8 Amazing Tips On How To Write A Resume Even With No Experience

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In this post, I am going to give you tips on how to write a resume even if you have little experience. You may be a young professional who just graduated college, someone who is entering the workforce for the first time, or you may be someone who has worked small little jobs, and now you want a real professional career.

Whatever the case may be I am going to help you out by giving you these resume tips that are an absolute must especially if you are starting out.  Also, consider checking out my video below for more tips on how to get a great job with no experience.  And subscribe to my channel by clicking here. 

So let’s go ahead and get right into it.

1. Tips On How To Write A Resume ~ Exaggerate The Skills You Do Have

Notice I said to exaggerate and not lie. Do not say that you have a degree and you don’t.  But what you want to do is to write down the skills you do have and make them appear more professional than what you actually do.

 Tips On How To Write A Resume ~ Case in point:

Before I graduated from college I would work in fast food or be a cashier. Once I graduated from college I was now ready for a real job. I did have some experience working at KFC or a fast-food restaurant. I needed to put the experience I had working there BUT highlight them in a way that would show that I am prepared for working a regular job.

Tips on how to write a resume ~ Some of my duties included: 

Mopping the floor, taking money from customers, making sure the customers get their orders in a timely manner or making sure the customer orders are correct.

Here is the WRONG way to annotate that on your resume:

• I mopped the floor.
• I counted the money.
• I took orders and gave people their food.
• I made sure the food orders were right.

Yes, technically these are the things that you did. But if you want to move into a career or even an office job, putting your skills down this way is NOT going to help you. If you want to move into a professional workspace none of this sounds professional. Yes, we all know what cashiers at fast food places do.

But at least articulate yourself well on your resume to highlight some of the skills you learned while working in fast food or whatever job you worked at to make yourself sound more professional.  This would be the RIGHT way to write your skills on your resume.

• I maintained the cleanliness of the restaurant to ensure that the restaurant was in compliance with state and local health codes.

• I exchanged money with consumers to ensure that the correct amount of money was received and the correct refund was exchanged for products ordered.

• I gave quality customer service in a timely manner, by providing excellent customer service by taking, maintaining, and providing the appropriate products the customer requested. 

Now, do you understand what exaggerating your skills means? They both say the same thing but the last one just says it a little bit better. And even though you have little job experience what it at least shows is that you can write, you are articulate, it shows that you provided good customer service and that you dealt with money. These skills were used in a lower-level job but can also be used in higher-level positions as well.

2.  Tip For How To Write A Resume ~ Use Words in Your Resume that are In the Job Posting

No one wants to go through your resume to try to figure out if you have the right skills for the job they are posting about. Most people who review your resume are HR representatives and not people who do the job you are applying for.  So they are not going to recognize jargon.

For example, I work extensively in the mental health field. If I see a job posting that is looking for a mental health life coach position to assist adults in learning how to live on their own.

I want to highlight the skills that I have in this task without using jargon. For example:

Jargon: Assist adults with ADL’s

If you are not in the field ADL’s can be anything but in my world they mean activities of daily living.  The proper way to annotate this on your resume:

• Assisted in coaching individuals with learning how to independently maintain their household. Such skills include parenting, budgeting, independent living, and cleaning skills.

Note that the job posting stated they were looking for a life coach that can teach adults about living skills. And note that I used the words coach and teach in my resume. And then I wrote down the skills that I have taught before as opposed to using jargon that no one would understand anyway. So remember:

• To spell out on your resume the skills that you have that meet the job position.
• Do not have them guessing about your skills and if you qualify for the job or not.
• And instead of using jargon to describe your relevant job experience really spell out how you qualify for the new position in plain English. 

3. Tips For How to write a resume ~ Highlight ANY Skills You Have

The first job that I got out of college was working at a juvenile correctional facility.  While I was in college I actually worked as campus security.  Therefore, when I filled out my resume I used the skills that I learned as a security officer and really highlighted the fact that I held a job relevant to security.

