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NeedHelp104
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Default Jun 20, 2020 at 02:57 PM
  #1
I am 23 and I never had a job. I graduated with a bachelor of science degree, summa cum laude. But I have no prior work experience and I feel super embarrassed. I got by college through scholarships. I know 'everyone starts somewhere' but does a degree REALLY give me a leg up on anything? I feel like if I was to apply for an entry-level job somewhere that I am at a disadvantage. Any thoughts??
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DoroMona
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Default Jun 21, 2020 at 12:28 AM
  #2
Don't be embarrassed. You're still really young. It may be slightly unusual that you have no work experience, but really not THAT unusual, and you have a good reason. Choosing to focus entirely on your studies while being on scholarship was responsible and reasonable. Having a degree is ESSENTIAL. It won't guarantee you a job, but without one, a lot of jobs are just not attainable. It's great if you can also show that you were summa cum laude. Yes, your lack of work experience may be a disadvantage, but at your age, it's probably a rather small one.

You may not like this next part, but you just need to send your resume out--a lot. I know that's painful because it's never pleasant getting rejected, but if you're persistent, you'll land some interviews. You may bomb a lot of them in the beginning, but you'll improve with practice. Additionally, try to network. It's not the only way to find a job, but yes, a lot of hires happen because you know someone who knows someone, etc. People like to hire employees someone can vouch for. But don't be discouraged if your network is too small and can't help you. It IS possible to get a job simply by applying, even if you have no contacts. It just takes some tenacity.

If it helps your mindset, instead of making your goal finding a job, make your initial goal to get 100 rejections--then 200, 300, etc. Because you can succeed in that without a doubt--simply by sending out that number of applications and (hopefully) a few more! Along the way though, you'll definitely get some interviews.

I also have a BS, then did my PhD in a STEM field, and have experience in academia and industry. So I'm not saying I'm an expert, but I'm familiar with your situation.
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Default Jun 21, 2020 at 12:59 PM
  #3
Quote:
Originally Posted by DoroMona View Post
Don't be embarrassed. You're still really young. It may be slightly unusual that you have no work experience, but really not THAT unusual, and you have a good reason. Choosing to focus entirely on your studies while being on scholarship was responsible and reasonable. Having a degree is ESSENTIAL. It won't guarantee you a job, but without one, a lot of jobs are just not attainable. It's great if you can also show that you were summa cum laude. Yes, your lack of work experience may be a disadvantage, but at your age, it's probably a rather small one.

You may not like this next part, but you just need to send your resume out--a lot. I know that's painful because it's never pleasant getting rejected, but if you're persistent, you'll land some interviews. You may bomb a lot of them in the beginning, but you'll improve with practice. Additionally, try to network. It's not the only way to find a job, but yes, a lot of hires happen because you know someone who knows someone, etc. People like to hire employees someone can vouch for. But don't be discouraged if your network is too small and can't help you. It IS possible to get a job simply by applying, even if you have no contacts. It just takes some tenacity.

If it helps your mindset, instead of making your goal finding a job, make your initial goal to get 100 rejections--then 200, 300, etc. Because you can succeed in that without a doubt--simply by sending out that number of applications and (hopefully) a few more! Along the way though, you'll definitely get some interviews.

I also have a BS, then did my PhD in a STEM field, and have experience in academia and industry. So I'm not saying I'm an expert, but I'm familiar with your situation.
Thank you so much. Would obtaining volunteering experience first look better???
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DoroMona
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Default Jun 21, 2020 at 01:34 PM
  #4
Personally I wouldn't suggest focusing on getting volunteer experience first. Sooner or later, you have to find a paying job, and the faster you start applying for them, the faster you'll get one--really. However, it might be easier getting a volunteer position than a paying job, so there's nothing wrong with applying for both in parallel. Yes, the volunteer job will give you a bit of experience, pad your resume, and help you build your network. So if you end up doing your volunteer job part of the day and spending the rest of your time applying for paying jobs, nothing wrong with it. However, I would strongly caution you against finding a full-time volunteer position that hinders your paying-job application process. I recently had a friend who was working a lot of unpaid internships trying to get experience--he finally had to quit all the volunteer work because it just didn't leave him enough time to look for paying jobs.
Do you have a LinkedIn account? I personally hate social media and resisted for many years. But recently, I forced myself to create a LinkedIn profile. If you fill it out and list your skills and hit the "looking for jobs" toggle so people know you're available for hire, you might even get scouted. Could be an easy way to score a few interviews at least. Be a little wary of the recruiters who contact you, but you should know that they make some money if you end up getting hired by a company they connected you to. So the legitimate ones really want to help you. I'll add that in lieu of job experience, the larger projects that you did as part of your degree are worth mentioning--certainly on your LinkedIn profile as well as your resume.
Do you have a sense of the career trajectory that you want? That helps immensely in terms of building a coherent LinkedIn profile and speaking fluently in interviews, among other things.
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Default Jun 21, 2020 at 03:26 PM
  #5
were you part of any clubs at school?
for example, in college, i had a radio show and also worked for the college radio station. this was unpaid, but i still put that experience on my resume, and not under "volunteer experience"
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