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How do you apply for a job if you have very little experience? This article does not prescribe any magical solutions; the challenge is a real one and many potential candidates have surrendered upon realising the enormity of the task. But it is not an impossible task and with some smart positioning one can present an effective case to the job market.

Clients sometimes ask us which is more important if experience is difficult to show; this is not an easy question to answer. However, by focusing on the purpose of the CV, the role of the inexperienced person’s cover letter becomes much clearer. Your CV is generally intended to objectively demonstrate how your skillset can fill a competency gap for a prospective employer. It has no other essential purpose. If you are not able to demonstrate this plug-filling ability easily in the CV, then your cover letter can assume a responsibility which it already does: to demonstrate more of your personality and the attributes that you can bring to a workplace.

Now that we understand the roles that these documents play, let’s look at some specific issues.

COVER LETTER

There are some things which you need to prioritise in your cover letter if your experience is limited. These include:

Let me introduce myself

A strong introduction is a powerful tool in a cover letter. For the inexperienced candidate it is also the ideal place to show what drives you and what you are capable of. It should be a mixture of professionalism – you should include formal greeting, name of the recipient and title of the job as it has been advertised – and your personal touch – this is your opportunity to mention any linkages between you and the organisation, recipient or friend who has a link to the organisation and an opportunity to demonstrate an alignment of values between you and the organisation. But it should not be too long – if you are exceeding 5 sentences you are probably going too far.

Read the requirements and show that you have understood them

It might sound like an obvious thing to start with, but even many experienced candidates fail to show how their skills address the requirements of the role. If you are less experienced it is even more important to demonstrate that you understand exactly what is required of the role and how you intend to fulfil the requirement(s). If you do not have the experience as it is required, then it is your responsibility to at least show that you understand what the organisation is looking for and then you can articulate how you would address these requirements. This is also your opportunity to control the messaging about who you are: make sure that a few key concepts about you flow throughout the cover letter. It is also useful to demonstrate how much of the organisation you have learned; sometimes a single mention of a topical point of current interest may be enough to show that you have done your research.

Why me?

If you had the relevant experience, you would be highlighting that experience and showing how your previous experience corresponds to the requirements. Without that relevant experience, you have to rely on messaging. You need to highlight a few concepts that define who you are and how you would perform this job admirably. You can do this by showing your soft skills and your hard skills. In showing your soft skills, you need to expand on the ideas you expressed earlier where you demonstrated alignment of values (these can be gleaned from websites or annual reports for example). Your discussion of hard skills should be where you demonstrate your willingness to learn and also show off some of your academic or extracurricular achievements, thereby establishing a direct link between your academic or project abilities and the role requirements. Finally, you need to conclude the discussion about your competencies with a call to action – request a meeting or an interview or any forum where you can exchange some ideas with a decision maker in the organisation.

CV

Value of academics

If you have been a strong academic performer then a listing of the courses you did with some brief commentary is a useful inclusion in your CV. It is important to include the courses that are relevant to the role you are applying for; it is also important not to list courses that are standard to all students.

Project work, internships or research work

Work on projects, internships or research is useful in your CV, especially if your academic achievements are not the most impressive. The inclusion of this type of work automatically suggests that you can work in a typical workplace setting. So if you have participated in projects, internships or research work, it is important to show this participation and to do so in a professional manner. What does this entail? You should provide a relevant title which describes the work; you should provide some background information about the work; provide information on your role; list the outcomes of the work. Be constantly mindful of how you can link these points to the requirements of the job you are applying for.

1 + 1 = 11

These days organisations are becoming more interested in the aptitude of candidates rather than simply their technical proficiency. What does this mean for the inexperienced candidate? There is an opportunity to show that skills you have used in your academics, projects, internships, research or other forms of work can be transferred to the organisation. These types of transferrable skills are typically soft skills such as interpersonal communication. If you can demonstrate that you have skills such as active listening, leadership, team management or other such skills then that can go a long way towards getting the attention of organisations.

Final words

If you are an inexperienced candidate, you have to remember that all experienced workers started as inexperienced employees. The advice provided in this discussion assumes that networking efforts have not yet paid off or have not yet even been tried. In most cases, a strong network will enable you to bypass many steps in the getting the attention of organisations. If you have not begun to develop and optimise your network then consider the elements of the discussion above as a useful guiding tool.