Are you new to the workforce, or re-entering after a long time? It is hard to find the right job for you, the match between your experience, skills, talent, background and personality and the employer’s needs and corporate culture.

The employer, is trying to minimize risk, reduce training time and employee turnover. Your job, as the candidate, is to convince them that you are the right choice for the position and that you can successfully do the job. One way for the employer to reduce risk, is to request to talk with your references. But if you are new to the workforce, or if you haven’t worked in a while, you may not have current references to provide. So what do you do, if there is no past employer who can attest to your value and experience?

Build your LinkedIn profile. Ask for endorsements on LinkedIn from people in your network. Heads of organizations where you volunteer, peers on projects, even classmates. Keep in mind that endorsements on LinkedIn can be interesting as much in what people say as in what they don’t say. Were you endorsed for the skills you would like to highlight?
Start small with volunteering, contract or part-time work and build your experience and references from there. You can find occasional or part time work on HelpAroundTown.com and other flexible work sites. Make sure to add your work experience to your resume and ask the managers to write a recommendation on LinkedIn and endorse the skills you exhibited while performing the job.
HelpAroundTown.com is a community marketplace that can connect you with neighbors and organizations within your community who need occasional or part-time help. Often, having an additional connection with the employer can help build trust and land you the job –for instance, being from the same town, college, or having a shared interest or background. On HelpAroundTown.com, you can set job alerts tailored to your interests and location – even jobs within 1, 2 or 5 miles of your house. By re-building their professional reputation through flexible, local jobs, many stay-at-home moms have found regular jobs using HelpAroundTown.com. It’s available now, and it’s free.

By Guest blogger, Reem Yared, Founder & CEO, Help Around Town, Inc.
www.HelpAroundTown.com