How To Get a Job with No Relevant Experience or Education

How To Get a Job with No Relevant Experience or Education When you finish your college education and try to land your first real job, you may run into a number of positions that, despite being entry level, simply require too much experience to get your foot in the door. This obstacle is becoming more common, due partly to the overall workforce being deluged with experienced candidates and partly due to employers having unrealistic expectations for lower-level jobs. Instead of just throwing your hands up at the whole process, there are a few things you can do to make employers consider you even with little to no experience: The reality of experience: Look at almost any job posting, and you’ll see some kind of experience requirement, which is usually several years or more. It’s unrealistic for employers to expect recent college graduates to have this kind of work experience, and most employers recognize this despite still putting the requirement on the posting. The reality is that many employers will fully consider a candidate who only has schooling, and will often translate years of education into years of experience. If you feel the job requires your exact skill set, as long as the position doesn’t require something like ten years of experience, feel free to apply. Just be ready to address your lack of experience in the interview. See also: How To Best Prepare for Your Job Interview. How can you gain experience? There are a number of ways you can gain the experience you will need to land a job. First, consider volunteer work, which not only provides work experience but will look attractive on a resume. Also, consider an internship in your field. It may not pay very much, or at all, but it is a great way to get a little experience to flesh out your resume. Websites designed to help graduates and students find volunteer and internship opportunities are becoming popular: try Monster’s internship site to find opportunities near you. Related: How To Find Graduate Internships on LinkedIn Education, education, education: If you can’t get a job right out of school, your best bet may be to go back and further your education. Entry level positions are generally targeted towards people without advanced degrees, so if you go back and get a master’s degree, it may let you skip those types of positions and begin interviewing for professional and managerial positions where the employer will be less likely to look down on your lack of experience since you have an advanced degree to show for your efforts. The recent explosion of online learning can even help you earn an online master degree while working a basic job or interning. Online degrees, especially the advanced degrees, are a great way to get the most out of your education while not having to put your life on hold. As you make your way out into the professional world, there’s no reason to let a lack of experience hold you back from landing the job of your dreams. Even if companies are asking for experience that you may not think you have, they may be more than willing to consider your schooling as experience if you can nail the interview. Even if you can’t seem to get your foot in the door, with a little extra effort and a little extra schooling you’ll be able to blow away hiring managers in no time. Related: 7 Reasons Employers Will Hire You. Author: Jesse Langley lives near Chicago. He divides his time among work, writing and family life. He writes on behalf of of online master degree sites and has a keen interest in blogging and social media.  

Starting over Growing Business Slowly, But Surely - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Starting over Growing Business Slowly, But Surely - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Areas of San Francisco are known for their lineup of gourmet food trucks. The old style “roach coach” has made way for some of the best ethnic food in town. Many of the food truck owners emigrated from other countries. They found their way to building a small business based upon serving their hometown food. For some, the journey from the home country meant a need to start over. But by banding together, these entrepreneurs, with little to their name, began a fad and then fashioned a growing business. Many steady clients stand in line for almost their entire lunch break waiting to purchase their lunch due to the excellence in cuisine, price-performance, and convenience of trucks being nearby. The chefs understood what their intended clientele wanted, met those desires, and delivered value. It is the value and excellence that drove the success of the food trucks. Having tested the waters, some of the food truck owners then proceeded to establish traditional restaurants too. By recognizing what sold best, on a small scale, they knew precisely what to focus on next for their larger endeavor. On popular evenings and weekends, one such restaurant boasts a two-hour wait outside their door. You might not have a food truck, but do have a dream of where you would like to be headed. It’s a lonely and difficult road to pursue your vision all by yourself. Just as the truck owners combined forces, consider finding similar minded business owners to come together for a mastermind group. Honestly share where you are stuck, and ask for ideas to overcome the hardships as well as how to proceed to the larger picture in mind. The exchange of information and honest communication benefits everyone involved. Do keyword searches online for topics on which you need to know more. Self-study and taking classes from those you admire will serve to fast track your business. Ask questions of others as to how they found success. Most people are so surprised by the question, they will tell you in detail. Be sure to take notes! Develop a buddy system with a trusted peer or two. Promise to exchange pertinent information that comes your way that you each need to learn. At the same time, get a good grasp on what works best in your business. Should you have a website to sell services or products, research how well it ranks globally as well as in your own country. Get the starting point for tracking and record it. Now implement one new idea at a time. At the end of each month, check the impact of the idea in terms of website ranking. See whether the numbers for popularity or traffic have decreased or increased. Implement the next new idea. At the end of the following month, check for the indicators. Establish this as routine and embellish upon what works best. By getting a pulse on what your clientele needs, wants, and desires, that will be your clue as to what to develop and deliver. And just like the successful truck drivers, make your goods value-driven, delivered with excellence. You, too, will attract a larger clientele and experience the Smooth Sale!

