You’re about to launch into the real world for the first time after college or university.
You’ve got a good educational background under your belt, but the problem is you’ve
got zero hands-on experience.
Even though you know you’re smart, and you’ve done well in the world of academia, you know
you’ll learn fast because you’re enthusiastic and fully capable, you’re still feeling
under-qualified for anything better than entry-level positions because of (there’s that word
again) experience.
Maybe you’ve even given up on finding your dream job after graduating college and have
resigned to take the first position that’s offered to you.
You don't want to settle for less, or worse--get stuck in a place for so long you stagnate
and become complacent.
Your fears around this are very real, and you’re not sure how to guarantee this won’t
happen to you.
You feel like your options are very limited.
You realize that the time you spent in college didn’t teach you much about actually finding
your dream job.
You want a solid game plan for kicking butt out there, regardless of your experience.
There is light at the end of this tunnel, my friend.
This is the real problem
The root of your problem is with what you already believe, which controls your level
of confidence and how you appear.
If you’re stuck in this situation, you probably believe that no one will want to hire you
because of your experience level--am I right?
The first thing you need to do is start seeing your lack of experience as a strength.
I bet you never saw that coming!
Shift your mindset from thinking that nobody wants to hire you to believing your lack of
experience can actually be advantageous to an employer.
Here’s how:
Experience vs. Adaptability and Enthusiasm
The advantages of hiring someone with little experience can be put up against the merits
of hiring someone with a ton of experience, and it can be argued that too much experience
is even a turn-off, because someone with too much experience often isn’t coachable.
Let’s talk about these merits.
As someone who’s personally hired many people with good personality, enthusiasm, and gumption
vs. a ton of experience, I love to debate this topic.
People with less experience are more grateful for the opportunity; therefore, they try harder,
they’re a lot more flexible, they learn to work with you better, their brains are
always attuned to what they can learn or how they can improve, and they’re always absorbing
knowledge and saving it for when they need it.
Because they have more spunk, they go above and beyond, and they often turn out to be
the best, most loyal employees a company has ever hired.
They can bring a fresh perspective to the table because they're new to the situation
and have a different way of seeing things.
“Little experience” doesn’t mean stupid or incapable.
You’ve worked hard; you’ve learned a lot, studied and completed assignments in school.
Work is not that different.
You learn something, study the company’s way of doing it, and then you go off and get
it done.
There are a lot more variables and a lot of different situations you’ll encounter, so
it’s not as straightforward as school, but it’s essentially the same process.
It’s challenging in a different way, and I’d argue that prior experience alone is
not what makes someone successful in the workforce.
Anyone (even with a lot of experience) still needs to learn the lay of the land.
They’ll still have to figure out how to work and communicate best with each of their
colleagues, become in tune with the company’s policies, and require some level of training,
no matter what their experience is.
No amount of experience will prepare someone for a brand-new work environment because every
single one is completely different.
People with less experience are resourceful.
They know how to do research, and they know how to find answers.
You remember those research papers?
They just came from a place where that’s basically all they did!
I know this because I was that person with no experience, finding my path in the dark.
Anything is figureoutable (thanks, Marie Forleo), and there is a way for you to figure out almost
any situation you’re stuck in without an answer.
There were several times in new jobs that I didn't know what to do (because I didn’t
have the experience).
I had a list of things I did.
First, I would Google search for answers myself.
You don’t want to ask people anything that you can Google, so if I was having a problem
that someone else had, I always found a lot of info on it.
Once I had done that, I was comfortable discussing the problem and making suggestions.
After doing that research, I sounded a lot smarter when engaging in the conversation.
You can ask other people in the organization if Google fails you.
Be a detective.
How has this kind of thing been handled in the past here?
I wouldn’t necessarily ask your boss a ton of questions (depending on his/her personality
style), but you can find out from coworkers who are happy to share info.
Likeability vs. Experience
This one is big.
The truth is that if someone who has a ton of experience, goes into an interview room,
and they ramble, speak arrogantly, or do anything that turns the interviewer off in any way,
her experience doesn’t do her any good.
Let’s call her Candidate A.
Put that person up against Candidate B: Someone who has little experience, but they’re a
delight to speak with, they are enthusiastic, have great ideas that they bring to the interview,
and are filling the room with passion and great energy.
They have great answers to the questions!
They ask great questions themselves!
The fact that they don’t have the experience that Candidate A had doesn’t matter.
When it comes down to it, people are hired based on emotion.
I can’t tell you how many times a hiring manager would be torn between Candidate A
and Candidate B, and when it came down to it, they listened to their gut, and the decision
was made on how they felt about the person--not how much experience the person had.
To tell you the truth, that’s what goes on behind the scenes.
The old adage by Maya Angelou is so relevant when it comes to interviews:
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
- Maya Angelou
Connecting vs. Applying
You’ve got a great resume and cover letter.
The career centre probably looked it over, and you feel confident that your documents
are good.
The problem is you don’t seem to be getting any action.
Your phone isn’t ringing off the hook, and “waiting to hear back” is something you
do a lot.
A lot of new graduates become discouraged when they apply for several positions and
hear nothing back.
Finding a job by applying for a job that hundreds or thousands of others have applied for isn’t
good for your ego--or for results.
Your best bet is to connect with people one on one.
If done right, an average of 1 in 10 strangers will reply to you, which is a lot better odds
than the first option.
Most people don’t do this is because it isn’t in the conventional ‘rule book,’
but if you do, your odds of success go up tremendously.
Break the rules.
Go against conventional norms (especially when job hunting)--it pays to take a different
approach.
You’re worth the gamble because you’re enthused, fresh off the grill, and full of
passion.
Go in with the belief that you’re valuable for the reasons covered in this post, and
your attitude, energy and drive will come across as strength--not weakness.
Passionate people are always interesting (and very hireable)!
Natalie Fisher is an enthusiastic HR Generalist who loves her job!
She's been on over 50 interviews and received 48 job offers.
Download her Free Guide: How to Nail an Interview You're Unqualified For.