From JobSeeker Weekly:

 

Article:	Tips For Entry-Level Job Seekers

By George Blomgren

Whether changing careers, industries, or just joining the workforce, you qualify as an entry-level job candidate. This causes an age old conundrum: you can't get a job without experience, and you can't get experience without a job.

This may seem unfair. Entering the job market is hard enough without facing a seemingly impossible challenge right away! Relax: it isn't impossible.

The truth is, no matter how entry level you are, you have years of experience to draw on, unless you've done nothing but stay home and watch television. It takes a positive attitude and analytical skills to translate previous experience into what interviewers want to hear. They'll make your job hunting easier, prove useful in almost any job, and they are traits that most interviewers like to see in prospective employees.

Here are some examples of entry-level candidates who pulled off this challenge:

1. For a marketing position, we liked a candidate who worked extensively with his college radio station on promotional activities. He engaged in public relations with local media and volunteered to complete a detailed analysis of listener demographics. He showed us samples of marketing materials he helped develop, based on the demographics. This guy not only stood out from other entry level candidates -- he was well ahead of many experienced ones.
   
   
2. For a service position, one impressive candidate had a notebook of "case studies" from a summer internship the year before she graduated. These case studies described difficult service situations, and how she had handled them. Not every one had a happy ending. -- that would have been clearly fictitious. But among other things, this "portfolio" showed she kept track of her experiences in customer service and endeavored to learn from them.
   
   
3. For a sales position, one recent candidate impressed us with a description of his recent attempt to start up his own business, which was a complete failure. Aside from the fact that he had done a good job of analyzing what went wrong, his optimism and refusal to let the experience discourage him from his chosen career path were very promising qualities for an aspiring salesman.
   
   
4. For a service position -- one with the responsibility of managing a small staff -- we just had to like a candidate who translated her college athletics experience into a complete resume for management. This can be a tough sell, trying to convince an employer that managing a college soccer team is the equivalent of managing a team of employees. But she did such an excellent job of identifying management requirements and mapping each to her specific experiences with her team, she really stood out from other candidates.

If you think about these examples, you can see a few common denominators. The impressive thing isn't usually the prior experience itself, but how the candidate understands and positions the experience. The candidates in our examples:

• Successfully analyzed key requirements -- hard and/or soft skills -- for our open positions, and translated their experience into these terms.
  
  
• Provided evidence of certain skills and qualities, in the form of stories about their experiences. They gave us evidence, rather than just telling us -- compelling, colorful, and memorable evidence. (Memorable? The 4 candidates who I use as examples stand out from a crowd of forgotten candidates!)
  
  
• Demonstrated initiative, a positive attitude, and a proactive approach to getting hired.

In these ways, these individuals really stood out from other candidates. Most entry-level candidates believe they have no meaningful experience and are thoroughly cowed by today's tough job market. Those who believe otherwise -- those who see valuable experience behind them, and wonderful opportunities ahead -- translate these convictions into reality. They aren't hard to spot, and they will succeed, even in the toughest job market.

George Blomgren is Operations Manager for The Benefit Companies. Drawing on a diverse professional background, George is no stranger to either side of the hiring process. He is involved in a variety of hiring and staffing projects, and is an active career mentor through Milwaukee's AbilITy Connection program. He's a respected speaker and consultant on Internet and web marketing subjects.