When it concerns looking for jobs, professional experience is an important factor. But we don’t always have a lot of work experience. Especially at the beginning of our careers or when we have only been working for a few years. The experience we can provide is not much. That does not mean that it is not possible to fill out a CV in an appropriate way.
If we had to choose three keywords to try to make up effectively for the lack of work experience on a CV, they would be the following:
Choose the right curriculum vitae
Selecting the right format for your CV is essential for any kind of job seeking. Not all CV samples are the same. Therefore, if you do not have a lot of professional experience, the first thing to do is to choose the right model to use.
A chronological format is perhaps not the most suitable one to be used. Bear in mind that chronological templates squeeze a lot of information into the timeline. In your case, because you don’t have a lot of professional experience, it won’t look very attractive in visual terms.
An informative CV is better. These forms are divided into sections and allow you to choose the distribution of the information. As they are not chronological, you can highlight the information that you want to put as most relevant.
Take advantage of all the non-professional experiences you have gathered
As you do not have great job experience, you are interested in showing all kinds of a wide range of group or related experiences that you have gained.
Here is a long list:
- Sporting activities in which you have had or have responsibilities
- Community jobs
- Volunteering
- Practical Jobs
These are just some of the activities you can emphasize, but remember to do so as long as they are relevant. Playing football is not the same as coaching a football team. The first is not relevant, the second can be.
Give a lot of value to training and complementary issues
Education has to be key in a CV where there is not much professional experience. Even if you don’t have much training either, you should always give more weight to training than to experience if it is lacking.
Remember that your education should not only include conventional studies but also training. As we are trying to demonstrate that you have the skills and abilities to apply for a job, any further education or training will be relevant.
For example, if you speak other languages as well as English, or if you are a native speaker of another language, this is a relevant piece of information. If you have taken courses (and can prove it) of any kind which could have a positive influence on your professional development, this should also be included.
Even those training activities have improved your ability to relate to teams, do jobs in groups, and so on.
In short, the idea is to underline all the elements that lead you to believe that you are capable of doing the job you are applying for. This is something that employers are often looking for above and beyond your professional experience.