Young millennials and Gen Zers are having a hard time breaking into the world of work. Millions are unemployed, many are questioning whether their expensive college degree was “pointless”, and they’re quickly realizing that in today’s economy, you need work experience to get experience.
That’s where Verizon’s chief talent officer Christina Schelling has some advice: Stop thinking you need to have something snazzy on your resume to catch the attention of prospective employers.
“The work experience piece doesn’t always have to be traditional and paid,” Schelling exclusively tells Fortune. “You know, you could do volunteer work, and that builds skills, that also builds your resume when you’re early in your career.”
“I always tell people to do a stretch assignment or volunteer to be a part of a project,” she adds. “No one’s going to say no to free work and turning down additional resources—and you’re, again, collecting experiences and building your resume…. That gives you the experience that is required to set you up for the next job.”
Schelling would know: She is in charge of the hiring and career growth for over 100,000 at the Fortune 500 (#31) firm. She’s previously led people teams at Estee Lauder, Prudential, and American Express too. And she says any experience or proof that you’ve built up skills in an area, is better than none.
Doing stretch work can grow your market, skills, and experience
Even for those already in jobs, volunteering to do extra work within your business or externally, could help secure your next position. Especially for those looking to pivot into a new industry or job function.
“Employee Resource Groups are also really good for that. So at Verizon, we’ve got a lot of employee resource groups. We’ve got 25,000 employees that participate—that is above and beyond their day job and very much volunteer—but they do things for development, for community, for career advancement,” Schelling says.
“They’re building their network, but they’re also learning leadership skills, project management skills, influence skills, relationship management skills,” she adds. “Don’t underestimate the power of the non paid parts of your life too.”
How to express to employers that you have zero work experience
If you do find yourself interviewing for a job—be it voluntary or paid—and you’ve got no previous work experience to talk about, don’t sweat it. Schelling says honesty and openness trump awkwardness or evasion. She urges job seekers to embrace transparency while focusing on the assets they do bring to the table.
“If you have a hiring manager who says, ‘how was your experience been?’ I do think it’s okay to say I’m having a tougher time than I thought, and here’s what I’ve learned.”
While she wouldn’t recommend leading the conversation with your lack of experience, she says it’s “okay to be transparent and honest” when the question around employment history naturally arises.
And don’t dwell on the experience you don’t have, instead reframe the conversation to share the skills, knowledge, and qualities you’ve developed elsewhere, whether through school, hobbies, sports, reading up and learning about the field online or even personal life experience.
“I would position it more as you, as a hiring manager, should know this,” Schelling adds. “Don’t take too much time away from you getting to talk about you, and you getting to showcase why you’re so great for that job.”