How to get a job without work experience

You’re looking for work, and in order to get it, you need prior experience. But how do you get experience when no one will give it to you? It’s a frustrating conundrum.

If you’ve found yourself in this situation, don’t worry. It’s a common issue lots of people face early in their careers, and rest assured, you can overcome it.

Yes! If you feel like you don't have enough experience, that's normal. Start by acknowledging that you're at the beginning of your career. That means it's natural not to have heaps of experience – if you did, it wouldn't be the beginning.

Try not to compare yourself to others, either. It's easy to feel intimidated by people who might seem 'ahead', but everyone's career journey is unique to them. Plus, there are plenty of ways to expand your CV and attract employers' attention without having lots of work experience.

Think of your lack of experience as an opportunity, not a blocker.

The good news? Employers understand your situation, and they're not expecting as much industry experience as you think.

In our annual research report, we discovered that there's a significant gap between what employers want and what students think employers want.

We found that students and graduates ranked existing industry experience as the number one factor they think employers value when choosing candidates.

When we spoke to employers, however, they ranked experience as #12 on the list. The number one factor was passion for the business, followed by resilience, problem-solving skills, commercial awareness and communication.

Top graduate employers told us they value passion, resilience and problem-solving more than existing industry experience.

So employers aren't looking for as much experience as you thought. How can you make the most of that in your application process?

The first step is knowing what kinds of roles to apply for. Look for opportunities focused on learning and training, where you don't need to have loads of existing knowledge.

Internships are short-term roles that introduce you to a job, company or industry. They can last anywhere from a couple of weeks to months. After completing an internship, you'll have a lot more to talk about when applying for permanent roles. Some even lead to offers of long-term employment.

You can complete internships at any point in your career to build up your experience, even if you've already graduated, or you've worked in one industry and want to move to another.

If you haven't already, consider taking part in Bright Network's Internship Experience UK. We run the virtual programme every summer, covering multiple sector streams. You'll have the opportunity to hear insights from leading industry experts, network with contacts at top firms and complete a relevant work sample.

At the end of IEUK, you'll get a certificate and can add the experience to your CV and LinkedIn. It's free to attend and takes place over four days – so it's an instant experience boost.

IEUK is now closed for 2024, but keep an eye out for summer 2025!

Work experience placements tend to be even shorter than internships, sometimes lasting just a week. No matter how long your work experience is, it’ll still give you helpful insights for your future job applications.

Often, you’ll be helping out a specific team or shadowing someone in their day-to-day role. If you secure work experience, make sure to ask lots of questions to learn as much as you can.

Graduate schemes are programmes designed specifically for university grads who are looking to transition into the working world. Large companies offer them knowing that graduates won't have lots of experience. That's why the programmes often include lots of training – the employer is investing in your skills.

Grad schemes often involve structured rotations in different departments or teams to give you a range of experiences in the industry. They're also competitive, so preparing for the rigorous application processes in advance will be key to securing a role.

Graduate schemes tend to be offered by large corporations. If you’re interested in working for a smaller employer or a start-up, the roles you’re looking for may be advertised as ‘entry-level’. Rather than running a special programme for lots of graduates, these kinds of employers might be looking to fill just one or two spots.

Companies hiring for entry-level roles won't be too focused on how much experience you have. The application and interview processes will be more about you showing your passion for the company and your willingness to learn.

If you're still feeling uncertain about your level of experience, the best solution is to try and get some. Here are some ideas on how to build experience without needing to go through a competitive application process first.

Even when they're not related to your career sector, hobbies demonstrate important characteristics that employers look for, like passion, curiosity and dedication. Being on a sports team shows you're a team player, for example, while playing an instrument says that you have self-discipline.