Even though my security job was part-time paying minimum wage and my correctional job was a state government job that was full-time, I highlighted the skills that I had relevant to the position. What I knew about the correctional facility was that it was a secured building in which inmates were house.  So these are the things that I highlighted about my security job.

• Maintained the security of the campus to ensure that no trespassers or unauthorized visitors were in the building. 

Of course, you are going to put about two or three of these and not just one. But this is just an example of how a minimum wage job can translate into work experience for a higher-level job that you are looking to apply for.  In the end, the two things that they have in common are that they are both security-based. But it is better to point out similar skills to highlight both positions to mask the fact that you do not have a lot of job experience.

4. Tips For How To Write A Resume ~ Other examples Include

• The same can be said if you were a cashier at a supermarket and now you want to apply for a bank. Just highlight the fact that at the supermarket you handled and dealt with money which is the same thing you would be doing at a bank.

• Let’s say you worked as an office assistant in high school and you want to apply for a clerical position. Just highlight the clerical skills that you did as an office assistant in a school to get the clerical position.

• The same if you were a babysitter and now you want to work as a teacher’s assistant in an elementary school or a childcare center. Just highlight similar skills.

5. Tip For How To Write A Resume With Little Experience

If you are looking to write a resume and have no work experience then you can compensate with the things that you do have. You can include volunteer experiences, internships, jobs held in college or high school.  Use those experiences to make up for your lack of professional work experience.  In case you do not have any volunteer experiences, then I recommend you get some.  Volunteering is really easy to find. I been a mentor for children, volunteered with the homeless, and volunteered at church events.  All of which you can put on a resume.

Tips on how to write a resume. The second option is to highlight school experiences, clubs, or classes that you have taken that may have prepared you for the position. To give you an example, If the job posting states that they are looking for a paralegal. Some good experiences to highlight are:

• That you are in college getting your degree in criminal justice.
• You have taken classes in constitutional law and court proceedings.
• You have volunteered or did an internship at a courthouse.
• Putting your mission statement as applying to law school in the future and becoming a lawyer.

All these things are really masking the fact that you do not have any paid experience as a paralegal. But, what it is doing is showing that you have an interest in law, knowledge in law, AND it tells the agency that they may be able to use you for the future if you are looking to get into a career as a lawyer.

6. Tips On How To Write A Resume ~ Include Certifications & Education

This should go without saying but include certifications and your education. If you are a recent college grad and have little to no job experience then include your degree, your major if you have a minor, and if you have a concentration. Also, include if you graduated with honors and any professional clubs that you may be in.  Include any certification you may have earned as well. Even if it is a certification in CPR and first aid, include it these are valuable skills.

7. Tips On How To Write A Resume ~ Make It Look Nice

Tips on how to write a resume. Never underestimate the value of a nice-looking well put together resume. If you have no job experience just do not put (No job experience) and that is your entire resume. That looks lazy. Fill up your resume with the tips that I gave you above.  You should list your education, work experiences, and any relevant volunteer experience or certifications that you have.  Do not write too little and do not write too much on your resume to overcompensate that you have little job experience.

Your resume should not be your life story, your resume should not be explaining why there is no job experience on it, your resume should not be a random bunch of fluff talking about nothing so that you look more important than you really are just to take up words on the page.  Work with what you do have and format the resume so that it fills up the page with what you actually have.  There is nothing cute about a resume that is half a page just like there is nothing cute about a resume that is 5 pages with a bunch of randomness on it that really does not highlight your job or skills.

8. Tips On How To Write A Resume ~ Quick Do’s and Don’ts For a Resume To Look Nice

• Do put your complete address, email, phone on the top of the email.
• Do not use large or cursive writing for your resume.
• Do not use colored paper for your resume or anything other than black ink.
• Do not handwrite your resume or any application that you send in for a job. Always type. 

These are some sure ways that you have your resume looking polished and clean.

Now if you know someone that needs help with preparing their resume and they have little to no job experience then feel free to share this post with them.

For those of you looking for a better job or even better life then click here and to schedule a life coaching call with me that can help you get back on track.