4 Benefits of Conducting Exit Interviews

4 Benefits of Conducting Exit Interviews To put it simply, an exit interview is an interview which is conducted with an employee who is leaving the company. Its rather similar to when youre employing someone for a role, but instead of asking questions about why they want the job and why they want to work for you, youre asking them for their reasons why they have left the job. This interview can be the key to solving many issues within the workplace and is a great chance for you to find out what areas your business is succeeding in and what areas perhaps need developing. So, what are the benefits of an exit interview? 1. Its cost-effective Taking into account that exit interviews dont take up too much time, incur a little cost and provide valuable information, they are definitely a useful tool which you can to add to human resources. Going through the strengths and weaknesses of the business with your employee in the form of a chat or an interview is also really easy to conduct and is a small investment which will reap maximum rewards. 2. You will learn and understand why people leave Learning why individuals choose to leave your organization will provide you with the details you need to fix the issue. The reasons are likely to vary from person to person and you need to understand whether it is a fault due to the organization, management or circumstances beyond your control. Possibly the employee was offered a role elsewhere with a higher salary, perhaps they are not seeing the progression that they were promised or maybe they are coping with personal issues which have caused them to leave. Knowing why someone has left will allow you to address any issues so that it doesnt happen again. 3. You will identify any problems within the company If youre thinking about conducting an exit interview then you obviously want to improve your business. You want to create a place where people want to work. Exit interviews offer you with the information you need to make the working environment better for employees and also to improve retention. A lot of questions asked during an exit interview refer to the working environment. It can be difficult to know how employees feel at work whilst under your management. Some questions you could ask include do you believe your job description has changed since you were hired? and what do you think the company can improve on? 4. Closure Exit interviews give you the chance to tie up any loose ends with an employee who is leaving. As well as asking questions about why they chose to leave, youll be able to provide them with information about their final pay and go through any documents which need to be completed by their last day. Its also nice for both the employer and employee to leave the working relationship on good terms. Although you wont find out everything you would like to know in an exit interview, its a great place to start in gaining an insight into why people leave. Receiving constructive criticism and putting improvements into place will provide a better experience for current employees as well as any future employees. About the author: Lauren Buck is a Criminology and Psychology graduate, freelance writer, blogger and Etsy store owner. She writes about a variety of topics including student and career advice for Inspiring Interns, which specializes in placing graduates in the best London roles.

