If the only job postings available don’t seem quite right for you, you might as well apply for them anyway. The worst thing that can happen is you don’t hear back.

If your resume comes up a little short, that’s a good reason to put extra work into your cover letter. Demonstrate an understanding of the company and position your are applying for. Emphasize your qualities as a mature professional: ethics, standards, etc.

And if you can’t get a dream job or even a decent job, then maybe you can get the “wrong” job at the right company. As I said in the article, my first job was as an executive assistant, but I was able to move into a great job six months later by proving my value to the company in the “wrong” job.

Good luck!

My best advice to you, as someone fresh out of school, is to be perfectly honest about your lack of experience on a resume and focus on being the most attractive candidate possible. Be professional, not clever. Show your potential employers that you are eager to learn quickly, eager to work hard, and looking to build a long/strong career with them.

Remember, these people are looking to hire someone because they have a problem: there is a hole in their company. (Maybe someone quit, or maybe the company is growing and has too much work!) Prove to them that you can fill that void and solve their problems, and you’ll do fine.

Good luck!

A wise old professor of mine suggested the rule of one page of resume for every ten years of experience, which I think is reasonable if the person has held numerous positions, and has a strong list of publications or awards.

I myself have a very crowded resume thanks to the amount of full-time and part-time work I have done simultaneously over the last decade. And while my list of publications does have its own page, I still pare down my resume every so often to keep it close to one page.

Usually, this means deleting details from older jobs (but keeping achievements!) to make room for more recent events. Odds are that your next job will be much more similar to your current position than one from several years ago!

I do however think that no resume should be longer 1 page. I am a Creative Director, so usually my candidates shoot me off to an online portfolio with more in-depth info, but the goal of the resume is to give basic information, not a life story.

Additional information can always be discussed during a follow-up phone call, or the interview. You should always aim to interest a company with your most impressive and important information.

Nice page anyway