If you’re a student or a recent graduate in search of employment, you’ve likely encountered online job listings for entry-level positions, but they often request a significant amount of prior experience. This trend is prevalent on job platforms such as Onlinejobs.ph (known as OLJ for short).
It makes job hunting really frustrating, to say the least.
In this Onlinejobs.ph for students guide, you’ll be able to learn some techniques you can use to increase your chances of landing a job even without any experience. These techniques aren’t strictly restricted to OLJ and you’ll be able to use them for other platforms.
Table of Contents
Video Guide: EVERYTHING about Onlinejobs.ph for Students
How to Get Jobs on Onlinejobs.ph for Students & People with No Experience
Tip 1: Not Having Work Experience, Doesn’t Mean You Don’t Have Relevant Experience
You can turn your experience from other activities, like from your clubs or orgs, into experience that you can use when applying for an online job.
For example, maybe you organized trips for your family or youth association? Well, that experience is directly applicable to an administrative role like a virtual assistant.
Maybe you edit K-pop or Anime music videos as a hobby? Yes, what you’ve made can become part of your portfolio if you’re applying for a related job. You can even use the techniques you’ve learned to make more corporate-type videos.
Almost anything, from your hobbies to your after-school activities, can serve as an excellent foundation to showcase your experience. It’s all about using a proactive and confident tone when you are creating your resume for online jobs or when you are maximizing your Onlinejobs.ph profile.
Tip 2: Don’t Wait for Experience to Come to You
When I was a student, my only after-school activity was video games. I didn’t join any school organizations or clubs, making it quite difficult to write anything on my Onlinejobs.ph profile as pre-work experience.
If you also have a similar background, I’m afraid it might be time to pause that game for a second and start putting in the effort now to build your skills and portfolio.
You shouldn’t wait to get hired before gaining the experience you need. Especially in today’s job market! It seems every employer wants someone with experience even with entry-level jobs.
To get hired, you have to SHOW RESULTS first, in other words, samples of what clients can expect to get when they hire you. Here’s how:
Step 1: First, choose a career or niche you are interested in. Preferably, these are jobs that don’t care much about your resume but focus more on the results you can deliver. Fields like writing, design, video editing, and so on.
Step 2: Next, look for job posts on Onlinejobs.ph related to that niche and take note of the requirements. From your research, you’ll get an idea of the results that clients in this industry are looking for.
Step 3: Then, find samples of the kind of quality that clients will expect from your output. For example, if they are looking for an Instagram ads video editor, then you use successful Instagram ads as a benchmark. The same goes for fields like graphic design, writing, or any kind of job really.
Step 4: You won’t reach that kind of quality immediately. But just keep improving your skills through free tutorials on YouTube. And then, while you’re doing this, you’ll eventually find that you now have a sizable portfolio to show off.
Step 5: Once you’re close to the kind of quality clients want, start applying. You might already be able to land a job. But don’t stop improving your skills while you’re waiting for responses from your job hunt.
This might feel a bit overwhelming. But just take it step by step, and you’ll eventually land your first client.
Tip 3: Show off Your Character
There are jobs, particularly those related to admin work, where the previous strategy might not be effective. However, you can still use the ‘show, not tell’ mindset. But this time, what you showcase is your professional character and your communication skills.
Here are some character traits that employers might want from their applicants:
- Works Independently
- Fits Well with a Team
- Practical Creativity
- Clever Problem Solving
- Quick to Adapt
- Learns Fast and Puts it into Practice
- Effective Communication Skills
You can demonstrate this through a video resume attachment, a blog, or even your own YouTube channel. You can be as creative about this as you want as long as you follow the guidelines of the client’s job post.
Tip 4: Apply to Decision Makers, Not Companies
Here’s the reality when you apply to companies: The recruitment staff are just following the requirements given to them. So, if the requirements say it needs experience, they’re going to junk any resume that doesn’t have any.
But when you apply to decision-makers, this isn’t always true. Decision makers will have the power to disregard the experience requirement if they think that you fit well with what they need. Skills and experience can be gained after all.
For you, this means you’ll want to prioritize applying to small businesses, individual creators, startups, and other similar business setups.
Here’s how you can find them on Onlinejobs.ph. When you do a job search, you’ll see the name of the person who posted the job in this section:
And then, you’ll find even more company details when you visit the job post itself. Keep a look out for email addresses, company names, YouTube channels, and social media pages.
Once you have that info, you’ll be able to look them up on the internet for more information. If it seems like the job poster is also the owner of the business, then that might be an excellent opportunity for you.
Tip 5: Take Rejection as a Way to Improve
Rejection is almost an inevitability for all job hunters in whatever form it might take. It might be a poorly done interview or just a bad fit with the employer.
Whenever that happens, don’t take it personally. Just consider rejection as a learning experience.
For instance, when you encounter an interview question where you feel your answer fell short. Review it after the interview and contemplate your response. You can also seek help by talking to your peers, by researching through the internet, or even by getting an answer from AI like ChatGPT.
But remember, only use AI software as a starting point for your improved answer. Customize it to fit your own character, skills, and experience.
Tip 6: Learn to Spot Online Job Scams
Yes, Onlinejobs.ph is a legit platform. However, that doesn’t stop the scammers from posing as legitimate employers. You have to know how to spot the scams, so you don’t waste your time, and more importantly – not lose any of your hard-earned money.
As a general rule, as long as they need money from you, it’s a scam. If you need more guidance on this topic, please check out our article “Is Onlinejobs.ph Legit? How to Avoid Scams on OLJ”.
I’m Below 18, Can I Apply on Onlinejobs.ph?
Unfortunately, no. And there’s no way around it because Onlinejobs.ph will check your ID through their ID Proof system.
Why is it not allowed? Because under Philippine law, the legal working age is 18 years. There are some caveats under the law for 15-17-year-olds to work, but most likely, OLJ does not want to deal with those legal complexities, so they simply impose that their platform is ONLY for those aged 18 and above.
But don’t worry, the tips in the previous section are still useful to you. You can start putting some of them into practice now, so you are much more prepared when you do turn 18.
How Do I Increase My ID Proof as a Student?
The process for ID proof is the same whether you’re a student or not. You still need an ID, proof of billing address, and a mobile number to boost your ID score.
Regarding the ID, there are several options available. But one of the quickest to obtain is the postal ID, if you don’t have any ID yet and are in a rush.
For your proof of billing address, utility bills for your home are acceptable when you’re living with your parents since you share the same last name.
If that doesn’t work, OLJ also accepts waybills from Lazada or Shopee deliveries. So, you can try that as well. For a complete guide to OLJ’s ID Proof system, please see “How to Increase ID Proof on Onlinejobs.ph to 99”.
How Do I Find Part-Time Work on Onlinejobs.ph?
As a student, you probably only want work that won’t interfere with your class and study time. Thankfully Onlinejobs.ph has a filter that you can use to show only part-time jobs available on the platform.
For a detailed guide, please see “The Complete Onlinejobs.ph Part Time Job Guide”.
Can I Get an Online Job for Students Without a Computer?
You can do it if you have a smartphone or tablet, at the very least. However, your options will be quite limited. You can check our full guide at “How to Work from Home Using Mobile Phones”.
But it’s not easy. From experience, it’s about 30 to 50% slower than working on a computer. So, you need to look for online opportunities that are more results-based, than the ones where you have to be on-call for work.
For example, there are jobs where you only need to submit an article, video, or design on schedule. In these types of jobs, as long as you can meet the quality and deadlines required by the client, then they won’t care about your device.
