I Don’t Have Experience – Here’s What You Can Do Now
One of my most commonly asked questions is; “I don’t have experience, how can I get a job?”. There are times in the employment hunt when experience is necessary and favorable. However, when starting out, employers aren't hiring you for your technical ability, or ability to generate one million dollars in profit on a project (that, is handy). They’re hiring you based on your future potential – your potential to learn, and grow, and deliver value to the organisation. They're generally assessing if you will be a cultural fit with the organisation, and get along with the people and personalities in the teams. They're considering you based on your passion, drive, and ambition for a career in construction, so you best well know what it is that's drawing you in. What's your why? Some organizations do look at your academic transcript, some don't, but I always made sure those grades reflected my best effort incase someone did want to have a look!
I dare say, all of us started off with no experience, but here we are. That's not a qualifier, move past that barrier.
So what can you be doing right now, if you don't have experience? Start priming yourself for employment from day one at university, which will put you in a favourable position once the job hunt commences. Use your time at university wisely.
The time spent at university can be put to even more great use by cultivating the skills and attributes that employers look for that will help you gain industry employment.
What are these skills, I hear you ask! Here are some industry-specific skills that you can build at university:
Teamwork
Unless you’re going to be a solo-preneur working with no-one forever, you need to be able to work in a team. You can develop this skill by joining committees and associations, sports (last time I participated in a group sport was in grade 4), organise events, or get a part-time (non-industry related) job. Understanding team dynamics, responsibility, accountability, and the like is going to be really useful when working in a dynamic, fast-paced construction project.
2. Communication
Communication is king! Universities are safe spaces to practice written and verbal communication. Think that end of semester presentation isn’t worth preparing for? Well, it is. It’s the chance to get comfortable with relaying information and engaging people. Practice proper report writing, because I assure you, as a Contract Administrator you’ll be doing lots of them!
3. Time management
When I was doing my master’s degree, I was also working part-time, and involved in a few construction related student associations. Now I don’t recommend everyone does this, because it’s not for everyone. I’m saying this to highlight the point that we all have competing priorities which requires good time management. Working on site on construction projects is also a challenging environment with competing priorities, and you need the ability to assess them, and get it all done anyways, because sometimes sh*t cant’t wait. Demonstrating to prospective employers that you’re a team player than can manage competing priorities, well, aren’t you a cut above the rest.
4. Attention to detail
In my first interview for a commercial company, the state manager explicitly highlighted that some of the best graduates and CA’s had a heightened attention to detail. You can develop this skill from day one at university. Check your work for spelling, formatting, consistency, clarity, and even making sure all the pages are there! This will come in great benefit when you’re under the pump at work but can still produce detail, quality results.
And finally…
5. Relationship building (with academic staff)
When you are an engaged, proactive student that engages in class, listens, and builds a relationship with lecturers, you become noticeable. Lecturers have a dense network of industry connections who are constantly on the look out for fresh talent. They're more likely to recommend the engaged student then the one who shows up in week 12 wanting a copy of someone else's assignment! In a competitive market, a referral from academic staff is just invaluable, especially when you haven't necessarily built your own strong industry network yet.
This list is not exhaustive, but don't think that university is just a place to skip class and sit on Facebook the whole time. Try treating it like one long networking event that you constantly have to show up as your best self in, and see what happens.
My post next week will give you even more insight as to what you can do to if you don't have experience. It's actually been one of the most formative things I did as a student which helped me stand out from the crowd. This post isn't even a third of what you can be doing so best you register for....
My upcoming masterclass (!) on the 18/07/19 at 7pm AEST which will provide you with SO MUCH MORE insight on how to stand out from the crowd and attract employment opportunities. I'll share with you my experiences on what worked and what didn't when I was looking for roles in construction. Head to my website right now to register, limited spots available. Plus you get Q+A time with me!
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