Straight A's but no experience

Question

I left school with 13 A's and above in GCSE's but since then it has been 2 years, I dropped out of college/sixth form with no qualifications and I have yet to have any experience in looking for jobs.

How do I go about writing my resume?

What else should I be writing and doing as I literally have nothing to write?

While you may not have graduated, you may still find these related posts useful: What should a recent graduate list on a resume if they have no work experience? As a new graduate, how can I make myself a stronger candidate? — Bernhard Barker, Mar 17 '18 at 10:57
@Dukeling the OP is not a graduate neither of those question realy help some one with only GSCE's ie they had left school at 16 — Neuromancer, Mar 17 '18 at 15:19
@Neuromancer Did you read the answers? They seem to pretty exhaustively list options and considerations applicable to someone without a degree. — Bernhard Barker, Mar 17 '18 at 15:40
@MaskedMan: GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education. It is the qualification that (most) UK pupils have exams for at the age of 16. They were graded A*-G, but are now graded 9-1 (9 being best). — , Mar 17 '18 at 22:45

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 17 '18 at 12:38

Many junior roles say that you 'need' a few years' experience, which is often infeasible. In the mean time, I would advise you to:

Think about what kind of career you want. What industry, what role within a company, what type of company etc.
Then, to mitigate the lack of experience, begin volunteering, seeking an internship or seeking an apprenticeship
Do not list on your CV why you dropped out of college, but be prepared to honestly answer this in an interview
Lastly, you should look to improve your writing skills. Even on a site like this, which is quite informal, a 'text speak' approach isn't inviting

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 17 '18 at 12:08

It's a little difficult to give a fuller answer without knowing what sort of industry you might be looking to get into, as there are steps you can take to showcase your abilities in different ways (for example, designers can create a portfolio to show off, software developers can do a few side projects, etc).

Some generic advice would be to not sweat about it too much. Lots of young people don't know what they want to do as a career and have a break after school. While it's not an ideal situation you can mitigate it by writing up a good cover letter explaining the gap any why you think the employer you're applying to would benefit from taking you on.

Straight A's but no experience

2 Answers2