lifestyle and culture

It can be exhausting to read article after article, listen to podcast after podcast, and watch TikTok after TikTok telling you that it’s time to live your dream life. It’s exhausting, because yes, of course we want to live our dream life. The question that is often overlooked is “how”? When it comes to your career, this question becomes even harder to answer. When you need to completely change courses to land your dream job, where do you even begin? 
Sometimes landing a job you don’t have experience for isn’t as hard as it may seem when you first decide to take a hard left turn in your career—you’ll just have to be a little bit creative in how you approach your job hunt. I’m not going to lie to you, this won’t be easy, but it is possible, and it all starts with defining your new personal brand. 
So, if you’re looking to switch things up and have no clue where to begin, consider this your personal guide. Here’s our four-step strategy for landing a job you have no experience for:

1. Figure Out Your Brand 
First thing’s first. Let’s tackle one of the scariest questions we’ll ever encounter throughout our lives: what is it that you want to do? As you look to shift from what you are currently doing to something new, I encourage you to shift your question from “what do I want to do?” to  “what do I want to do next?” Less scary, right? 
Focus on what is lighting you up NOW. What jobs look interesting based on what you learned at your current job NOW? What do you want to try NOW? You can always change this later. Remember: You can always try something new.
Once you’ve figured out what you want to do next, it’s time to get specific about how you want to portray yourself. It’s time to change your personal brand. 
When nailing down your brand, I always suggest focusing on one to three identifying words or phrases. For example “marketing director and writer” or “digital strategist” or “event planner & social media marketer”. It’s important to focus on what you want to brand yourself as and adjust as needed for the specific jobs you are going for. This brand should show up prominently in your resume, your LinkedIn, your social media bios, and any other portfolios or items that will be given to a future employer. 
If you feel lost on the quest to define your brand and who you are becoming in your career, research jobs in the field you’re looking at or interested in. What are the skill sets needed? What are specific jobs that seem prominent? 
Once you’ve identified your brand (again — this can change in time!), it’s time to build it.

2. Build Your Brand
The world is competitive, and while it’s certainly possible to secure a job in a new industry or expertise, it is not easy. Once you’ve identified what types of jobs there are out there for you, it’s time to build the experience and expertise around it — it’s time to build your brand!
This is the fun part. Knowing the brand you want to go after, get to work on creating your cohesive look and feel. Depending on the industry you are looking to break into, it’s time to ensure you have pieces in place so that when you go to apply for jobs or opportunities present themself — you are ready. Components of your brand to think about include:

Tagline or brand (this can be the 1-3 words to describe you, or a totally new tagline that encompasses your philosophy such as “passionate & authentic marketing”)
Color scheme (to apply to all of these components!)
Logo 
Website
Portfolio
Resume
Business cards (yes — I still love these!)
A solid LinkedIn profile
Social media profiles (Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, even TikTok depending on the industry you’re going into!)

This can seem overwhelming, but have no fear. There are many online tools that help you create a logo, and platforms for building websites that make it simple (you don’t have to be a developer to have an online presence!). The key here is to pick what seems important to the industry or job you’re going after, for example maybe you NEED a good resume and portfolio but social media isn’t as important, and perfect those aspects. You don’t need to have it all to start, just ensure what you do have is cohesive and tells a story of who you are and who you are becoming!

3. Build Your Portfolio
Now that you’ve secured the components of your brand, it’s time to actually build out the experiences needed to show that you can back up what you say you can do. 
To start, think about anything you’ve done in your life (and I mean anything) that could be applied to the new job you’re applying for. Maybe you handled managing money at a store in college and that could be applied to managing the budget for an event you want to plan. The opportunities are endless if you learn to connect the dots on your past experiences and tie them to your new ones. Review the LinkedIn profiles of those in your dream job, and check out the job descriptions or requirements where you are applying to get inspired. 
Once you’ve scoured through your own personal experiences, it’s time to cultivate and build the skill sets that you may be lacking if you’re going into something entirely new. Check out online courses or certificates that may be helpful for your next role or industry. Practice skills and read books and articles on your own time that will get you to where you want to go (bonus points if you start posting relevant articles and tips you learn on your social media profiles!). 

Focus on what is lighting you up NOW. What jobs look interesting based on what you learned at your current job NOW? What do you want to try NOW? You can always change this later. Remember: you can always try something new.

On top of taking the time to further your education, it is often necessary to create your own opportunities that will build the experience you need in order to secure a new job. Outside of your other obligations, start reaching out to small businesses or non-profit organizations that may need help in the area you’re trying to go! Maybe a local boutique needs a grand opening planned or a better social media presence, maybe a local dance studio needs someone to manage their books. I guarantee there is opportunity in your community to volunteer your time and cultivate your skill set. All of a sudden, you’re a “social media coordinator” for a retail boutique. All it requires is taking the time and having the courage to ask for what you want and need.
I call this, “start to actually make it, until you don’t have to fake it.” On top of building the brand and the skills, put yourself out there into the world and get real life experience that you can put onto your resume and your portfolio.
So, you may be asking, “well what if I don’t have any options or opportunities like this?”
There’s another thing you can do. You can actually create hypothetical scenarios and case studies to put onto your website or portfolio. Dream up the perfect marketing plan you’d be tasked with writing at your next job, or the event you’ll be planning at the next place you applied. Put together a case study of how you tackled the “project” and what the outcome was. This shows the employer that you took the time to prepare, you know how to take a project to completion, and gives a look at how you critically and creatively think or would tackle an applicable scenario.

