Lack job experience? Recent graduates shouldn’t worry!

How do I find a job with no experience?

I lack job experience

It sucks when you lack job experience.  As we move closer to June, graduation time for schools is approaching and there is a demon in the ear of many recent graduate candidates that whispers evil “nothings” into the insecure ear: 

“You lack job experienceeeee.  You are not qualifiedddd. Everyone has more experience than you doooo?????????”

I am here to tell you that these evil “nothings” are exactly that.  Nothing!  So give them the finger and pay no mind! 

I probably hear about this thought process the most when I work with candidates who have just graduated from school or have recently changed careers. With graduation coming near, I am hearing this more and more. Both of these demographics can have the most positive outlook when it comes to their new careers, but understandably, the fear of the unknown creeps in. The fear that you lack job experience may be true, but this is exactly what the company is looking for. 

I am here to reinforce why you shouldn’t worry about your qualifications or that you lack job experience.  At the end of the day, if you don’t have confidence in your interview skills, you can do one of two things:

1. Stay in bed and save your gas money.

2. Practice what you are going to say, and remember to smile.    

As a candidate, you cannot control several factors regarding the interview. One of the variables that you can control is your fear.  Naysayers would have you believe that you cannot control whether or not a job will open up or when the recruiter will make a call and to whom.  I believe that we can influence the process. There are just some things that are out of our control.  One thing we can control is our fear.  As a candidate, you need to eliminate fear and lack of confidence to focus your energy on landing the position.  

I am here to give you some confidence and explain why you shouldn’t listen to the evil voice in your naive, little mind. 

If you are a recent college graduate or a candidate who recently changed careers and lacks job experience, you should be applying for positions within your experience range.  The job descriptions read something like:

• Entry-level position in banking
• 1-2 years of experience required

The positions you are interested in may not even be this specific.  These positions may not list a minimum or a particular number of years of experience. This is mainly because they don’t require any.   These positions usually list specific skill sets and personal attributes like “talented”, “enthusiastic”, “people skills”, “desire for growth” or “leadership and ambition”.  These positions may require a degree, but they don’t often require a specific degree as a pre-requisite. 

Interview performance matters

These job descriptions usually do NOT list specific job experience requirements.  Don’t be scared off by a 1 to 2-year requirement.  If you lack job experience, you are qualified for and should apply for a position requiring 1-2 years of experience.  You can outperform a candidate with 1-2 years more experience than you in an interview.  It will be tough to outperform a 10-year veteran, but 1-2 years make it an even playing field.  Remember, it is the person who performs the best in the interview that lands the job.  The candidate that has 1-2 years of experience doesn’t have THAT much more experience than you.              

The point is that you shouldn’t worry about your lack of job experience or qualifications.  The company is looking for someone like you.  The company is looking for an entry-level candidate with little or no experience.  Many experienced veterans may apply for the position, but trust me, the hiring company isn’t looking at these candidates. 

Hiring Logic:

As a recruiter and hiring manager, I don’t want to compare you with experienced candidates. The company doesn’t want to pay for all these years of experience.  Someone who has 10 years of experience may be willing to settle for this type of position and pay, but the company doesn’t want to hire this candidate for a long list of reasons, of which I am only listing a few:

• The experienced candidate will be bored and probably not challenged
• The experienced candidate will probably leave as soon as they find a position that is a better match.  I don’t want to spend the resources to train an employee who is looking at us as a stepping-stone for their career. 
• In the long run, the experienced veteran will probably be insulted that they are being paid an entry-level salary for their skill set. Nine times out of 10, this leads to all sorts of HR-related problems that fall on “guess who” to solve.  

The business logic that watches expenses

If the company has a budget of $X, we are not going to find a 10-year vet and exclaim, “This person can do the job, so let’s pay what the candidate needs financially.”  This may be $3X. We are running a business, and this salary doesn’t make business sense. We don’t have the budget or the need for this experience level. 

The other side of the coin is that experienced veterans have mortgages to pay and braces for their children’s crooked teeth to worry about. They will have college tuition in the future. An entry-level salary isn’t going to cut it.

Limited interview experience

For those entry-level candidates who are unsure of what to do or how to present their case in an interview, it is probably because they have limited interviewing experience.  This makes sense; you may or may not have held a full-time job yet. Any good recruiter or hiring manager will recognize this. The handicap comes in keeping your lack of experience in mind.  I will reset expectations with a hiring manager if we interview someone with limited full-time experience.  “Remember, this is probably their first interview.”    

There is a reason that entry-level positions are called “entry-level.”  These jobs do not require day-to-day decisions that require a lot of experience.  That is not to belittle anyone.  Just like a football team has a backup quarterback or a quarterback in training, we need employees in training at just about every position.  We don’t want our highest paid employees doing work that “isn’t challenging”, or maybe “boring” per the above bullets.  It isn’t a good use of company resources and a quick way to lose senior talent. 

Companies are not always looking for experience

At this level, we are looking for potential.  A solid track record in school, some internships or other activities while you went to school all point to “work ethic”.  At this point, this information goes into a hiring decision.  We don’t expect a college graduate to come in and greatly impact a business.  We are hoping you can grow with us and become a game changer. Yes, like any hire, it is a risk.  The company knows it is taking a gamble on every hire. To put the odds in your favor, you need to do a few things:

• Show potential (talk about your prior successes. This can be school, work, or extracurricular activities)
• Demonstrate a willingness to work hard  (Prior examples are the best)
• Get along with the more experienced players. (Don’t offend anyone. Remember, you are probably interviewing with managers that are of your parent’s generation) 
• Relating your prior work experience to the specific position you are applying for is key.  (You have limited time in an interview, so everything you say should relate directly to the position of interest.)

Hopefully, if you lack job experience, the above will ease your mind.  Remember, you are not competing with candidates that have 5 years or 10 years of experience.  You are competing with candidates who look, smell, and sound like you.  Show confidence in your ability and smile.   

Next week, “why experienced workers shouldn’t worry about younger and inexperienced candidates as competition in the job search”. 

See you at the after party,

HRNasty 

nasty: an unreal maneuver of incredible technique, something that is ridiculously good, tricky and manipulative but with a result that can’t help but be admired, a phrase used to describe someone who is good at something. “He has a nasty forkball”.

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