will be impressed with. Just make sure to ask your professors first before you list them as references.

9. Send the application

Even if you aren’t feeling entirely confident in your qualifications, you can still send an application anyway. Applying at least gives you the potential to get the job. Moreover, if you do apply, you might be surprised to find out that you are the most qualified candidate out of the applications they received.

Create a job-hunting schedule and send out a set number of applications each week. You may not hear back from many of them, but you will likely get a couple of interviews this way and potentially your first job.

10. Consider relocating

Depending on the industry, you might find that there just isn’t enough demand in your area but there might be in other areas. Widening your search area to include other locations can expand the number of jobs you can apply for and increase your chance of actually getting one.

Of course, relocation isn’t a realistic option for everyone, and you should only consider moving to a location where you think you would enjoy living. However, if you are flexible about where you live, you can greatly increase the potential of getting your dream job.

11. Ask for feedback

If you find that you are getting interviews but aren’t getting hired, reach out to the employers who interviewed you for feedback. Do this by sending a friendly email asking for their honest feedback regarding your application. This is a great way to learn more about what tweaks you can make to your resume and what you can do to improve your overall performance in the interview. Just note that you should only ask for feedback if you have made it to the interview stage.

Как получить работу, которую вы хотите, даже если у вас не хватает необходимой квалификации

Рагхав Харан, работавший в крупных компаниях, в том числе Shutterstock и фонде TrueVentures, написал о том, как можно получить работу, которую хочется, даже если не хватает дипломов и сертификатов, которые требуются от соискателя. Редакция vc.ru подготовила перевод материала.

Может, проблема в том, что я родом из Среднего Запада. Но мне кажется, что в Нью-Йорке все выглядят так, словно ходят в спортзал.

Я множество раз пытался похудеть, но безрезультатно. Существование вокруг всех этих накачанных ребят заставило меня сделать еще одну попытку сбросить лишние килограммы. Но нужно было придумать новый способ, поэтому прошлым летом я нанял персонального тренера в Нью-Йорке.

Я был невероятно доволен результатом. Настолько, что подумал о собственном тренере в своем родном городе, когда вернусь. Я рассказал о своем намерении тренеру в NYC. «Они являются квалифицированными специалистами в силовых тренировках и правильном питании?» — спросил он. Я не знал, что ответить.

Как много вы знаете людей, которые говорят: «Я хочу подкачаться. Мне нужен совет кого-нибудь, кто имеет квалификацию по силовым тренировкам и правильному питанию!»?. Единственные люди, которые могут сказать что-то подобное, сами имеют эту «квалификацию».

Потребителям абсолютно всё равно! Они просто находят людей с самой лучшей фигурой и спрашивают их, что нужно для этого сделать.

Много лет назад я проходил собеседование на стажировку в стартапе. У меня было достойное резюме, а работодатель знал, что я ходил в отличную школу. Я думал, что стажировка уже у меня в кармане. Но мне так и не перезвонили.

Позже я узнал, что должность получил какой-то парень из неизвестного колледжа, расположенного в городке, о котором я никогда не слышал. У нового сотрудника не было большого опыта в этой работе.

Как это возможно?

Получается, что люди, которые ищут работу, переживают за свои достижения и сертификаты. Компания, которая нанимает сотрудника, заботится о том, сможет ли он решить ее проблемы. Ситуация на самом деле обстоит так: дипломы, сертификаты и другие бумаги важны в некоторых отраслях — например, в медицине или юриспруденции. В остальных сферах требования к будущему сотруднику иногда оказываются удивительно гибкими.

Если вы докажете будущему работодателю, что сможете решить его проблему, ваши сертификаты перестанут играть такую важную роль. Именно так я получал предложения о работе, которые требовали от кандидата научной степени или многолетнего опыта.

Каким образом вы можете доказать способность решить проблемы компании?

Начните заниматься работой до того, как получили ее. Я называю это «проект для собеседования».

Простой пример: если вы откликаетесь на вакансию дизайнера, попробуйте разработать новый дизайн для компании, в которой хотите работать, и объясните работодателю, почему вы приняли те или иные решения, создавая проект.

Я расскажу подробнее о «проектах для собеседования» с примерами из реальной жизни, о том, кому нужно отправлять свои наработки, и даже покажу шаблоны для таких писем.

Шаг 1: Ограничьте ваш поиск несколькими вакансиями, которые вас особенно интересуют.

Это не такой быстрый процесс, как рассылка резюме во множество компаний. Зато более эффективный.

Помните о трех правилах, которые нужно помнить, когда просматриваете предложения о работе:

— Если вам немного не хватает количества лет опыта работы — это нормально. Если только не слишком большого количества лет. Например, при опыте в год можно попасть на работу, которая требует три года. А вот на ту, что требует семь лет, уже вряд ли возможно.
— Если ваш уровень образования ниже заявленного в вакансии — это нормально. Но только не в том случае, если речь идет о вакансиях, требующих профессоров наук.
— Убедитесь, что действительно можете выполнять эту работу. У вас может не быть нужных бумаг, но должны быть навыки.

