Welcome to Faithful on the Clock, everybody. This is the podcast where every mechanical pencil goes clickity-click to get your faith and work aligned, and I’m your host, Wanda Thibodeaux. Today’s episode is gonna solve one of the biggest problems people who are just getting into business or who are switching careers have, and that’s how to get a job without a ton of experience. If you’re looking for work but aren’t sure how to get hired with what you’ve got, let’s start exploring.

So, as we get started here, I’m guessing that a lot of you out there are worried about your job situation because you are out there looking at others out there in the field. You know, you go on LinkedIn or social media, and everybody just seems to be doing so much all the time, and everybody just seems so polished, and it can mess with you. You can start to compare yourself and think, “Oh, my gosh, how in the world do I even stand a chance?”, right? And I remember doing that. I’d look at all of these writers I admired and it actually would make me feel worse, because even though they had what I wanted, what they had also seemed so far away that I just wasn’t confident I could get there. It felt like they were in a completely different world. So, what I want to emphasize right out of the gate is, if you are going to be looking at, you know, these aspirational people, back it all up. Don’t focus so much on where they are. Focus on how they started and understand their whole journey. Because I guarantee a lot of that stuff, you absolutely can replicate and build on in your own way. And the other thing is, I’m just gonna be real with you here. As a writer, I have found and reported on the research studies that show that a lot of people out there really are faking it. I mean, in the age of TikTok and AI content, you probably don’t need me to tell you that. But the point is that it can skew your perception of what people in your demographic are achieving. And one specific thing, we know now that a lot of candidates are taking advantage of the labor shortage that a lot of industries have to ask for these more senior-sounding titles. And the entire intent is to have that title to seem more impressive and then get more opportunities. But the candidates don’t necessarily have much experience. They just sound like they do. Now, that can be discouraging from the standpoint that you’ve got all of these people out there being dishonest. And I’ll be honest, I hear about this stuff and my sense of justice kicks in and I start daydreaming about going up to their faces and, you know, just giving them all a rapid little turtle slap toward some integrity. But it also can take some of the pressure off if you understand most people out there are just trying to make it just like you are. They’re not any less scared or hustling more than you are. They’re not necessarily more skilled or better educated. And the advantage you have as a Christian who’s going to operate under a value of truth and honesty is that you aren’t going to have the stress of keeping up appearances all the time. You’re gonna be able to come to people and ask questions and learn and know that you earned what you have. And companies do value that. They want people who are gonna tell it like it is and be the real deal right from the beginning. That’s what builds trust, OK, and it’s trust that’s gonna make them recommend you for better things down the line.

So, one of the biggest things is, worry less about what the position you’re applying for is and more about whether it contains the type of skills necessary for the job you really want. So, let’s say you want to be a social media manager. And you might think of that as a communication job. But there’s actually quite a bit of analytics and organization involved. You’re looking at tools to show you how the audience is engaging and planning out specific campaigns and all of that. So, jobs like being a forensic science technician or finance auditor, those are positions that are going to develop those skills. And then when you go to write your resume for the social media manager job, you make sure you’re putting those transferable skills front and center and showing the results that came from you applying them. Now, if you cannot get a traditional job that will develop the skills involved, you’ve got three other options, okay? You can intern, volunteer, or take classes toward some kind of certification. And especially now with so much being online, I think you’ve got a lot more class and certification options that are low-cost or even free, and the internships and volunteering sometimes can be remote, too, which takes away some limitations.

But I want to emphasize here, hard skills, those matter. But they are not your ticket, because so much of those hard skills can be delegated to technology now. As these tools advance, we’re seeing a shift where companies really are looking more at the soft skills, things like the ability to persuade or adapt. They’re looking for people who can be team players, communicate well, who are dependable and ambitious and eager to learn. So, I know for myself, one of the soft skills I’m trying to develop is emotional responsiveness, because my inability to just acknowledge what I’m feeling in the moment kind of gets in the way of upholding boundaries in a healthy way. For you, maybe it’s managing time or just being more reliable. But I’ll point out here that a lot of those soft skills companies look for, even if the company doesn’t advertise itself as a Christian business, the soft skills often directly mirror the attitude and values you are supposed to have as a Christian anyway. Things like showing some humility or honoring your word and being consistent in how you show up, those aren’t just skills, they’re character. So when you develop these skills, you also have a wonderful opportunity to build your faith and direct yourself toward being the kind of person who reflects God well.

