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Branch out to build experience in your new field. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo
Branch out to build experience in your new field. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

Looking for jobs but lack experience? Eight ways to sell your skills

This article is more than 8 years old

Create a skills-based CV, take up voluntary work and branch out in your existing job, say the experts

Create a skills-based CV to highlight your abilities

If you have an eclectic work history, focus your CV around the skills you have developed rather than the specific duties you have performed, says Hannah Morton-Hedges, founder of Momentum Careers Advice. “It will help to make your experience appear much more transferable to future employers. If you don’t want a skills-based CV per se, you can also use a more traditional chronological approach with the focus strongly on skills.”

“A skills-based CV will help to draw together common threads in your work, skills and experience,” agrees David Bond, careers consultant at Birmingham City University.

Take up relevant voluntary work to plug gaps in your experience

Pinpoint exactly what you would like to be doing in your field and then choose the right kind of voluntary work to give you the experiences you need to move into paid work, says Sarah Archer, career coach and co-founder of CareerTree.

Clare Whitmell, career coach and founder of Job Market Success, agrees: “Try to get relevant voluntary experience as soon as you can to help build experience gaps. Then put that at the top of your work history section.”

Start your CV with a list of eye-catching achievements

Use these achievements and awards to demonstrate the sort of skills, attributes or educational qualifications that the roles you want would expect from candidates, adds Whitmell. “You want recruiters to see the positive achievements first – before seeing that you lack experience.”

Use your existing job to build the skills you need

If you are already in work, volunteer to do work outside of your remit to build skills in other areas, says Lis McGuire, professional CV writer and founder of Giraffe CVs. “If this isn’t possible, consider building your experience outside of nine-to-five work. If you are a member of any organisation (a sporting club for example), you could offer your services on a voluntary basis.”

Put most relevant experience at the top of your CV

Pull out the most relevant experience for your target role, says McGuire. “Analyse the job advert, person specification, and job description, then match examples of the required competencies or experience wherever possible. Don’t feel restricted by the confines of your current role. If you can demonstrate an element of what is required elsewhere then bring it to the front of your CV.”

Likewise Paul Young, company director of Grad-Careers Ltd, says: “Emphasise any relevant work experience. If you get to an interview stage, you can explain the gaps in your work history – but make sure to do this in a positive way.”

If you lack qualifications, make work history the focus of your applications

Make sure your CV focuses first and foremost on your work experience. “If that impresses employers then they will worry less about your academic history,” says Morton-Hedges. “There is no reason why your academic history needs to take a prominent place in your CV and can be put back on page two.”

It’s important to check whether or not academic qualifications debar you from the roles you want, adds Whitmell. “If this is the case, then taking a course could help to plug gaps. Otherwise, you can gloss over dates and you don’t need to mention grades – unless, of course, they’re excellent.”

As a graduate, match your target role to your current experience

The key is to think carefully about the target role – the skills and competencies recruiters are looking for – and then demonstrate these on paper to meet their criteria as closely as possible, says Victoria McLean, CV writer and founder of CityCV.co.uk. “Whatever the work experience, focus on achievements and aligning these to the target. For example, we recently worked with a graduate who had only worked stacking shelves and taught him to tailor this experience to get a job with Morgan Stanley.”

Joining relevant university societies is also a good starting point and getting as involved in these as possible. Leadership positions are even better for showing skills, adds McLean.

Be open to more jobs in your desired field

Apply to a variety of roles in your chosen industry – your main objective is to get a foot in the door, says George Brown, career services manager at London School of Business and Finance.

Dasha Amrom, founder of Career Coaching Ventures, agrees that if you get a job in the right industry it can offer a good route into your chosen role. “Of course it depends on the sector you want to move to, but interpersonal, communication and leadership skills can all be transferred across different departments.”

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