4. Find a Mentor
Last but not least, find a mentor or someone you can go to that has worked in or is working in the industry you are going after. These individuals can offer you advice on your brand, help you with your resume, and connect you to individuals that may be able to help you get to where you’d like to go. Often, people LOVE to help others that may be at the beginning of their quest. So don’t be afraid to ask! 
The only option you have with going for something you want is to try. So don’t be afraid to ask for help, put yourself out there, and take the time to do the work it takes to back it up. Remember, the time will pass anyway, so may as well use it going toward your dreams.

What Your Resume Should Look Like, Based on the Job You Want To Land More

When you job search, you want to make it as easy as possible for companies to learn if you’re a good fit for the roles you’re applying for. The best way to catch the attention of hiring managers and recruiters is by having a resume that is easy to navigate and that highlights all of the key information you want potential employers to know. 
If you’re a bit stumped on what exactly needs to go in your resume sections, we’re here to simplify things for you. We’re going to walk you through what needs to be in each main section of your resume, so you don’t miss a thing and so employers don’t accidentally miss out on hiring you. 

In this article

Contact Information
We know how easy it is to drag your feet when it comes to big projects like creating a resume. Sometimes the best thing you can do is start with the easiest part—then let that momentum build. So, let’s start with your contact information. Most resume templates include all contact information in one easy-to-see section such as the top of a resume. In this section, you’ll want to include your name, email address, and if you have one, a link to your online portfolio or personal website. 

Objective Statement
Objective statements are optional on a resume, but if you have room on your resume, it can be a really helpful section to add. This doesn’t need to be more than a few sentences, so this is another easy section to check off your to-do list. You can start by writing a generic objective statement and then should customize this section of your resume for each job you’re applying for or each industry you’re targeting. In your objective statement, you’ll want to state why you want the position, how your qualifications make you perfectly suited for it, and how you will contribute to their company or team’s success. 
For example, if you’re applying for roles in social media marketing, you objective statement could say:
Objective: To secure a position as a social media manager where I can utilize my expertise in digital campaigns and strategic marketing initiatives to drive meaningful engagement from target audiences and increase brand awareness. My goal is to develop effective social media plans that are tailored towards specific goals and outcomes, leveraging data-driven insights to create content that resonates with user bases, increasing lead generation and ROI. With my broad technical knowledge of web tools and analytics platforms, combined with my well-honed communication skills, I am confident I can drive results across all online channels.

Job History
Now it’s time to slow down a bit. Filling out the job history portion of your resume is a lot of work, especially if you’re quite a few years into your career, but it’s important not to rush this section. Your job history is the most important section of your resume since it showcases your past experience and accomplishments. Make sure to list all relevant jobs in reverse chronological order with bullet points describing each role and its duties. 
When including information about current and past roles, you want to highlight your accomplishments using metrics rather than just sharing the tasks you were responsible for. This allows employers to gain an understanding of what you are capable of and how you contributed to a company’s success. 
For example, instead of writing “Responsible for scheduling Instagram posts”, a more effective way would be “Coordinated five Instagram posts per day which resulted in an average engagement level of 20%, surpassing the previous month’s engagement rate by 10%.” 
Some employers might only be interested in roles within the last ten to fifteen years, so don’t feel like you have to include everything from when you were first starting out in the workforce. For example, once you have a few full-time roles under your belt, you may not need to include college internships anymore. At the very least, you can eventually just list your older titles and companies and not include such lengthy descriptions with them. You want to make sure you have plenty of room to highlight the work you’ve done in more recent years, as well as the work that is most applicable to the jobs you’re applying for now. 
If applicable, you can include awards or recognitions that highlight your achievements as well as dates associated with any of the jobs listed in this section.

Education
In the education section of your resume, you will list any degrees you earned. You will include the name of the school and graduation dates (if applicable). If you earn a college degree, you don’t need to include your high school degree. If you had a truly impressive GPA (hello latin honors) and recently graduated, you can add your GPA to the education section, but the further along you are in your career, the less this will matter. If your GPA was average, there’s also no need to highlight that fact. 
If you took any online courses or pursued professional certifications that relate to the jobs you’re applying for, you can also add those to the education section as they can demonstrate additional skill sets or knowledge areas that can benefit the companies you’re applying to. 

Special Skills
The special skills section of your resume can be tricky to navigate since the skills each individual chooses to highlight are unique to them. This is a great section to customize for each job you’re applying for. Circle back to the job description and see what skills they are looking for that you can include in this section. Some great special skills to highlight include computer software proficiency, foreign language fluency, or special training received on certain equipment. 
For example, if the job requires knowledge of Adobe Photoshop, then you’ll want to list that as one of your skills—as long as you really know how to use that program. Think carefully about what skills you want to highlight, you don’t want to list too many or it will clutter your resume. Try to avoid adding the generic skills that everyone includes on their resume (whether they’re true or not). Including that you know how to use Microsoft Word feels like a bit of a no brainer in this day and age. 
Alongside hard skills (objective and quantifiable skills) such as being able to use certain computer programs, you’ll want to include soft skills on your resume. Soft skills are personal attributes and abilities that help a person interact effectively with others. Examples of soft skills include qualities like communication, problem-solving, self-motivation and adaptability. Soft skills are intangible—they can’t be seen or measured like hard skills such as typing speed or data entry proficiency, but they are just as important as hard skills.

One Last Word of Advice
When creating a resume, remember that brevity is key. Your goal should be to provide enough detail about yourself so employers get a good idea of who you are while also understanding why exactly they should hire you over someone else. Think of your resume as a highlight reel. If there’s additional information you want employers to know about you, this is where the cover letter or an online portfolio can really come in handy. 

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