What if I don't have any kind of job experience?

What if I don't have any kind of job experience?

by Katy
(Spokane, WA)

I am 19 years old, almost 20. I have no job experience and it's been the reason why I haven't been hired anywhere I have applied for.

Also, I dropped out of school in the 10th grade, and finished all the way up to 9th grade. I went to get my GED and didn't finish it.

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What if I don't have any kind of job experience?

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May 02, 2010

You DO have experience
by: Anonymous

You DO have experience, but may not think of it in that way. If you write a blog, you have communications skills. If you volunteer for a food drive, you might have: created a database to track donations, created mailing lists, solicited donations, composed correspondence, kept inventory. If you have done a community service project for school, the same applies.

Don't forget the things you've volunteered for, community service, internships, projects you've done for school and papers. Even if you've got an entry-level restaurant job, you greet the public, coordinate simple and complex orders, handle cash (and sometimes electronic cash registers/computers), keep track of tips and tip distribution, attend team meetings.

Another idea: if there is a particular type of job you want, list the skills you need (if there's a job description available, ask for it; talk to people in the field--and always include the assistant to the job you want. That person knows a great deal.) Think about ways you might acquire experience: say you want to be an art therapist; you might want to assist in a classroom or at a summer art camp; you might want to work with special needs children or adults.

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