How to Use ‘Legal’ Experience When Applying to Cannabis Industry Jobs

You probably don’t need to be told demonstrating you have relevant experience is crucial when applying to a job. Unless you’ve applied to an entry-level position, you need to show a potential employer you have the qualifications and skills necessary to succeed in a role.

This can be difficult when trying to get a job in the legal cannabis industry. Depending on where you live, there’s a good chance you may not have much “legal” experience to discuss. 

That doesn’t mean you can’t get a cannabis industry job. It just means you need to better understand what steps you can take to demonstrate your relevant experience. The following tips will help:

Focus on the Responsibilities of the Role

The specific experiences worth highlighting in a resume, cover letter, and job interview will depend on the role to which you are applying. That said, there are many jobs in the cannabis industry where responsibilities may overlap with those of similar roles in different industries.

For example, cannabis companies are just like all other companies. They need marketers, customer service representatives, HR professionals, and much more.

You do need to make it clear to potential employers that you have some degree of familiarity with cannabis. The people making hiring decisions in the cannabis industry need to know they are hiring workers who are passionate and knowledgeable enough about the topic to help their businesses succeed. However, when it comes to discussing work experience, you can simply point out how many of the skills you relied on in a previous job overlap with those you’ll need in your new role.

Discuss Legal Experiences

Again, you will likely be asked during job interviews to talk about your familiarity with cannabis. This is an opportunity to highlight any legal cannabis experiences you or someone you know may have had.

That’s important to keep in mind. For instance, maybe you haven’t been prescribed cannabis for medicinal use, but someone you know has. You can therefore discuss how you’ve seen cannabis play a positive role in their life. 

Consider this before any cannabis industry job interviews. If you take the time to think of examples, there’s a good chance you may come up with instances when you saw the benefits of legal cannabis. These are worth discussing.

Discuss Important, Relevant Skills

The cannabis industry is unique. It’s relatively new compared to other fields. Thus, many of the companies where you’re applying for jobs may also be quite young. 

This gives you an opportunity to highlight work experience that can set you apart from the crowd. For example, perhaps you previously worked in a role where you had to adjust to major internal and industry changes. Even if the job wasn’t in the cannabis niche, pointing out this type of experience indicates you know how to thrive in a dynamic startup setting.

The goal isn’t to avoid talking about cannabis entirely. On the contrary, you will need to make it clear you understand the topic if you want to get a job in the cannabis industry. That said, if you’re trying to find a way to discuss your experience without discussing too much illegal behavior, you should keep these points in mind.