If your CV is lacking work experience and it’s impacting your job search, don’t fret! There are several unconventional ways to beef up your CV and gain valuable work experience. Try the methods below to add experience and land that all-important first interview.
Volunteering Experience
Employers and recruiters love to see volunteer work experience on a CV – why? Volunteering demonstrates not just a work ethic, but that you spend your free time being proactive in your community.
Volunteer work can also provide you with transferable skills such as time management, teamwork, organising, and even fundraising. If you’re able to land a volunteering gig related to the industry you want to work in, even better: this demonstrates to the employer that you’re passionate about the domain and could be a point of discussion during an interview.
On the practical side, volunteer work is also quick to find and easy to take on, and you can fit it around your personal life, current working hours, and any family responsibilities.
Online Courses
When recruiters are selecting potential candidates, they’ll often narrow their search down to those with the skills necessary to fill the job vacancy with minimal training and as little micromanagement as possible. If you have lots of work experience but are failing to land jobs that you want, a lack of quantifiable skills may explain why. This is where online courses come in handy: with the internet, you can learn how to do almost anything via an online course. You can take an online course and learn how to use basic office software such as Microsoft Office or Excel, or you can learn how to use more complicated, modern software designed to optimise the office experience. Recruiters and employers are always looking for ways to optimise their businesses, so offering skills in this area can be a massive boost to your CV.
To effectively bolster your CV with an online course (or several), take a look through your recent job applications and make a note of the required and desired skills listed on the vacancy. Make sure to pick courses that offer a verifiable certificate upon completion, so that you can present it if requested by a recruiter.
Personal Projects
Listing personal projects on your CV is a great way to fill up space while selling your skills and initiative to a potential employer. The best thing about listing personal projects is that you can also boast about the results of these projects, which is much more interesting for a recruiter than a simple list of skills or qualifications.
For example, if you have a personal blog that you’ve maintained for several years which has amassed an audience (even a small one), this demonstrates your ability to engage the public with your content and ideas. Personal projects related to your local community or charitable causes also demonstrate your proactivity – including these on your CV will impress recruiters and help you stand out from applicants with similar qualifications.
Freelancing Experience
With freelancing websites such as Upwork, People Per Hour, and Fiverr exploding in popularity, freelancing has never been easier. If you have a particular skill – such as expertise in SEO, a talent for writing, or if you simply want to offer your skills in a freelance capacity, freelancing experience is a great way to beef up your CV with multiple projects and testimonials from clients.