One of the most frequent questions that college students, recent graduates, and other job hunters ask is how to find an entry level job. They’re often frustrated because they’ve been applying to advertised job openings and posting their resumes to entry level job boards such as CollegeRecruiter.com, yet these job seekers aren’t landing interviews or those interviews are not leading to offers of employment. Sometimes the employers tell the job seekers that they don’t have enough experience or that other candidates have more experience. The job seeker who is not hired is left asking how can they get experience if no one will give them a chance.
Before discussing how to find an entry level job, we should first address a definitional problem. The term entry level jobs itself is somewhat misleading. To be literally entry level, the job must have no requirements. That clearly is not the case with the vast majority of so-called entry level job openings. These job opportunities rarely provide on-the-job training so even employers which are seeking entry level candidates usually have at least some experience or educational requirements.
A small number of entry level jobs do provide on-the-job training. These are usually seen in manufacturing environments, trainee positions, internships, co-op positions, and apprenticeships. Corporate entry level jobs are usually reserved for recent college or trade-school graduates who meet the employer’s educational requirements but have little to no direct work experience.
It is also worth noting that some applicants to entry level jobs have years of experience. Career changers who seek entry level jobs will often have years and sometimes even decades of work experience but that work experience may only be indirectly related to the entry level jobs to which they are applying. In 2002 and 2003, many information technology workers left that sagging industry to move into new fields. Some moved into completely different fields such as real estate or healthcare and therefore had little to no direct work experience. These job seekers were often told that they were overqualified for the entry level jobs to which they were applying because they already had years of experience. While some were successful in their moves, many were forced to gradually make the change by first taking an information technology position with a real estate or healthcare firm and then moving into a real estate or healthcare position with their new firm.
So how do you land an entry level job if you have no experience? Well, as with all things, start at the beginning. First, prepare a well written resume that highlights all of your relevant work experience and educational accomplishments. Potential employers do not look at a resume as an alibi so don’t feel compelled to account for your time since the dawn of time. Yet make sure that you include all of your relevant work experience, including your volunteer work, hobbies, and interests. Employers look at resumes as documents that provide some evidence that you can do the work that they will assign to you. Whether you were paid for that work in the past is not nearly as relevant as whether you did that work. So if you’re applying to work as an entry level accountant and volunteered to keep the books for a local non-profit, then be sure to include that on your resume. On the other hand, if you volunteered to babysit infants during church services, that’s likely not going to be terribly relevant to the employer which is seeking an entry level sales representative. Of course, if part of your responsibilities as a babysitter at the church was to convince congregants that they should leave their infants with you, then your position did involve some sales responsibilities and you should include that on your resume. Just be sure to emphasize those responsibilities if you choose to include such a position.
Unless you’re a professional resume writer, I recommend that you do not write your own resume. It is very difficult for most people, especially those who are seeking entry level career opportunities, to write a compelling resume. People tend to be a little too bashful when writing about their own accomplishments because they feel that they would be bragging if they aren’t a bit reserved. Nonsense. There’s a big difference between embellishing and taking credit for your accomplishments. Write the first draft. Get everything down on paper as much as possible. Read the many excellent resume writing articles by resume writing experts such as Kevin Donlin of Guaranteed Resumes, and then have a professional complete the writing of your resume. If you don’t know any, consider using the resume writing service provided by CollegeRecruiter.com. If you’re set on writing your own resume, then you’re going to want to pick up a copy of Kevin’s excellent book, The Last Guide to Cover Letter and Resume Writing You’ll Ever Need.
Once your resume is prepared, you’re going to want to have versions of it available in several formats. You’ll want a nicely printed resume that you can hand to employers when you walk into interviews or meet them at career fairs. These resumes should be printed on high quality, white paper. Stores such as The UPS Store and FedEx Kinko’s are great resources with printing a great looking resume.
You’re also going to want to save an electronic version of your resume in a plain-text document, which is sometimes referred to as an ASCII resume. You’ll use this version for posting your resume to entry level job boards such as CollegeRecruiter.com. Creating a plain text resume is simple but takes a few steps. If your resume is saved in a word processing program such as Microsoft Word, then click on the File option, select Save As, and then select the plain-text option. Then open that file in a program such as Notepad or Wordpad and tweak the formatting so that it looks good.
