Part-Time Jobs
Emphasize any work experience, no matter how casual or seemingly unrelated to your target role. At very least this may show that you can hold down a job and be reliable. On this point, its not a good idea to list a part-time job that you quit after a month. Try to emphasize how your part-time jobs might relate to your target role. If you worked in fast food, emphasize that you learned processes and procedures and gained customer service experience.Teaching Assistant
Work experience related to your education such as grading papers or performing administrative tasks for a class.Tutoring
Tutoring is a type of freelance work experience and can be listed on a resume as such.Freelancing
Freelancing experience such as designing a webpage for a local business or helping a neighbor to build a deck.School Projects
School projects such as coding projects that gave you experience delivering working software.Extracurricular Activities
Any experience with extracurricular activities such as student government, school clubs, events or academic competitions that could be applicable to a job.Leadership Roles
If a job requires you to be self-directed or to lead teams you can mention leadership experience you have in any capacity such as leading a cooperative group project in a class.Sports Experiences
Sports experience, particular related to coaching or administrative work such as managing the finances for a team.Internships
Internships are a type of work experience and can be listed as such.Volunteering
Volunteering, particularly any tasks that might be similar to your target job such as dealing with people or organizing things. If you have a great deal of these experiences this can be listed in a separate section of your resume such as "Volunteer Experience."Event Planning
Planning school or community events can resemble project management and can be a valuable experience.Learning Experiences
Learning experiences that involved producing work products such as a design workshop where you designed a user interface for a mobile app.Personal Projects
Personal projects that could be applicable to a job such as developing a mod for a video game.Entrepreneurial Ventures
An experience you may have in starting a business, no matter how small.Media Experience
Media experience such as launching a vlog about some topic that is relevant to a job or industry.Creative Projects
Creative projects and accomplishments such as an artist who has their paintings featured in an exhibition or gallery.Family Business
Helping out with a family business such as a restaurant is a type of work experience.Self-Learning
Any impressive level of self-learning that you've done. For example, if you've had success as a DIY motorcycle mechanic and you're applying to roles related to engineering or mechanical work.Public Speaking
Public speaking experiences can demonstrate things such as initiative, communication skills and social confidence and may be generally applicable to many roles.Online Collaboration
Collaborating with others online such as contributing to a large scale open source software project.Research
Research project experience such as an honors thesis or capstone project.Important Character Traits of Non-Experienced Candidates
Just as it's a burden for firms to hire inexperienced employees, it can also be a burden to hire highly experienced employees if they happen to be inflexible or entitled. For this reason, it is common for very large firms to vastly prefer hiring directly out of school so that they can shape employees to their culture and processes. If you have no experience it can be important to highlight your flexible qualities as follows.Committed | Cooperative |
Curious | Dedicated |
Dependable | Determined |
Energetic | Fast Learner |
Flexible | Initiative |
Interest in the Job | Open |
Patient | Persistent |
Pride in Work | Punctual |
Receptive | Reliable |
Resourceful | Respectful |
Seeking Long-Term Position | Self-Direction |
Self-Learner | Strong Work Ethic |
Supportive | Trustworthy |
Willingness to Learn |
Where to List Experience on a Resume
Part-time jobs, internships, volunteering, tutoring, freelancing, entrepreneurship and work for a family business can be listed under "Work Experience" on a resume. Non-work experience such as a school or community project can be listed in the same format with an appropriate heading such as "Relevant Experience." If all of your non-work experience is in one area such as volunteering or research these can be used as headings such as "Volunteer Experience" or "Research Experience."Elephant in the Room
When interviewing for a job for which you lack the requisite experience it is important to directly address this in the interview to communicate your plan to come up to speed and your willingness to do what it takes to be successful in the role. It is often more appealing to hire an enthusiastic individual who takes initiative over a relatively uncommitted candidate with experience.Career Changes
The problem of needing experience before you can get experience also applies to mid-career professionals who would like to try a new role or industry but have no direct experience in these jobs. This is a far easier problem to solve as you have work experience you can list and can emphasize any similarities between roles. For example, a software engineer who wants to be a salesperson could emphasize any customer-facing experiences they might have had.Summary
The following are common types of non-work experience that can be relevant to a job.
