Creating a CV with minimal or even zero work experience can be a daunting task and honestly even nearly depressing especially when every advertisement is requesting for some level of work experience.
However, although you may not have a lot of work experience, you do have unique qualities and skills that are transferable. Here are some top tips that you can use to communicate your credibility through your resume, despite having no work experience:
Include more details about your education
A person with relevant work experience may not have to include too much information about their education, however; if you don’t have any work experience (or any relevant work experience), it would be a good idea to be very detailed in your education section to make up for what you don’t have.
To show the recruiter how awesome you are through your education, you should include the following:
• Name of your tertiary institution
• Your major
• Graduation date or anticipated date
• GPA (if you have at least a 3.0)
• Relevant coursework and even subjects related to the job advertised
• Publications (if you have any research papers that were published)
Extending your education section and being as detailed as possible is crucial if you don’t have that much experience.
Sell yourself by listing all your accomplishments
In school, hopefully you did more than study and turn up. University is the best time to network, meet new people, and be a part of projects, non-profits and committees. If you held a leadership position in an organization, presented at a conference, wrote for the school paper, or won any awards, you should include this on your resume.
You should design your achievements section like you would a work experience section. Under each achievement, add a few bullet points and provide details on your involvement or experience.
When I was in school, I was an organizing member of the Nigerian Students’ society. Here is an example of what I would have under my achievements section:
• Served as a membership chair
• Organized events centred around celebrating the Nigerian cultural heritage abroad and fostering communion among Nigerian students
• Assisted in the design of the organization’s structure and mission, vision, and goals.
Make sure to include your projects
In school, you probably had to work on a ton of group projects, and if so, they’re worth mentioning. As long as your project experience is clearly written and is relevant to the type of job that you are seeking, you should definitely include it. Even if you have successfully worked on projects outside of school, it’s a tell-tale sign to show your leadership skills and work ethic.
Just as you would outline a work experience or achievements section, format it with a few, detailed bullet points for each project.
For example, in school I had to work on a marketing research and survey. Here is an example of what I would have included on my CV:
• Conducted market research on 50 competitors and analyzed the data
• Created strategic marketing campaigns to target over 200,000 people in a specific geographic region
• Planned and negotiated advertisements for radio, TV, print, and digital mediums
As a new college grad, or even as someone that is breaking off into a new career field, the job market can be tough. Don’t get depressed, we’ve all been there. The key is to sell yourself strategically as aforemrntioned. It truly does go a long way.
Next step would be to make sure your cover letter and LinkedIn profile are also well modified to suit your career path and you will definitely have the recruiter’s attention soon.
Good luck on your job search!
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