One of the greatest issues graduates face is getting a job with no experience to show prospective employers. Companies seem to place more weight on industry experience when recruiting for jobs with good pay. Of course some international companies recruit fresh graduates for their low level executive positions but if you want to get your teeth into meaty jobs with corresponding pay, you need to make experience a priority.
So how do you get experience when employers won’t hire you without it? Here are some tips below
- Start a blog – while it may seem like an idle pastime, starting a blog is a smart move for graduates with no experience. Constantly publishing articles either written by you or republishing brilliant works of thought leaders in your field will show prospective employers that you haven’t been idle with your time, and that you have intelligent thoughts and insight into your industry. Get as many family and friends as possible to visit your blog and drop comments, then show your site stats/traffic as evidence that people want to read your ideas.
- Be a contributing writer – identify top newspapers or online sites in your field and write for them. Create engaging content that editors will be interested in publishing and present your case in an engaging and practical manner that readers will engage with.
- Start a project with like minds – think of a project that will be beneficial to your field and start work on it; you can involve other inexperienced graduate and call yourself ‘team lead’. For example you can start a research project using a questionnaire deployed to 100 people who will provide insight to several issues your industry is currently experiencing. By the time you collate the answers, you will have created original content enough to write several articles from different angles!
- Volunteer, volunteer, volunteer – the quickest way to get experience is to volunteer! Think of it as an investment in your career. You get to know more about the field you’re volunteering in, make new friends and business contacts, and best of all, your resume will show that you haven’t been idle with your time.
- Use your social media wisely – Twitter isn’t just for fun; you can use it for work too. Well-crafted tweets at well selected people in your field can do a lot for you. Share ideas about your industry; about top companies in your field and their current projects on social media. Mention Company handles and their senior executives when you are sharing smart insights, post articles on your LinkedIn page and post a website link where interested people can find similar articles on your profile (this is where having a blog comes in handy). You’d be surprised at how many people will be interested in knowing more about you
Okeroghene Egbi leads the business development team at Mediacraft Associates Ltd while doubling as a Senior Client Service Executive in Public Relations. A passionate strategic planner and brand communication professional, she is the Founder & Chief Editor of the website www.ladybants.com
