It seems like a paradox. You are applying for a job that requires 1-2 years’ experience. You have zero years of work experience, which is less than 2 years or even 1. Meanwhile, it seems everywhere you look, everyone is requiring experience. So how the hell can you be expected to get experience when everywhere is requiring….experience?!?
The good news is that you may have more experience than your realize. There are ways to present this in the resumé. In addition, if you are nearing graduation or certification in a field, there are certain things you can do to enhance the experience shown on your resumé.
Back to our original conundrum: you have 0 years’ experience and are applying for a job asking for 1-2 years’ experience? What are some ways to gain experience, or demonstrate some level of equivalent expertise? What are some ways to being prepared coming out of high school, junior college or college with a leg up on other recent graduates?
Internships: If you are a student or can put off starting a job right way, an internship is a great way to gain practical experience. This practical experience can translate to an even stronger performance in the classroom as well.
Having taken accounting classes before having accounting experience and after having worked in the field, I could tell that classes were 100 time easier because of the real-world experiences that could be applied to understanding each accounting concept. Internships offer this type of experience.
Look through your school’s career development center and see what internships may be available. Obviously paid is ideal, but if you can swing a summer with an unpaid internship and living with mom and dad for a few months, it could very well be a feather in your cap after you graduate.
Volunteering: Again, there are many opportunities with non-profits and charities. Going back to the accounting example, many churches need people to assist with keeping their books. Lots of non-profits need IT people to help them set up networks, databases or even to install software. Some organizations could use help in terms of marketing or designing a catchy logo.
If, for example you work in IT and help a non-profit develop a database to track metrics for clients served, that is a nice accomplishment that can be measured and looks pretty darn good on a resumé (The Accomplishment section is the most important part of the resumé, in my opinion).
Freelancing: The gig economy is continuing to be a great opportunity to find potential work and gain valuable experience. Similar to the IT example above, each gig opportunity is a chance to put another notch in your accomplishments belt, even if on a smaller scale. There are many different opportunities in areas such as graphical design, web design, music, arts, IT and bookkeeping as well as many more.
Now, I say this with a word of warning. There are also a group of people out there called Choosing Beggars. If you don’t know what this is, I encourage you to check out the r/ChoosingBeggars subreddit. These people are literally the scum of the earth. An example of a Choosing Beggar is a restaurant manager who expects a band to play for free, or a Karen who wants her engagement pictures done at no cost in exchange for “exposure” and “experience” for you.
Your time and your talent are worth something, so make sure you aren’t being taken advantage of. Please note that this is different than volunteering. Volunteering for a non-profit is giving something back to the community that will benefit others. Volunteering for a Choosing Beggar is only benefitting the asshole who is too cheap to pay. Be good to your community and help not just for the experience but also because you believe in the organization’s goals and want to help.
Networking: Talk to people in the area you want to go into and interview them. If you want to be a Software Developer, talk to Sr. Software Developers. If you want to be a Journalist, talk to an Editor of a publication. Talk to someone who has been in the industry for years and has expertise. Prepare a list of questions and your resumé. Ask them to review it and ask for suggestions to improve it. Finally, ask what that person would do if they were in your shoes.
Certifications: Sometimes a way to get a leg up is to gain a certification. Some industries require it of course. However, these days there are thousands of companies and industries capitalizing on certifications. Some of these can be a bit pricey and some of them are scams as well, so be careful. Talk to people in your field and see if they think a certification is valuable or not. Also try and find someone who holds the certification and ask them their opinion.
Educational Experience: Maybe you studied Geology and you had a great GPA. Maybe you worked on some group projects that are applicable. If you have a good GPA, put it on your resumé. Group projects that are in your field do count as accomplishments (assuming you finished them). If you put your GPA on your resumé it is also a good idea to obtain a letter of recommendation from a teacher / professor in your area of study.
What if you have 1-2 years’ experience and the job calls for 3-5 years’ experience? Should you apply for the job? Yes, you should. The same principles apply. Don’t focus so much on the experience, but the general expertise you have gained as well as our accomplishments in your 1-2 years’ time in your field. Make sure to include any academic accolades as well.
You can apply for jobs even if you don’t meet the qualifications. I laid out here how to present this on a cover letter. The worst thing that could happen is that someone could say no, after all. Even if you don’t meet the arbitrary experience number stated in the ad, it is very possible that if your accomplishments, skills, academic achievements, volunteering or side work can show the Hiring Manager that they are not making a hiring mistake, which is the only reason they put that qualification in there in the first place.
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