You’ve never had a job. You have no cover letter, no references from previous employers and a bare-bones resume. How can that become a long-term employment solution? Start with what you do have: a unique combination of skills and experiences that can absolutely be crafted into a satisfying career, starting right now.

Have you babysat or watched someone’s dog? Then you have responsibility and reliability, and you can be trusted to handle unpredictable situations. Did you join any clubs in high school? Then you have teamwork and commitment. Think of the volunteer hours you had to complete: these require incentive to work without pay and loyalty to a cause.

Things you do every day will help you at work! Video games encourage hand-eye coordination, resilience, and independent problem-solving. Sports teach you how to read people and playing fields — aka, colleagues and workplaces — and how to show up when it matters. Playing a musical instrument or doing a craft shows that you know how to follow instructions, can do the same thing over and over again, and value improvement over time. Theater and public speaking come in handy when you work the register, take orders, or encounter a customer having a bad day.

Once this gets you in the door, keep crafting! Many retail and food service jobs, for example, pay surprisingly well and can be a fast track to real responsibility. You can work your way up from crew member to shift lead to assistant manager to store manager in just a few years. Show up consistently, remain pleasant to work with, and ask for increased responsibility before it’s offered. Then, after you gain some management experience, the employment world will open up for you, giving you lots of options to craft the future of your dreams.