[00:00] Because if you don't put yourself out there, you are literally just denying yourself of the opportunity that could have come. You know? Okay, hello guys. Today I'm going to tell you about how I got a job with no experience.
[00:12] You clicked on this video so that probably means that you're looking for a job, but you are looking at these applications and they're telling you that you gotta have 5 plus years of experience for an entry-level position? What? So let me help you with that because I got a full-time job with no experience.
[00:28] Literally none. And do you want to know my secret? come here come a little closer closer I don't bite closer I'm a netbook sorry I mean networking mostly okay wait before you cringe I am being so real this shit works and I know there's a lot of
[00:43] people out there who don't like this word myself included and I went to business school I used to cringe at this word but now I'm really a believer because I I'm a product of this and honestly I would probably rephrase it as relationship building building relationships to make it sound
[00:58] less poachy, less, like, you want to, less fake. I don't know. I don't know. Something about it is, like, very icky to me because it's, like, it sounds so fake. Like, you just want to connect with people because they can give you something. So, let me tell you all the tea on how I got this
[01:14] job and my story and what I think worked for me. Just a little bit of context. I work in a consulting company right now, and it's a fully remote position. Yes, I'm a work-from-home girly. Like, I can't believe this happened. I'm so grateful to have it. Went to university for
[01:28] sustainable business at SSU baby and I honestly never imagined that I would work in consulting but here I am so let me tell you about how I got this job I'm gonna take you all the way back to my uni class days okay so when I was in uni there was this one course that I took something called
[01:42] like sustainable innovation and there I met my prof who I felt like the vibes were just just there like she's young she's fresh she was relatable she was personable she was super cool
[01:56] super down to earth and I just loved hearing her talk and her experiences. I wanted to get to know her more. So I found out that she had traveled the world, she did exchanges, she worked abroad and that really interested me because at the time I was super into traveling and going abroad. So I
[02:12] really wanted to keep in contact with her after the course had ended. So I would send her emails here and there of me and my travel. I wanted to share my experiences with her. So yeah, I would just sent her like cute little pictures of me and my travels like me in Australia enjoying the
[02:26] sunshine enjoying the coffee my learnings there and I was telling her about the things that I noticed about sustainability in Australia I have a history of keeping in contact with teachers and mentors so it felt really natural to keep this connection with her and I was honestly I was just
[02:41] like sharing my experiences with her and it just felt like really nice to share an interest that I had with somebody who is also just as interested in it as I am. Because not a lot of people around me are also interested in sustainability like the way I am And I had kept in touch with her here and there for over two years but it wasn anything frequent it was just kind of like here and there touch and go
[03:04] Eventually I graduated and I had spent about two months looking for jobs and applying for jobs and I thought that I would reach out to her and talk to her and ask her for her advice because she is someone who worked in the industry and she she has connections in the industry so surely she
[03:20] would have advice for me that I could take on in my career. So I asked her for a coffee chat. We're on Zoom. We're talking. I'm telling her about how hard it is to find a job these days. There's not many jobs out there. It's very competitive. You need lots of experience. Employers are expecting
[03:35] so much out of you now. We're nearing the end of the conversation and she goes, actually, Lizzie, you can say no if you want to and it's totally up to you, but I'm working for a company and we're looking for someone to help out. Would you be interested? My jaw dropped. I couldn't believe
[03:50] what I was hearing because I genuinely just went to her for advice. I wasn't looking for anything. I didn't even think that she would offer me anything. I was honestly just genuinely looking to catch up with her because I like her as a person and I wanted advice. I wanted her knowledge.
[04:05] I wanted her expertise. But in the end, she offered me a position and that's how I got my first contract job with zero experience mind you the only thing that I had going for me was that I
[04:17] did well in her class and I kept in contact with her over the years and in the beginning it was super great I was honestly super grateful to have any sort of experience any sort of opportunity but here's the catch I quickly learned that contract jobs are very unstable and you're not
[04:34] always going to get work I didn't know that because I'm not I'm not I'm not I'm not really a career baddie like I I'm not a corporate baddie yeah I've spent my whole life working at cafe jobs and service jobs and to me once you get a job that's that it's stable whatever like you just
[04:51] keep on working until they fire you or you quit but a contract job I thought I was going to get consistent hours and consistent work but that was quickly turning out not to be the case which led
[05:03] me to my existential crisis video and I'm sure a lot of you have seen that video because it's one of the more viewed videos on my channel. And so I talked about feeling unstable in my job, feeling nervous, feeling not really knowing like where to go next, because I got this job through a
[05:20] connection, seeing how unstable it was, and meant that I would have to apply for jobs again with zero connections to the industry, just putting my resume out there into the void, hoping that someone would give me a chance. And so yeah, I thought it was, I thought that was it for me. I
[05:33] thought like after three months of the contract job, it was like back to the drawing board. My SD card that I remember so I had to change it. Anyway back to the story. So the biggest plot twist was three months into my contract job I received a full-time offer from the company. I was like that's
[05:49] crazy because I was literally getting ready to leave and apply for jobs and spend another six months looking for work I don know what it is about manifesting or the universe was looking out for me because they decided to hire me full