But here’s the big thing about your internships and volunteering, or even getting some kind of certification. In my own career, the biggest regret I have is that I was not more aggressive about going out to make connections with people. And again, it was this feeling of looking at people in the field and having this sense that they were just out of my league, like I didn’t have permission to contact them. But when I got into business writing through some third party companies and started working with a lot of these executives out there, what really surprised me was how personable so many of them were. Like, they’d talk about their kids or just these crazy experiences they had and everything they’d struggled with and learned, and the lightbulb started to go off in my head where I understood that these are just real people. And on top of that, you know, these business types, they’re really good about taking some healthy risks. So, they’ll tell you, like, what’s the worst that could happen? And they’ll tell you, just reach out. Just put yourself out there. Let people see you. Be visible. So, all that said, so much of the value of interning or any of that is not just the skills. It’s in building that network of people who understand they can trust you. Because especially in an industry like writing, you know, especially as AI changes things and companies are downsizing all over the place, being able to have somebody who will give you a letter of recommendation, who can introduce you to others you could work with or learn from, that’s worth its weight in gold. So, if you aren’t doing it already, get out there into your communities, go to the free conferences or whatever, get on social, maybe get some pitches together to do some free webinars or some freelance consulting, just go meet as many people as you can. And there’s really no specific agenda. You’re just trying to find people with similar values who can support you in different ways. And then, once you know a few people, don’t be shy about letting them know both what you need and what you can offer back. Because relationships, they’re reciprocal, right? And part of your obligation as a Christian professional is to be loving to other people, which means you can’t just be in it for yourself. You’ve got to always be looking at how you can serve, even as you advance your own story. And doing that over time is gonna help you build a loyal following that does get higher-level attention.

So, as you’re developing these relationships and connections, one goal is to get as much feedback as you can. Because let’s face it, most of us, we’re biased. We’ve got information gaps. And so our perception of what our strengths and weaknesses are can be pretty awful. And other people are going to be able to tell you what to work on to get where you want to go. They can level with you about what’s gonna fly for certain jobs and what won’t. But they also can point out what you’re doing well. And that’s so important to stay motivated, right? Because if you don’t have a lot of experience or results yet, that feedback is really the only evidence you’ve got that you can reach your goal. And it kind of helps you understand who you are at any given time, and if you have that understanding, a lot of the time your decisions are better. They’re more grounded and realistic because you’re not pretending things are different than they are. And you can be more confident as those good decisions add up. Now, keep in mind here, one-on-one connections, I think that’s the ideal way to get feedback because people can see a little bit more of who you are. But another thing you can do is, apply to jobs speculatively. And that means you apply knowing you probably won’t get the job. But the fact you applied then opens the door for you to be able to go to that hiring manager and say, “You know, ok, I didn’t get this position, but what do I have to do to maybe get the role down the road?” And you might have some feedback that’s company specific, and that might matter if there’s a business that’s your dream company or something like that. But if you apply to enough jobs, you’ll probably see some patterns. And any time you see patterns in feedback, those are the areas you know there’s some real value in addressing. The caveat here is, don’t apply to something just because you’re desperate. Don’t just throw spaghetti at the wall. That’s a mistake a lot of people without experience make, they get scared and then take anything that’s gonna pay the bills. But always do your research about the roles and the businesses and then apply with intentionality, whether that’s to build the specific skill or to get feedback that’s actually going to be relevant for moving you forward. There are tons of jobs out there, you know, summer positions or temporary work. Those employers know you’ll eventually move on. But they want to see what you intend. They want to see what your plan is and what you want, because they want to understand that you have a motivation that goes beyond just having the paycheck, because typically, people who are motivated beyond money are better employees, because those people know the long-term value of making it all work. Talking upfront about what the job will allow you to do, that’s a good thing.