Now you’ll want to spend a half- to full-day posting it to Internet career sites, which are often called job banks or job boards. I normally recommend to candidates that they register with a dozen job boards: the Big Three job boards (Monster, Careerbuilder, and HotJobs), three job boards in their geographic niche, three job boards in their industry niche, and three job boards in any other relevant niche. For job seekers who are looking for entry level sales jobs in New York City, they’ll want to register with the Big Three, three job boards that specialize in New York jobs, three job boards that specialize in sales jobs, and three job boards that specialize in entry level jobs. One of those entry level job boards should, of course, be CollegeRecruiter.com. To find any of these types of job boards, go to Google or your favorite search engine and type in a keyword string such as “New York City jobs” (without the quotes) and you’ll be presented with a number of good options.
When you register with the job boards, first post your resume. Then search the job openings which are already advertised and apply to all of those which are of interest to you and for which you are qualified. Then set up job match alerts, which are sometimes called job agents, so that the job board will email you whenever a new job is posted that matches your interests. Then go away and don’t come back unless you receive an alert that is of interest to you. Far too many job seekers, especially entry level job seekers, spend far too much time searching for advertising job openings on the job boards. The agents should be used to do that work for you so that you can spend your time networking.
Networking is broadly term for a variety of tactics and strategies. Many candidates think of networking as nothing more than asking people you know if they’ll hire you. I recommend that candidate spend at least four hours a day, five days a week networking. If the candidate is not working, they should spend more time. The cliché that the process of searching for a job is a job is absolutely true.
Other tactics that candidates, including entry level candidates, should employ are to apply to advertised job openings on corporate web sites, attend career events such as open houses and job fairs, participate in on-campus interviews for those who are still in college and searching for an entry level opportunity, become active in trade associations, write for trade publications, and go to at least one and preferably two information interviews every day.
Another great networking tactic is to call all of your friends and family and ask them for the names of two people with whom you should speak. Don’t ask them for a job. Instead, tell them about your competencies, interests, and values and what type of a position you’re seeking. Then ask them for the names of two people you should speak with. Then call those two people and repeat the process. You’ll keep doubling your network with each round. Keep careful track of who you speak with and who referred you to each person. Mail short thank you notes to each. You’ll quickly find someone who will decline to provide you with names, not because they don’t want to help you but instead because they want to interview you. Once you’re hired and periodically throughout your career, write a short thank you note or otherwise stay in touch with your newly developed network. For everyone at every stage in life, but especially for those who entry level job seekers, a well developed network is an incredibly valuable asset. These and other great networking tips are described in our book, The Last Guide to Networking You'll Ever Need, a free copy of which is made available to each job seeker who registers with our site.
If your job search is dragging on and you keep hearing that you lack the necessary experience, then you have a couple of choices. You can continue to apply the same failed strategy or you can change your strategy by changing yourself. Perhaps you’re applying to the wrong jobs or perhaps you have the wrong credentials for the right jobs. If the former, then simply change the types of positions to which you’re applying. If the latter, then get the experience that you’re being told you lack. Great ways of doing so are through unpaid internships, paid internships, volunteering, and working as a temporary employee.
Temp agencies, which prefer to be called staffing agencies or staffing companies, are normally happy to work with entry level candidates and will sometimes even provide you with the training that you need. They’ll put you out on assignment with a variety of employers, each of which provides you with an opportunity to broaden your network and many of which are open to taking a temporary employee and hiring them on a permanent basis, which is referred to in the industry as a temp-to-perm arrangement.
When you interview, be sure to come well prepared. Employers do not interview candidates for kicks and giggles. They do so because they believe that you are well qualified enough for them to hire. The presumption is in favor of hiring you. Now you just need to close the deal by convincing them that you have the requisite skills to do the job and that you are better able than any of the other candidates to increase the revenues earned by the employer, decrease their expenses, or both. Don’t bother telling them that you really want the job or that you’ll work hard. They assume that of all candidates. Instead, prove to them that you have done the same work or similar work in the past and did so successfully. Going full circle, if you’re interviewing for an entry level job then theoretically you’ve never done the work before. But the reality is that most entry level jobs do require at least some experience or a certain educational background. Make sure that you prove to your potential employer that every trait that they’re looking for is a trait at which you excel. Want more interviewing tips? Read our book, The Last Guide to Interviewing You'll Ever Need, a free copy of which is made available to every job seeker who registers with our site.
Best of luck!
