What to do if you don't have experience

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If you’re young and looking for a job, chances are you’re having a hard time. Often, young people have a tough time competing for jobs because they usually lack employment experience. This, however, is not a reason to give up. The key is to show initiative.

A great resource is youth employment programs that provide pre-employment workshops and job-readiness trainings. By participating in these programs, it shows initiative when applying to jobs. These programs usually also provide help with creating resumes, obtaining interview skills, and job retention skills.

Upon completion of these trainings and workshops, be sure to add them to your resume and job application. Another added bonus is that a lot of these organizations have job placement services so they’ll either help you find a job or place you in one!

Local youth employment programs:

• Youth Employment Partnerships Inc 2300 International Blvd. Oakland, CA 94606 510-533-3447

• Berkeley Youth Alternatives 1255 Allston Way Berkeley, CA 94702 510-845-9010

• Youth Works Berkeley Office 1947 Center St, Basement Berkeley, CA 94704 510-981-7550

• SF Kids.ORG http://www.sfkids.org

• Employment Development Department Youth Employment Opportunities Program

Available at many EDD offices: check out http://www.edd.ca.gov/jsrep/jshow.htm

• New Way Workers/SF Youthworks

JCYC Programs & Services 2012 Pine Street San Francisco, CA 94115 415-563-8052 info@jcyc.org

Volunteer Programs

Another great way to get experience doing something, and a great way to check out if you like the work or not, is to volunteer! You could just ask someone in charge, or you could look for volunteer opportunities through some of the many volunteer referral and resource groups.

Volunteer Match http://www.volunteermatch.org/ is just one such agency. They match you and a company, and you take it from there!

The Bay Area Volunteer Information Center http://www.volunteerinfo.org/ is another. You can scroll through a long list of agencies and read the current hotlist!