Build Career Experience Outside College and Full-Time Work

My recent post for new grads went viral - the biggest lesson was your career needs to be outbound before it becomes inbound. Now here’s how to actually do that ⬇️ 👉 Believe in yourself. Imposter syndrome holds us back. Humility is important, but don’t feel like you need to wait in the shadows for your turn. 👉 Ask for opportunities. Referrals, resume reviews, coffee chats, mentorship side projects, ownership on the team etc. Expect a ton of nos (like at least 80%) but get into the habit of asking. 👉 Create content. If you press publish every single day or week for a year, I guarantee your life will change. Start with things you know - what are you known as, online or among friends? what could you talk about all day? What brings you joy or pisses you off? Or if you’re working on or creating anything, document the journey (Day 5 of doing X). It doesn’t even have to be LinkedIn. 👉 Engage online - for every career path, there are online communities on Slack, Discord, LinkedIn etc. You should be in them and be visible. Share insights, help others out, become known. 👉 Go the extra mile - I don’t condone unpaid work, but sometimes you have to prove yourself. When interviewing for a job, present new ideas for how the company could grow. If you’re looking for freelance work, customize your pitch. Here’s a few hypothetical examples: 1. Associate Product Marketer → Startup Offer via Thought Leadership Started a weekly LinkedIn series breaking down viral product launches (e.g. Duolingo's TikTok strategy). After 6 weeks, a founder of a B2B SaaS company DMed them, impressed by their insights. They got a freelance project, which turned into a full-time offer. 2. Entry-Level Designer → Consulting Gig via Spec Work Redesigned the mobile app UI for a fitness startup they admired, posted it on Behance and Twitter with a thoughtful case study. The startup’s head of design saw it, reached out, and hired them for a paid project. 3. College Senior Studying CS → FTE Role via Twitter Networking Replied to a tweet by a founder who was struggling with page load times. Offered to review their site’s performance for free. After a quick Loom audit, they were invited to consult, then offered a full-time engineer role once the startup raised funding. 4. Early Career Consultant → Career Transition via Cold Pitch Pitched a local restaurant chain business with a 5-step business plan to improve growth. Met with founder then hired as advisor then head of strategy. 5. Aspiring VC → Job via Hosting Events Started a monthly “Future of [industry]” dinner series in NYC, inviting founders, operators, and junior VCs. Built a newsletter around event recaps. Met a partner at a VC firm through the event who later offered them a role as an analyst. The inbound opportunities will come — but you can accelerate the timeline by going outbound. #socialmedia #careers #linkedin

“How can I get work experience without work experience?” This is a catch-22 that some students and recent graduates often encounter as they navigate their early career journeys. ⭐ Here are a few ways I got around it and some things I recommend: 1️⃣ Take free certifications, courses, fellowships, and boot camps There are so many online certifications and courses for technical and nontechnical industries—a few are free, too! When I lacked experience, I took a few of these to sharpen my skills, and I included them on my resume and LinkedIn. Some platforms I recommend include Acadium (marketing courses), LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, Skillshare, Grow with Google, Verizon Skill Forward (technical courses), and of course, YouTube University. Bonus: Free fellowships and boot camp programs are great too! A few I recommend are COOP, Colorwave, CodePath, Kode With Klossy, Springboard and CareerFoundry - ProFellow is a great website for finding fellowships. 2️⃣ Apply for professional development programs These programs are usually for those who don’t have much work experience and partner with Fortune 500 companies for program support and to hire program alumni. In addition to internships, they provide mentorship, career development workshops, and a robust alumni network. Some programs I recommend include MLT Career Prep, INROADS, The LAGRANT Foundation, and SHPEP (pre med/health). 🎯 You can find a list of programs here: https://lnkd.in/gzrai8Bn 3️⃣ Complete micro-internships or externships These programs are usually less than 4 weeks, project based, sometimes paid, and a great way to beef up your resume by doing projects with cool brands. You can find opportunities like these on platforms such as Parker Dewey, Extern, and Forage 4️⃣ Do freelance work When I started my marketing career, I created my own agency where I worked with small-owned businesses. This helped me stand out in my interviews and further grow my portfolio. Create the work experiences you need to get the job you want. 5️⃣ Hyped up my extracurriculars and passion projects In college, I was heavily involved in my sorority and did a lot of work in recruitment and managing our digital branding. Throughout my resume, I emphasized my wins using Google’s XYZ format to highlight my leadership efforts and show that I was a well-rounded candidate. I also ran a college & lifestyle blog which helped me grow in my marketing, graphic design, and communications skill set. By having it listed in my resume as work experience, it was always a hot topic in my interviews Don’t be afraid to share on your resume who you are outside of work because the lessons you learn in those experiences can translate into transferable skills for the workplace. 💌 and while you're at it, check out my YouTube video to help you find some of these opportunities: https://lnkd.in/gm3PB-ae #earlycareer #internships #jobhunting #entryleveljobs

