This summer I ran into a problem that many people have been struggling with more and more.
Employers aren’t accepting people off the street like many applicants hope. Employers requiring experience for jobs expect the candidate to have experience for the job before being hired. It’s a Catch-22; without experience you can’t get a job, and you can’t get experience without a job. So how does a person get experience for a job if the employers will not hire anyone in the first place?
A concern that should be on every college student’s mind that hopes to have job security when they graduate. As of right now, more than two million college graduates are unemployed and 18.8 percent of people younger than 25 do not have a job.
To me, getting a job today requires more luck than actual qualifications. For the employment I applied for this summer I either had experience in the field or the job wasn’t requiring experience. I applied to 15 places without any positive response, often calling back, and eventually making a nuisance of myself. Employers often choose people that are known by current employees.
This may be a good business tactic, but gives those who are not known by workers no chance at all to gain the opportunity to obtain any experience. Who you know is a key when searching for a job. Facebook has never been more helpful when trying to get a job. I had at least 10 friends who were working at a place that needed to hire people.
Getting a job without prior experience requires a lot of patience and some creativity. Compiling a resume of all your experience and achievements may sound cliché and old school, but it shows you are serious about the job. Still there’s a lot more to the search than just hoping for a call back after filling out an application. Be persistent, why wait for the employer to call back. Inquire about the job position, if your application had been reviewed, and ask why you were not hired. That is a good way to get insight.
If this does not work, ask your friends, classmates that you are close with, or someone you know that you would not mind working with if they know of any openings at their job. If that does not work, you can always try selling yourself to an employer, which be humiliating, but the worst answer a potential employer can give is a no.
Perfect timing and a little luck may land you a new job. Optimism, a little persistence and a high self-esteem are key when searching for employment in today’s market. After all, I managed find a job for the summer. n