Here's the thing. You need experience to get a job but you need a job so you can get experience. So what's the answer?
Employers are looking for proof that you can do the job they want you to do. They need to be able to look at your track record and see that you have skills that are relevant to the job you're applying for.
This doesn't just mean task-specific skills like using a cash register or power tools, but also things like how good you are at communicating, whether you can meet deadlines, or how you work as part of a team.
The good news is you don't need to be doing paid work or studying at university or TAFE to get skills and experience. There are lots of other ways to develop the skills you need. Best of all, they're free!
Release your inner entrepreneur
A good entrepreneur can take their ideas and turn them into business opportunities or use them to pave their career path. The skills you'll learn while developing your idea will increase your employability chances a lot. Check out these free courses and resources that can help you to get your business idea off the ground.
- Sign up for IGNITE (new window), the FRANK Team's free monthly e-newsletter on entrepreneurship. The FRANK Team has other free resources available and an online community (new window) you can connect with.
- The Slingshot Community Enterprise and Employment Centre (new window) can give you training and mentoring to develop your ideas or help you find other pathways into employment.
- Make contact and share ideas with young entrepreneurs from all over the world at Mind Petals: Young Entrepreneur Network (new window).
Learn from a skills coach or mentor
There's always more to learn. Being interested in improving your skills is as important as having the skills themselves!
Get yourself a mentor at the Youth Mentoring Network (new window). Your mentor can help you with career planning or finding work experience. For more information about mentors check out our Finding a mentor page.
Be part of a volunteer program
Volunteering is an excellent way to pick up new skills and meet people who can help with your job searching. There's as much in it for you as there is for the organisation you're volunteering with.
- If you're between 17 and 20 you can join Green Corps (new window) and earn an allowance to volunteer on environmental projects in rural and regional areas. You get training and work experience and will receive help to look for work at the end of your 26-week placement.
- Red Cross yconnect? (new window) is your chance to get experience in areas as diverse as food rescue, fundraising and event management, holiday workshops and sporting programs. If you're between 18 and 35 yconnect? could have the volunteer opportunity for you.
Think laterally - be creative
These are just a sample of the kind of non-work ways that you can develop your skills and get the kind of experience that can really impress a potential employer. If you put your mind to it you're sure to be able to come up with some other ideas on top of these ones.
Just keep in mind that work experience isn't the only way to become the kind of person that employers want to hire.
To find out more about volunteering and work experience opportunities, check out our Volunteering & work experience section.