I landed my first internship at a Fortune 100 with NO prior work experience. Everyone has to start somewhere, but what the #&%@ do you put on a resume when you have no work experience? 😂 Here's what I did & how you can replicate it ⬇️ Getting the first internship [or first job] is, in my opinion, one of the hardest you'll ever do in your career. It's a perpetual "chicken before the egg" problem ~ how do you get experience if everyone requires prior experience? The reality that no one talks about is that you can't apply to a role with a blank/empty resume, so you have to get *some* form of experience. This is the step that people often skip over: resume *building*. Here are three areas you can build your resume in, all of which I have done: 🛠️ Project experience -- projects are the EASIEST way to gain experience since you don't need anyone's permission, approval, or supervision to do it. Here are some example projects for different career paths ~ mobile & web apps (software engineering), investment memo or thesis (venture capital), product prototype/design, and strategy (product management). 🛠️ Competition experience -- want to test your abilities under pressure? And potentially win awards & cash prizes? Enter competitions! I won $12K+ from hackathons (SWE/PM), engineering pitch competitions (ENGR/Biz), startup pitch competitions (PM/Biz) and case competitions (Consulting). 🛠️ Work *Lite* experience -- fellowships, externships, micro-internships, etc. Basically, any form of "relevant" experience. These types of opportunities typically have less competition, can be slightly easier to attain, and don't have the same type of requirements/requisites as internships and full-time roles. You have to start somewhere; not only will these experiences fill your resume, but they'll also give you more confidence in the job search! Once you've built your resume, write it like a pro using these guidelines: ✅ Use the Google XYZ method ~ this is like the golden rule for resumes, and it goes, "Accomplished [X] as measured by [Y], by doing [Z]." ✅ Use your resume to TELL A STORY ~ use descriptive adjectives, strong verbs, and consistent bullet points to create a cohesive story that makes you look like THE perfect candidate for the job. ✅ Use an ATS-friendly format ~ this isn't too difficult, but it's a HUGE stumbling block for applicants. If your resume can't be read by an ATS, you will likely get auto-rejected. 😳 🧠 Want to avoid the mistakes I made & see THE resume that got me my first internship at an F100 with NO work experience? Comment your email & I'll send a copy straight to your inbox! 📥 #internships #earlycareer #newgrad #summerinternship

What does it really mean to "create your own experience" in college? Here’s a great example: A college senior I was working with wanted to land a social media marketing role after graduation. The problem? She hadn’t built any real experience in that space. With six months until graduation, she wanted to find a way to build some. Here’s what she did: 1. Found a local animal shelter with poor online presence 2. Offered to help improve their social media strategy 3. Got to work (for free) She applied what she had learned in marketing classes (and filled the gaps through free online courses). Six months later: • Took the shelter from 1 to 3 active platforms • Boosted their follower count significantly • Helped increase pet adoptions through better reach All this using the exact skills her target roles were asking for: • Audience research • Content strategy • Social media marketing The result? A relevant experience she could speak to confidently on her resume and in interviews. Was she an expert? No. Was everything she did perfect? No. She still had a lot to learn. But it helped the shelter attain real, positive outcomes. Here’s the point: There are more ways to gain experience than getting an internship. One way is to create it by solving problems around you. You can start by looking around your local community: • Nonprofits • Small businesses • Community centers or events Many don’t have in-house experts for things like social media, data, or content. And many are still running on outdated systems. They need help. You need experience. That’s a win-win. Maybe they’ll pay you, maybe they won’t. But either way, the ROI is real if it helps you land your next opportunity. — A couple of final thoughts: 1. Don’t just show up and say, “I want to help!” Do a little homework first. Review the organization’s website, social media, or physical location. Identify a few gaps or opportunities. Then approach them with a short, clear proposal: what you noticed, what you’d do, and how it could help. Make it easy for them to say yes. 2. This example was about social media marketing, but the same concept applies to any field. Web development. Graphic design. AI automation. Data analysis. If you already have some skills, apply them. If you don’t, start learning through free courses and small personal projects. Then go put those skills to use. — PS. What’s another creative way you’ve seen students build their own experience?