It is okay to have no relevant experience and still go after a job. All you should do is to go deep into your past jobs and pull out relevant skills and scenarios- until the exact niche area of any field, almost all jobs share many common areas. You must find these.
Look for the relevance. If you don't know what to look for, research into the job you are after. What does the job entail exactly? What are the experiences of people who have done it? Google a lot and you will have an idea what to look for.
Back it up with enthusiasm and passion in your edited career summary and in your interviews. Have answers for questions like 'Why are you interested in this job when you have no relevant experience?'. You must be able to explain your reasons with clarity and honesty.
Find Relevant Experience You Didn't Realize You Had
First, figure out a way to use any experience you do have to seem more relevant to the job at hand. I once used a technical support job to get a job on a film set. It's possible to focus on certain aspects of a position while still being honest. Think about what you did at your past and/or current job and concentrate on the days you enjoyed the most. Chances are there's at least one project that you worked on that has some relevance. On your resume, and in your interview, be sure to focus on that. If you can make it a good story and speak passionately about the work, it will go a long way.
Build relevant experience in the small projects
This is helpful with people in the creative arts and software coding fields. These folks just need to do small projects- photo series, portfolio, new web app, freelance work and references from people...It also shows the future employer your passion about the job.
Internships and Volunteer work
The good old starter kit. Help some local business or organization with something, and that is a good start.
Have someone vet your resume
Do your friends / colleagues find your 'new' resume okay? If they were the employer, what would they think when looking at your resume?
Do whatever you can to get an in-person interview and charm them off their seats
Cold calls, cold emails...gate crashing...use all the tools without coming off as a stalker. Make friends with HR without coming off as desperate or crazy. When you get an in-person interview, they advise to be 'charming, interesting, hopeful and idealistic'. They also tell us to smile often. It helps if we have relevant, insightful, sweet anecdotes from past jobs.
A likeable hardworking person is hard to resist.
Thank you for reading.
This guide is from The Success Manual, which contains 200+ guides to succeeding in business, career and personal life. Get the pdf ebook for $12 only.