Если вы нашли 3-5 таких позиций, переходим ко второму шагу.

Шаг 2: Поймите, чем вы будете заниматься на этой работе.

Если вы разберетесь в том, чего от вас ждут на новой работе, вам будет проще сделать подходящий «проект для собеседования». Для этого вам понадобится описание вакансии. Определите, что из будущих обязанностей не требует внутренней информации компании, к которой у вас пока нет доступа, и выполняйте.

Шаг 3: Делайте отдельный проект для каждой компании, в которую хотите устроиться.

Так вы сможете показать конкретным работодателям, что сможете решить их проблемы.
Когда я подавал резюме на позицию специалиста по развитию продукта, я тестировал продукты компании, на основании результатов создавал предложения по дизайну и направлял их в компанию. Подобные разработки позволили мне попасть на собеседования в крупные компании вроде Quora и Airbnb, а Shutterstock создал позицию специально для меня.

Моя подруга сделала большой проект для Dropbox и теперь работает там.

Шаг 4: Отправьте проект в компанию.

Для этого нужно найти правильного человека, который обратит внимание на ваши наработки.

Если вы отправляете проект в небольшую компанию, можете напрямую обращаться к гендиректору или руководителю интересующего вас отдела. Можно достучаться до них через соцсети или почту.

Здравствуйте, [имя]!
Меня зовут [ваше имя], и я заметил, что вы ищете сотрудника, и заинтересовался вашей вакансией. Я подумал, что будет полезно [здесь — краткое описание вашего проекта], чтобы показать мой интерес и ценность для компании.
[Представьте ваш проект]
Немного о себе: [небольшое описание вашего опыта, который поможет устроиться на эту работу: 2-3 предложения]
Спасибо за внимание, надеюсь услышать ответ о дальнейших действиях!
С уважением,
[ваше имя]

Если вы отправляете проект в крупную компанию, например, Microsoft или Amazon, это сложнее. Я советую сначала назначить собеседование, а затем выслать проект тем, кто будет с вами общаться при приеме на работу за некоторое время до назначенной даты.

Вот шаблон для такого случая:

Здравствуйте, [имя]!
[Имя сотрудника] сообщил, что [дата] у нас назначено собеседование на [вакансию] в компании.
[представьте проект]
Я решил, что лучше отправить проект сейчас, если вы захотите обсудить его на собеседовании (и если это приемлемо, конечно).
Спасибо за внимание. С уважением, [ваше имя]

Всегда, когда я выполнял вышеперечисленные шаги, собеседование проходило супер-гладко, и в большинстве случаев меня брали на работу.

«Но это не работает в моей сфере! Моя сфера — другая!» — скажете вы.

Нет, это не так. Это всего лишь поведение человека. Люди хотят, чтобы их проблема решилась, поэтому предпочитают нанимать кого-то, кто уже работает над этим.

Попробуйте. Это работает.

А если ваш проект так и не получил отклика от компании, задумайтесь об ее корпоративной культуре и о том, хотите ли вы работать в таком месте.

Прочитал эту статью как только Рагхав ее опубликовал и переведу свой коммент из нее.

==== Ваши советы не работают и знаете почему?

Некоторые советы нашли в этих компаниях свое применение (уж не знаю, благодаря мне или еще кому-то). Каждый пост я сопровождал твитом с упоминанием компании, писал письма в отдел продукт-менеджмента, указывал на эти советы в резюме для HR и пару раз от отчаяния писал напрямую CEO.

И самое что печальное, продукт-менеджерам этих проектов полностью наплевать на то, что нужно их аудитории. Громкие факапы разных сервисов явное тому подтверждение.

How to Get a Job

This article was co-authored by Alyson Garrido, PCC. Alyson Garrido is an International Coach Federation accredited Professional Certified Coach (PCC), Facilitator, and Speaker. Using a strengths-based approach, she supports her clients with job search and career advancement. Alyson provides coaching for career direction, interview preparation, salary negotiation, and performance reviews as well as customized communication and leadership strategies. She is a Founding Partner of the Systemic Coach Academy of New Zealand.

There are 14 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.

This article has been viewed 3,691,481 times.

Maybe your current job just isn’t working out, or maybe you just graduated and are trying to get employed for the first time. The job market can be hard to crack in either case, no matter your age or experience. Start by networking and searching online for job openings, tailoring your resume and cover letter to match what employers are seeking, and then sending in stand-out applications. The process may seem daunting, but going in with determination and a plan will carry you through until you find the perfect opportunity.

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