Everyone has to start somewhere. Even the most successful managers, politicians, and business tycoons, as we know them today from the news and their expensive villas and holidays, had their first job someday. Nobody was born a successful businessman, or manager. Some of the famous politicians and public figures did actually start their careers as mailmen, and some were even flipping burgers at McDonald’s, before embarking on their successful career. The way to the top always starts with the first step…
Getting a first job isn’t superbly difficult. You just have to learn to have realistic expectations, and to show the employer the value you can bring to their team.
The perspective of the winner as the first step on your way towards a new job
It is pivotal see things in perspective. Perhaps the job you can get right now doesn’t look very appealing to you. Take it just as a stepping stone. It is something you can put on your resume, your first real working experience. Everything will be much easier afterwards, both with your job applications and your job interviews.
On the top of that, you can learn a lot in every single job. You just have to open yourself to the experience and knowledge that is there to reach and embrace! Flipping burgers at McDonald’s? Without realizing it, you are actually working for the most successful fast food company in the world! There’s definitely a lot to learn from them–about organization, effectiveness, discipline, franchising, system of work, and so on. Ready to get the first job? Let’s have a look at a four step guide that should help you on your way!
Step 1: Make a list of your strengths and skills
Think about your strengths, your talents and skills. Can you speak any foreign languages? Are you skilled with a computer program, one that not many people are skilled with? Or do other people enjoy talking to you? Perhaps you are in a great shape, ready to handle a physically demanding job that most people won’t handle.
Many people have heard nothing but insults in their childhood. But forget what your family, or teachers, or friends said to you. There is a potential in you. You have a lot to offer to the employers! Actually, everyone is good at least in something. You just need to find your strengths, and make a list of them, before progressing with your job search. 
Step 2: Connect your strengths with the job offers on job boards
So here you are, with the list of your strengths, and perhaps also with the list of the things you enjoy doing. It is a best possible start for your job search–to know your qualities, to know what makes you happy in your daily life. Look at the list right now, think about it for a few moments, and try to connect your strengths with jobs.
Do your strengths make from you a great candidate for a teller job? Or perhaps for a marketing trainee? Would you excel as a stock clerk? Or would you enjoy spending your time outside, picking fruits in the fields? Think about it for a moment.
And if you can not find the connection, look at entry level jobs in big corporations. These companies use a lot of testing in their interviews, and they do not care about previous working experience of the job candidate. What they care about is your motivation, and your attitude to work. And that has nothing to do with having experience.
* May also interest you: Why should we hire you with no experience? 7 sample answers
Step 3: Submit some job applications, make your skills stand out
Many people do a mistake in this step. They pretend to have an experience, though they do none. The key is to show the employer the truth. Tell them you have no experience, but show them other reason to give you a chance in an interview with their company.
The key is to show them that you have the right personality for the job, and that you can quickly learn how to do it well (check our job application tips). Try to outclass the experienced candidates with your motivation, attitude to work, with your understanding for a role, with the unique way you write your application, with your willingness to learn and work hard.
Step 4: Prepare for an interview in a best possible way
Once you are invited for an interview, you have the same chances as everyone else. Everything starts from zero, and at the end of the day, at least one person will sign a job contract. Will it be you?
On the day of the interviews, it doesn’t matter who is the most, or the least experienced job candidate in the room. What matters is who can convince the interviewers of the value they can bring to the company, of their motivation, and of the right attitude to the job.
What matters is how you answer their questions, how you conduct yourself in the room, and if you manage to build a good connection with the person who sits at the other side of the table. Continue your preparation with us and get a job, even though you have no previous experience:
- Interview questions by job title – Find your job, and prepare for behavioral and technical questions you will get in your interview. Positions ranging from cashiers to doctors and managing directors, you will find interview questions for all of them in this section of Interview Penguin.
- What can you offer us that someone else cannot? Sample answers for people with no previous working experience.
- Interview success package – Want to know more than your competitors do? Want to have an edge, in every single job interview? Learn great answers to all common interview questions, get rid of stress, and make a best possible impression on the hiring managers.
- Tell me about yourself – Sample answers for fresh graduates.
P.S. Never forget that every single person in the world had their first occupation someday. Even Bill Gates, or Oprah. Keep your head up, and enjoy your job search.
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