Now, if you listen to your feedback well, you should be able to put together a pretty decent portfolio of work. And you know, having some case studies or examples of what you’ve done, that’s gonna help you in any field. But it’s especially important in more creative industries. And what I want to tell you here is, don’t necessarily wait for a boss or paid client to make that portfolio. Because what really matters isn’t necessarily that you’ve sold the stuff, OK? What matters is the quality of the stuff and whether it demonstrates to the person looking at it that you can fill the role they have. I mean, any investors back new people all the time not based on market sales, but based on the idea, the innovation, the exceptional nature of what’s in the offer. So, just to use myself as an example, when I was first starting my writing business, I had no clients. I hadn’t worked for any publications. But I thought about the kind of work that people were paying for. And I looked at examples that were popular or that had done well. And then I wrote a bunch of pieces. So, you know, I had some website copy and press releases, and I did a couple of different types of articles, stuff like that. And I built my website, and I made all of these pieces available as examples to anybody who came to the site. And on each piece, I labeled very clearly that these weren’t client pieces or pieces I’d gotten paid for. I was transparent through the whole thing, okay? But it allowed people to see the kind of writing I was capable of doing, and that was really important because if there was a job that required me to submit some samples to be considered, I still could do that. And I could focus on those kinds of jobs instead of the ones where, you know, the companies try to scam people and they ask them to do some work for free as a test. And just having that portfolio helped me look more serious to those initial clients who hired me. Now, I was pretty intentional about what I put into that. I took the time to build some new things. But you might already have work you can include, and I don’t want you to overlook that. So, for example, maybe you want to be a software engineer, and you built yourself some scripts to address a specific issue you were having on your own. Don’t look at why you built it, because you might not even have intended it to be professional or use it for your career. Just look at whether it demonstrates the skill set the employer or client is looking for. And that’s being resourceful and scrappy. It’s using everything you’ve got in incredibly targeted ways. And one fun example I can give you here is Kevin Mitnick. Now, those of you in the tech and cybersecurity worlds might have heard of this guy, because he’s one of the most famous hackers out there. He actually went to prison for I think it was five years. But what’s awesome is, this cybersecurity company called KnowBe4 saw what he had done. And they understood the technical level this guy was operating at to do the hacking he was doing. And they actually hired him as a cybersecurity expert. And Mitnick, you wanna talk inspiring redemption and a changed life, he became one of the most well-respected experts in the industry. Because he was just that good, and once KnowBe4 showed him there was an ethical way to make it, he turned things around. But it’s just an example to show, you know, Mitnick didn’t get hired because of his previous employers. He got hired because he proved he could do the job. So, if you can do some stand-out work and put together a portfolio that shows your capability, there absolutely are companies that are going to consider you, because they’re looking for talent that can help them stay competitive, not necessarily a pedigree.

The last thing is, make sure you practice for the interview. And to be clear, when I say practice, I do not mean to necessarily come up with some rehearsed responses, OK? That’s what most people do, and it’s a mistake because you do not know for sure what the hiring manager is going to ask you, and if you get something you haven’t rehearsed for, you can panic and freeze. So, the goal with interview practice is to just be comfortable in that high-pressure situation so you can think and be flexible and at ease. If you can just have a conversation and talk with the hiring manager like you’re both real, normal human beings without this funky power dynamic going on, they’re gonna be able to see more of who you really are and how you mentally process. If you do not show them that, there’s no way they can make an accurate assessment of whether you’re going to be a good fit for the role and the culture of the business.

So, I hope some of this gives you an idea of how to apply well even if you haven’t worked a lot or been in a specific field before. But just remember, this is the long game. It can take some time to get through this, and so being realistic, I’d encourage you to take advantage of any financial assistance you can. Maybe there are some grants or programs you can apply for that will help, or even just finding somebody who might let you crash with them for a while to cut your costs and let you focus on the job search, don’t be afraid to ask for that help, OK? Especially here in the United States, we’re seeing a huge trend of younger workers continuing to live with their parents or tapping community programs, because honestly, money’s tight. But being willing to take a little help to get going, you’re gonna be in such a stronger position down the road that you’ll be able to pay it forward. And remember, we take out loans all the time in business as an investment to be successful, so you go ahead and do what you’ve gotta do and don’t feel guilty if you lean on other good people for a bit.

But let’s wrap it all up with a prayer.

Lord, I remember how terrified I was that I was never going to get hired anywhere. And I know there are a lot of people listening to this show who have the exact same fear. So, my prayer for them today is that they can hold on to the understanding that You put people exactly where they need to be when they need to be there. And just give them the patience and trust to keep applying, and if those rejections come for a while, remind them in Your own way that your timing is never a mistake. Bring them all the good things they want to use for your glory. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Well, my dog is starting to give me the side-eye over here and guilt tripping me into getting off this mic. So, I’ll give you a quick heads up that for our next episode, we’ll be covering what’s known as George Bailey syndrome. In other words, how do you make sure as you serve others that you’re not completely sacrificing your own dream or what God’s called you for? It’s one of the biggest internal conflicts you’ll ever have as a Christian professional, especially early in your life when ambition speaks loudest. Visit our sister site, faithfulontheclock.com, for more great Christian business content, and until the next show drops, be blessed.