Trying to land a job with no previous work experience may seem like a daunting task. But is it impossible? We sat down with several industry leaders to discuss how students can leverage any relevant experience they do have and how to best position themselves for that first job!
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[ Music ] >> So that was me. I had little to no experience when I first came out. And I would recommend your network is critically important. interfacing with as many professionals as you can, even your fellow classmates because you never know down the road when you're going to meet and network with them again. They could be interviewing you, you could be interviewing them in a position. Most of my positions, and most of my growth has been attributed to my relationships. There's nothing wrong with admitting for a little self-deprecation that you don't have background. What you want to demonstrate is that you have the energy, that you're a self-starter, that you can be trusted, and that you have the interpersonal skills to thrive in the position. >> You've got to be able to sell yourself, and hopefully on your college degree, you have clubs that you were part of, or organizations, activities, perhaps volunteer work. Make sure you can speak to every part of your resume, but the best thing about interviews, is it's just about you. You know, yes, they're going to look at the piece of paper, the resume, but it's really about selling yourself. >> Do some conferences, like some speaking seminars, if you can do some. Do something free, because if you're in college, you're not going to have as much to spend, the disposable income. But seminars are a great linked up with the library system. They have a lot of help that you can do for volunteering. And also, knowing your industry and, inside and out is the biggest deal. >> As you're building out your resume, to focus on those areas where even though you may not have a proven track record in an official job capacity, but where' you've participated in an organizational groups or in any activity at school, possibly where you've been in a leadership position. >> If they haven't had a full-time job or a part time job, they should have at least done some volunteer experience. There are multitude of options on any college campus that you go to, to get volunteer experience, especially in healthcare, and you should be doing that for your college career. If I see somebody who hasn't done anything like that in their entire college career, it's sort of a red flag about their drive and work ethic in terms of their time in their day. >> So, you're going to need to gain knowledge, and he best way to do that is to begin to do practical work. Even shadowing, take the opportunity to immerse yourself into the real world, and to observe, to interact, to ask questions, and to really gain some of that practical experience. >> So the best thing that you can do is not think that you're above any type of role, because you're going to learn something out of it. Those roles can teach you a lot, and the people that you work with can teach you a lot. And those roles are also really great catapults into manager level positions.
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