[caption id="attachment_4452" align="alignnone" width="222"]<a href="http://www.danamanciagli.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/What-to-do-if-25-and-never-had-a-full-time-job.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-4452" src="http://www.danamanciagli.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/What-to-do-if-25-and-never-had-a-full-time-job-222x300.jpg" alt="What to do if 25 and never had a full time job" width="222" height="300" /></a> What to do if 25 and never had a full time job[/caption]

<strong>Question 1</strong>

<em>I am 25 and unemployed. I'm looking to head back to graduate school but would like to work during that time. I've never had a full time job in my entire life.</em>

<strong>Advice from Dana:</strong>

My recommendation is to focus on the following:
<ol>
	<li>Aim for a big, trusted brand name company in your city. Since you have never had a full time job, you need to get your resume going — and your peers have a head start! Get a minimum-wage position in a recognizable company, which will give you credibility. To know the companies in your city, read your local Business Journal (<a title="link to biz journals website" href="http://bizjournals.com" target="_blank">bizjournals.com</a>) and invest in the Book of Lists to help you short and long term.</li>
	<li>Now focus on what function you want to enter. Marketing, sales, administration, operations, manufacturing, etc. The Internet has a wealth of knowledge to help you learn how companies are organized, and you can read what different functions do. Do not worry about the industry.</li>
	<li>Prepare all of the materials you need for your job search. There are some amazing books out there to get you current and list all that you need to do.</li>
	<li>Now, start the hunt for your role since it may take some time without experience.</li>
</ol>
<strong>Question 2</strong>

<em>Is it OK to refer to notes when answering interview questions?</em>

<strong>Advice from Dana:</strong>

Yes, it is not only okay to refer to your notes, but I highly recommend it when it's your turn to ask questions.
<ul>
	<li>When I, the interviewer, say "Greg, do you have any questions for me?" then bring out your list of questions neatly typed.</li>
	<li>Make sure you include space between the questions to write down their answers. Do the same for every interview, even if you repeat questions.</li>
</ul>
In terms of referring to notes when they are asking your questions, yes, but it’s more subtle. I did it all the time.
<ul>
	<li>Have your portfolio open with your resume and the job description. You can have all the notes you want in the margins. On my resume, for example, I had small bullet points of the examples I would give of experiences for each part of my resume. I would write “STORY – Selling to GE” next to my start-up job or “STORY – Hiring 450” next to a job at Microsoft.</li>
	<li>In the margins or top of your resume, you can have small reminders of your three strengths and three weaknesses you are going to use throughout.</li>
	<li>What you don’t want to do is have to page through numerous papers to find your notes. That's too obvious.</li>
</ul>