Top 10 Networking Books for Your Career Success

Top 10 Networking Books for Your Career Success Even the most confident, social and outgoing among us may  find the prospect of both personal and professional networking daunting at  times. From an early age we’re taught “don’t talk to strangers” but when we  grow up, we suddenly find ourselves thrust into situations, be it at parties or  business events, where we’re expected to initiate conversation with random  individuals who we’ve never seen before, don’t know and have nothing to do  with. Not only that, but we’re expected to get tangible results out of such  encounters. Be it our matchmaking friend or our sales manager, they expect you  to leave that party or conference with a date or a business card. The issue here is that networking, as well as being a  social skill, also counts as a career skill and the majority of us have had no  formal career (or social) skills training. However, building up such skills can  be an essential part of building your career, so it’s worth investing time in yourself to learn these skills. Good, old-fashioned, paper-not-digital books are  one of a number of ways to start self-training. Here are ten of the most rated  books on networking; a good mixture of classics and newer titles. Click:  Ten Truths for Building Extraordinary Relationships George  Fraser If even the word ‘networking’ fills you with dread and you  just find the whole concept too contrived, this book is for you. In it, George  Fraser explains he prefers the term ‘connecting’ to ‘networking’ and encourages  us to be sincere. It’s not wishy-washy vagueness though-each chapter is packed  with practical, ‘takeaway’ advice. Networking  like a Pro: Turning Contacts into Connections Ivan Misner On the theme of ‘connecting’, have you ever felt like  you’re just amassing contacts without forging any type of close connection with  them? This book shows you how to resolve this by breaking down a number of  networking techniques, illustrated by real life examples. Breakthrough  Networking: Building Relationships that Last Lillian D. Bjorseth Here’s another book focusing on the long-term nurturing of  your network. It guides you through the process from meeting new people to  establishing them as close and valued contacts within your inner circle. Like  many of the best career guides, Bjorseth has corporate experience herself, so  she knows what she’s talking about. Diane Darling  Lillian D. Bjorseth Although this is by the same author, it has a slightly  different objective in that it focuses more on getting to know new people than  getting closer to the ones you know. Just as valid a lesson-if we never got to  know anyone new, we’d never have anyone to get closer to! Make  your Contacts Count: Networking Know-How for Business and Career Success Anne Baber Lynne Waymon This is as interactive as a traditional book can get, with  various quizzes, assessments and step-by-step plans to guide the reader through  all the stages of professional networking relationships. A useful read for all,  from entrepreneurs to job seekers. Highly  Effective Networking: Meet the Right People and get a Great Job Orville  Pierson Networking as part of our job search is certainly useful,  but a haphazard, confused approach can render it counterproductive. This book  helps untangle matters by laying out the steps for a straightforward, targeted  approach. Pierson is also honest about the time and perseverance required to  get the job we really want. The  Fine Art of Small Talk: How to Start a Conversation, Keep it Going, Build  Networking Skills-and Leave a Positive Impression!  Debra Fine What about books for those of us who aren’t even  comfortable with starting a conversation when it comes to networking? This one  starts right from the start, even providing a list of icebreakers. There’s an  accompanying cassette so all in all it’s a varied learning experience! Savvy  Networking: 118 Fast Effective Tips for Business Success Andrea  Nierenberg This is ideal if you don’t have much spare time for  reading, or if you don’t enjoy reading long passages! The advice for business  networkers is broken down into takeaway tips, flavoured with some real-life  illustrations for variation. How  to Win Friends and Influence People Dale Carnegie This well-known classic from the 1930s is still relevant to  networkers today. Networking is not only about meeting people and getting to  know them, but also about treating people in the right way. Chapters like ‘Six  ways to make people like you’ may sound a bit ‘high school’ and clumsy but that  doesn’t totally invalidate the sentiments behind them. Let’s face it, if  someone doesn’t like you, they’re not going to help you, no matter how good a  networker you are. It seems there’s a networking book out there for all of us,  no matter what stage of our career-or career transition-we’re at. Books are  just one useful tool in building up skills like networking. Try asking friends  about their own experiences, seeking out specific training and, of course,  getting out there and trying out these books’ tips for yourself. Practice makes  perfect! Related: 5 Great Ways NOT to Network. Author: Nisa Chitakasem is the founder of Position Ignition â€" a  careers company dedicated to taking  you to the next step in your career. Image: Shutterstock

