How can you gain work experience if no one hires you?
By Lena Kovadlo
@lovebuglena (43065)
Staten Island, New York
January 13, 2019 4:16pm CST
Hypothetical scenario: Bob wants to get a job as a marketing associate. The job requires a certain amount of experience. He doesn't have any experience in this field yet so the company will not hire him because of that...
How is Bob supposed to get relevant experience if the company doesn't hire him?
Basically I am wondering this... If you have no experience in a certain field you won't get hired if experience is required. So how can you gain that experience if no one is willing to hire you, unless by some miracle you find an entry level position in that field? Though I've seen job listings that say entry-level but then say x amount of years of experience a-must.
6 people like this
7 responses
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
13 Jan 19
If Bob can afford it - and I don't know anyone who can! - he could apply for an unpaid internship in the industry. A lot of the larger companies offer them to save themselves money and also to have first dibs on the best and brightest. If he has a degree he can take a scut job to make ends meet and volunteer for a non profit organization or charity. He'll get experience at a place everyone knows and references that will help a lot in getting the job he wants.
When I was looking for work back in 1971 my high school had a work-study program. The businesses got cheap workers and I learned how to run an office. That gave me my start.
Bob needs to get creative. He might be pretty poor for a year or so but he'll get experience. Or he could try at one of the really small firms that can't afford to pay much and will take graduates with no experience.
2 people like this
@lovebuglena (43065)
• Staten Island, New York
13 Jan 19
An unpaid internship is a great idea if the person is a college student or a recent college grad. If it's a been a long time since a person graduated getting an unpaid internship won't be possible as you have to be enrolled in school or be a recent college grad to be eligible.
I never understood why companies do unpaid internships. People have to be compensated for the work they do, even if the pay is very little. Internships should pay at least something.
@yukimori (10142)
• United States
13 Jan 19
@lovebuglena Why pay when you can get someone to do the job for free and call it 'building experience in the industry?'
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (43065)
• Staten Island, New York
13 Jan 19
@yukimori It's called having a conscience and not exploiting people. Companies are not gonna hire someone, without experience, without paying them, who graduated college a long time ago. So, same should hold true for recent grads or students.
@lovebuglena (43065)
• Staten Island, New York
13 Jan 19
The only solution for people would be to lie and say that they have that needed experience. But putting down on paper you have that experience doesn't mean you can actually physically do the things you put on paper you supposedly know how to do.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (43065)
• Staten Island, New York
13 Jan 19
@Nevena83 Are there internships available in your country for college students? That is one way to gain experience.
1 person likes this
@Nevena83 (65282)
• Serbia
13 Jan 19
@lovebuglena Yes, you are right. It is a big problem for young people who are just out of school, they do not have any experience and no one wants to hire them.
@JudyEv (325594)
• Rockingham, Australia
14 Jan 19
@lovebuglena I understand that but it is an option and you just might fluke part-time work. It worked for me. I volunteered, then I filled in for someone on holiday then they found a place for me.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (43065)
• Staten Island, New York
15 Jan 19
@JudyEv Volunteering can result in being hired for pay. However, it depends how long you have to volunteer for and if you can support yourself somehow while volunteering.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (43065)
• Staten Island, New York
14 Jan 19
I am not sure a person would want to work for free if the job is a 40/hr per week type thing... I remember I volunteered once and I had to work 40 hrs a week and I was not a fan of doing so without any compensation.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (43065)
• Staten Island, New York
13 Jan 19
Like what is a person that wants to break into a certain field to do if he/she has no experience in that field and is not in school or a recent college grad?
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (43065)
• Staten Island, New York
13 Jan 19
@WiseGhots Me neither. But on the other hand, why pay them when you can get them to work for free and it is allowed.
1 person likes this
@WiseGhots (14607)
•
13 Jan 19
@lovebuglena I really can't understand what employers think to act like that.
@MATTKARVAR (78)
• Tehran, Iran
14 Jan 19
I believe this is the matter of supply and demand. since unemployment rate is usually high in recent years, companies have no struggle hiring experienced work force which leaves amateur work force in isolation. It would be fair to work a month for free to be trained.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (43065)
• Staten Island, New York
15 Jan 19
Working for a month without pay while being trained is not a bad idea, assuming that after the training is over they keep the person in the company.
1 person likes this
@andriaperry (116860)
• Anniston, Alabama
14 Jan 19
First Bob should not apply for a job that he knows nothing about, Bob should start out at the bottom and work up, like everyone else does. Or Bob should work in the area he DOES have experience in.
Seems like everyone wants to skip straight to the top.
Not being mean but I would ell people this when I had no intention of hiring them when I met them and did not like the way they acted.
@lovebuglena (43065)
• Staten Island, New York
14 Jan 19
But if a person wants to work in a certain field, how does he/she break into it with no experience, if no one wants to give him/her a chance? And a person can have knowledge in the job or field but just have no professional experience to back it up... and chances are that person won't get hired even though they are knowledgeable.