If you don't already have a regular hobby, here are some ideas for you to consider. As well as being fun and enriching, they'll help you build workplace-ready skills:

• Learn to code or teach yourself to build a website
• Take up a new language
• Practice your writing and communication skills
• Get involved with a sports team or club

You can also get experience by completing a passion project or engaging with your degree subject in an extra-curricular way. For example:

• Create a video or a YouTube channel where you explore topics you're interested in
• Contribute to a university magazine or newspaper, writing about your subject
• Record a podcast or get involved with a university radio station
• Start a blog and write about what interests you
• Fundraise for a cause that's important to you
• Take part in debating competitions
• Organise an event for a charity or a topic relevant to your career path

Employers love hearing about society experience when they’re hiring graduates. Plus, it's never too late to sign up and get involved with societies at your university to build valuable experience.

You can either attend society events as a member or even apply to join the Committee and take on a leadership role. Either way, many of the actions you take as part of a society will mirror real-world scenarios in the workplace.

Whether you go on to run meetings, organise events or hold a spot on the Committee, these experiences will help show an employer that you have what it takes to do the role.

One of the most obvious ways to build experience is to do some work while you're still at university. There are lots of jobs you can do while studying that are flexible so you can balance them with your degree.

Some of the most common student jobs include working in restaurants, cafés, bars or retail. Other flexible options to try include:

• Tutoring or teaching in your subject area
• Becoming an ambassador for your university
• Providing online transcription or translation services
• Becoming an assistant at your university library, SU or career service
• Conducting market research
• Stewarding at festivals or events
• Receptionist work
• Lifeguarding or being a first-aider

Having part-time work that's related to your degree or job sector is a plus, but any work experience is helpful when it comes to building up your profile for future applications, as each role brings valuable transferable skills with it.

Maybe you don’t have work experience in a specific industry – but you do have experience from elsewhere in life. If you learn to think about your hobbies, jobs and education as work experience, you’ll find that you have much more to talk about in applications and interviews than you initially thought. Remember: employers know you're entry-level, and they're not expecting the impossible.

It’s a common misconception that ‘non-career’ jobs are not worth including on your CV or talking about in interviews. Particularly if you don’t have much experience in your sector, these jobs are well worth highlighting, as they will have taught you skills that will be helpful in future roles.

If you worked in customer service, you've probably picked up a thing or two about diplomatic communication. Or if you've handled money behind a till, you've shown that you're trustworthy and responsible. Served drinks in a busy bar or café? That means you can keep your head in a high-pressure situation – and these are all skills that graduate employers will want to hear about.

Keep in touch with previous bosses or supervisors, too, as they might come in handy when it comes to providing references for future roles.

Whether you've dedicated yourself to a hobby, worked a part-time job or learned new expertise through education, you've definitely gained some transferable skills along the way. Some of the top transferable skills employers look for are:

• Resilience
• Problem-solving
• Communication skills
• Teamwork
• Leadership
• Organisation and time-keeping
• Team management
• Being proactive
• Being adaptable and thinking fast
• Staying calm under pressure

When in life have you had to use these skills? Even if it’s not from a professional setting, think about example scenarios you could mention. Just remember to keep the situations you mention positive. If you're asked about a time when you've experienced conflict, what the employer really wants to know is what you did to resolve it – not a blow-by-blow of the disagreement.

Likewise, choose scenarios that show you're a respectful team player. Don't badmouth previous colleagues or teammates, as it'll reflect poorly on you.

Your education is one of your best assets to talk about during the hiring process. When it comes to motivational questions, think about how your degree relates to the job you're applying for. How have your studies influenced what you want from your career?

As for competency-based questions, you can draw on experience from group projects, your dissertation or any other long-term projects you’ve worked on. What challenges did you overcome, and how? What skills did those situations teach you?

If you have certificates or qualifications in particular software or for certain hard skills, those will also be helpful to highlight.

In the absence of lots of relevant experience, employers look for passion for the role, company and industry. Show that you’re serious about your career by demonstrating commercial awareness of current trends, movements and news in your sector. You can build your commercial awareness by reading trade publications, and newspapers, listening to podcasts and subscribing to newsletters.