Is Emotional Intelligence Relevant in the Workplace - CareerMetis.com

Is Emotional Intelligence Relevant in the Workplace People have been talking about emotional intelligence So, with all these benefits there for the taking, how can we go about increasing emotional intelligence? Thankfully, EQ isn’t just innateâ€"it’s a skillset we can all learn. InitiativeOne, a leadership transformation company based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, suggests seven ways you can improve your own emotional intelligence or the EQ of a whole team.1. Establish team normsevalList 8â€"12 agreed-upon behaviors that will help everyone communicate and work together more with less drama.2. Practice deep listeningTruly pay attention to others. Listen for understanding, rather than simply waiting for your turn to speak.3. Communicate impeccablySay what needs to be said, out loud, when you have the opportunity. Don’t hold your tongue just to have a meeting after the meeting. And always take concerns directly to the person involved, rather than slipping into gossip.4. Boost self-awarenessPay more attention to your feelings. Maybe even write them down in a journal. Reflect on why you’re feeling a certain way, what causes it, and how to manage your feelings appropriately.5. Show empathyevalSee things from the perspectives of others. Respect that others are emotional beings too, with their own unique points of view. Seek to understand and never invalidate how others are feeling.6. Be sensitive to others’ circumstancesEverybody has things other than work on their minds. Understand that there’s often a deeper “why” behind how someone acts or interacts. If personal issues are coloring their behavior, be caring. Ask how they’re doing. Maybe even gently offer some help.7. Ask for the perspective of othersevalIt’s hard to know if you need to change if you never seek feedback on your own behavior. Respectfully ask those around you for their honest assessment, then make a real effort to improve where you need to.In today’s workforce, emotional intelligence can be the currency of career and corporate success . Make a concerted effort to improve at it and you may find yourself advancing more quickly, earning higher wages, and gaining the respect of those around you.For even more information on emotional intelligence and its influence in the workplace, check out this blog post and infographic from InitiativeOne.Infographic Credit â€" initiative-one.com

My favorites - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

My favorites - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Just so you know it, Ive put all my favorite blogposts from this site in one category, called best of site. Some of my all time favorites are: 10 seeeeeeeeriously cool workplaces Top 5 business maxims that need to go Part I and Part II Top 5 reasons why The Customer is Always Right is wrong Book Review: The Seven-Day Weekend The Cult of Overwork Enjoy :o) Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Writing a UK Resume - What You Need to Know

Writing a UK Resume - What You Need to KnowWriting a UK Resume can be one of the most important parts of the entire job application process. This is because they go through multiple sources and multiple types of jobs in the UK. A good recruiter can help you decide how to convey your skills and qualifications.One of the biggest challenges that many UK professionals face when trying to get jobs is their inability to write a good UK Resume. For years people have put their heart and soul into crafting resumes, writing the perfect introduction and cover letter, but have come up short. This is a common problem that I will outline in this article.A good UK Resume should be easy to read. Just about anyone can write an effective cover letter for a job, but it is very different for an actual resume. Many UK professionals do not like the idea of writing a resume at all, but that is for a different article.You want to make sure your resume is easy to read. They should follow a standard format, l ook professional, and be grammatically correct. For example, most resumes follow a 'one sheet, two columns, three lines format' (which is different from a business card, which has four sheets, two columns, and three lines). Some of these days even computer applications may have their own different formatting.Good UK Resumes is hard to make if you have no experience in the field, but that is not the best thing to do. You need to keep a mental picture of what you are doing before you start writing. If you do not have experience and know nothing about what you are doing, then you will waste a lot of time trying to figure out what kind of things to put on your resume.Another thing to note is that your main point of interest in applying for jobs in the UK should be you. Always talk about yourself and give good examples of your work history. The better your summary of your job history, the better your chances will be of getting an interview.In fact, many people seem to think that getting an interview means that they should try to be too creative with their UK Resume. Instead, your resume should be able to just get you the interview.To summarize, if you are looking to apply for jobs in the UK, you should be ready to tackle the challenge of writing a UK Resume. A great recruiter can help you with this.