Employers everywhere are keen on candidates that, apart from their knowledge, can offer experience. For fresh students, internships are an excellent way of gaining insight into an industry, building workplace experience, and most importantly, boosting your chances of landing a job right after college. In other words, putting an internship down on your resume immediately tells the reader that you have at least some of the skills required to solve their business problems. But how do you land a job without any internship experience?
The area where you go to university may only have a limited number of internships available, and they might get snatched up soon. What can you do to add tangible experience to your resume?
In this article, I will break down the four things you can add to your resume to make your resume look just as good.
Before I get to that, let me share my offer-doubling resume cheat sheet with you, in which I break down exactly how to talk about all of your extracurriculars in a way that shines the light on your biggest strengths. Rather than following the same cookie-cutter format that university career centers design specifically to make it easy to break students down and compare them, you need to talk about your extracurriculars in a way that really draws the reader in. You can download a copy by putting in your information below.
Name* Email Address* SubmitNot having any industry experience can make landing a job really hard work (like it isn’t already), but it’s not impossible. You just need to rely on other methods to show that you have those skills and meet the right people to help you overcome your lack of experience.
So here’s how we can do that.
1. Network at industry seminars, workshops, and conferences.
Your university and its clubs likely host several of these per year. These will be attended by working professionals who have the power to either recommend you or hire you.
This has two added benefits — you can list these seminars in your resume AND you can pick up on some very important technical skills.
But let’s talk about the primary benefit: using a seminar to network with professionals. You can use a script like this to get projects to add to your resume:
I am looking to add a project to my resume. I was wondering if your company or anyone you know needs someone who can (insert your area of expertise)? If so, can I add you on LinkedIn so you can learn more about my experience and so I can follow up with you?
There’s a good chance that you’ll be compensated for your work, too.
2. Reach out to your local religious organization and point out something that you can fix
If you attend a faith-based organization, you can use the same script as the one above to ask for a project. Because you might already have a relationship established with the leaders of this organization already, you can ask for a meeting to float some projects to them.
Here are some good project ideas that you can do for your local religious organization:
- Start a program related to youth engagement, adult literacy, or childhood development
- Revamp their website
- Attract more people through social media
- Creating resources for new immigrants
The possibilities are endless.
If you need more project ideas, jump onto LinkedIn and look up a few of your fellow classmates. What are they doing with their extracurriculars? Can you roll out a similar project for your local faith-based organization? Consider networking with other students to lead a group project to showcase your people management skills, too.
Some religious organizations have fairly large budgets. If you feel comfortable doing so, ask to be compensated for your time before you begin the work. Not only will you get a great experience to showcase on your resume, you’ll be able to practice your salary negotiation skills, too.
3. Ask your professors for help.
College professors are typically extremely well-networked and have a solid finger on the pulse of your industry. Talk to them to see whether they know of any volunteer or project opportunities where you can build your portfolio. They might also be heading a project personally that you could join.
Your professor likely knows of both paid and voluntary projects that you could join.
4. Volunteer with a cause you care strongly about.
Listing this position on your resume can help you close the dreaded “Recent Grad Gap,” and will help you show that you have a strategic mindset and the ability to work with multiple stakeholders.
There’s a smaller chance that such an activity will be paid for, but nonprofits hire people to help them all the time. Reaching out to them with a good proposal can potentially help you get compensated, too.
These activities outlined in this article will help you build your skills, your network, and your resume.
Looking for more tips for soon-to-be-graduates?
- How to Master a Skill Without Breaking a Sweat
- Ways You Can (And Should!) Boost Your Health At Work
- How to Maintain a Healthy Work-Life Balance
Want us to redo your resume for you? Schedule a one-on-one consultation with us using this link. We’ll show you exactly how you need to change your resume to get more interviews.
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