[06:03] after doing my work, I guess, as a contractor. And yeah, I guess that's where I am now. I'm working, I've been working full-time remotely for three, since March, March, April, May, about three months
[06:15] now. And I love it. Like, I love working from home. I love the flexibility. I get to work on YouTube. I'm having a really fun time in my job right now and I'm honestly just so grateful that
[06:27] this landed in my lap. And so what I think worked was I built a relationship with my professor. It was never for anything other than just to have that connection with someone who I admired and
[06:39] I thought that she would be a great mentor later on. I maintained relationships with her because she was cool and I don't think you should just go after someone because you know that they can give you something like you should think about what you can offer first and so just keeping in
[06:52] contact over years eventually landed me this job at first I was thinking is this nepotism but it's not really is it nepotism no nah it would actually be insane if I were a nepo baby please like in my next life let me be a nepo baby this time I'm a network baby yo that kind of ease I'm a network
[07:08] baby yeah I build relationships I keep in contact I give out good vibes and you know what like it happens like that. So another thing that I think worked for me is that I was willing to talk to everyone in my job search. I was willing to do everything and everything. I wasn't going to let
[07:25] my ego be put in front of me and limit me from going out there and putting myself out there. Because if you don't put yourself out there, you are literally just denying yourself of the opportunity that could have come, you know? So yeah, I was just willing to put myself out there
[07:40] and talk to everybody. My professor was the first person I asked for advice, also the first person to offer me an opportunity. But after my professor, I had a list of people that I was willing to
[07:53] talk to and I was getting ready to schedule coffee chats with and ask for their advice. Here's the other thing. I was really only just asking for advice. I wasn't going to beg them to give me a job because I think people get the itch. I'm sure anybody would get the itch if
[08:05] somebody was trying to talk to you just to ask you if they could get a job from you. If you're genuinely are just asking for advice and you're showing that you want to learn I think that was my strength I was showing that I was like willing to learn and I was humble about it and I wasn't
[08:19] like all up in their face being like all right give me a job so yeah I was also willing to put in more work for no extra price I learned this from listening to the diary of the CEO podcast time and time again the guests on there and Stephen Butler himself like their advice is to
[08:35] work for free. Give your work and effort and work for free and eventually someone will pick you up and pay you for your services because if you're starting from the bottom and you don't have any experience, the best thing that you can do is put yourself out
[08:47] there and work for free. Another thing that I think worked for me was I stayed organized So in my contract job I was super on top of it I was never late on anything I kept track of everything I made sure to communicate as much as possible just to show
[09:03] that I am super interested and engaged. Them seeing my work and my approach to work and how I carried myself, I think that was what made them convert me from contractor to full-time.
[09:15] So, all in all, networking will get your foot in the door, but I think it's your soft skills that will let your entire body in the room. Okay, wait, I kind of said that weird. Wait, networking?
[09:27] Wait, okay, wait. Networking will get your foot in the door, but your soft skills and your character will put you in the room. Yeah, that sounds better. The first time sounded stupid.
[09:40] Let your whole body in the book. Okay. Yeah, I guess that's really all I have to say to you guys. if you guys are looking for a job, build relationships with the people around you, with the people that you know, with the people in the industry, especially if you don't have experience.
[09:54] But I think it's a really valuable skill, too, as you gain more experience to continue building relationships. But don't forget the second part, and that's your soft skills and your character. Are you organized, good at managing your time?
[10:06] Can you work hard? Can you put in the effort? Are you adaptable? Are you willing to learn? My other pieces of advice for those of you who are looking for a job or maybe just in general, put yourself out there, work on yourself and work hard.
[10:19] Show, don't tell. Expand your community. Build your relationships. It's never too late to reach out. And if people end up ignoring you, who cares? You should at least be proud of the fact that you tried. And it's a lot more than what a lot of other people would do.
[10:32] Think about your strengths. What are you really good at that could outweigh or make up for your weaknesses? And how can you own up to your weaknesses, you know? Like, can you bounce back from them? Can you adapt? These are all things that I think will show an employer that you're worth hiring, even
[10:46] if you don't have any skills. So I'm just going to, like, start talking about my reflection. I think no one will care about this, but I'm going to just say anyway, it's honestly really hard to believe still that I'm here in this position. I think some days, days just go by where I'm like, well, like, I'm just working and I don't
[11:02] appreciate that. Literally three, four, five months ago, I was so anxious about not having a job. but honestly if you continue to believe in yourself and stay delusional be a good person and work hard things will come to you yeah i think that's my reflection to myself i don't know i'm
[11:18] just fucking saying whatever at this point i hope you guys enjoyed this video i hope you guys learned something from it let me know if you have any questions oh my gosh i'm so excited i want to do a work from home vlog so you guys can work with me and see how um my processes for work how i manage
[11:34] my time yeah I think I'm I'm pretty good at managing my time oh my god I'm just gassing myself up like I'm just gassing myself up if you guys want to see a work from home vlog let me know productivity vlog that'd be fun to make anyways I'm yapping thank you so much for watching and
[11:49] I'll see you guys next time