HOW I LANDED A JOB WITH MINIMAL EXPERIENCE

hi guys! i apologize for not updating my lemon8 as i have been rlly busy trying to find the balance between work & life.

some of yall that came from my other blog post might know that girly has upgraded into a corporate girly recently and this is my FIRST month into this world… and yes, i do have some inputs i would like to share that might be beneficial to you when you start your first big girl/guy job.

i’ll mainly talk on how i landed in the role, aka interview process.

i would say i was rlly lucky as i do not have much experience in the field that i’m currently working in but it aligns with what i want to study in my part time degree (we will share more about this in my coming lemon8 blog). i’ll just speak on how i landed a role with minimal experience in the particular field.

advice 1: do extensive research on your role

ill advise the basics, doing research on your company (what services or product they are providing), this can be done by reading up on their company’s website.

Glassdoor reviews for gauging how employees are treated in the workplace and their overall retention rate. (low retention rates might indicate an underlying problem in the work culture)

LinkedIn can help identify who your potential co-workers are and could also allow you to gauge what they do for their role so you would have some expectations on what you would be doing when you enter the company (helps with identifying red flags too)

all these steps are needed for you to come to the interview prepared to answer any firing questions they might have for you. i’m a firm believer to be over-prepared then to be under-prepared.

things to take note would be reading through your job description as some of the firing questions might be related to your hard-skills that you are able to provide the company with. (using industry terms may be a booster as it shows your employer that you are knowledgeable of their field which also in terms increasing your chances of being selected)

advice 2: use your CCA or PT work experience & internships to back you up

i started working since i was 16 years old at various pt roles which allowed me to harness many different hard and soft skills. i did various roles from front-facing (which developed soft-skills) and behind the scenes internships (which developed some hard-skills). i used all these skills i’ve developed along the years as my advantage to stand out in my interview. during the interview, i spoke about my past experience and what i did in that role that would be beneficial for the current role (i think yall get the gist of it)

always show how you are going to benefit the company based on your skills and your experience.

advice 3: if you’re not competent enough, let them know you are working on improving

like i said previously, i have limited experience in the industry i am working in right now but during my free time i took up courses and am still taking courses to enhance up my knowledge. i made sure it seemed like i was willing to learn hands-on or even take time from my personal life to increase my knowledge (side note: i’m mainly doing this for my future goals not entirely for work).

let them know you are an investment to the company.

advice 4: make jokes, don’t be a robot

HR and employers are still human at the end of the day, nobody wants to work with someone difficult to communicate with. I read somewhere that people rather have someone that is lesser competent in their work but easier to work with then someone that is very competent in their work but harder to work with. thus show some of your personality during the interview, crack some silly jokes (not too silly pls-) let them know you know when to be serious and when to relax. the office might seem like a very professional place but to be frank it is not that cold in a way that you expect. people do enjoy some fun laughter sometimes.

when you show that your have a personality that is easy to work with, it could be a boost to you! (however, i must say it may not work for all industries, but most back-end job i’ve worked for its usually the case).

at the end of the day, an interview is just a simple process for employers to gauge whether a potential is a suitable role for the job and the company. these tips helped me and it might help you too. i’m no expert but i’ll love for everyone to get their BAGGGG so happy job hunting!