Working Strategies: Breaking the no-experience-no-job cycle

Amy Lindgren We ve all heard the lament Jobs go to those with experience but you can t get experience without a job But is it true While the first half of the complaint is largely accurate jobs do more frequently go to those with experience the second part can be misleading It s not the related job that s required but applicable ability Try this version instead Jobs go to those with experience and you can get experience by doing related tasks The difference between the two concepts is foundational In the first you have the image of a Mobius strip or perhaps a snake swallowing its tail That is a circle without end But in the second concept you re invited to imagine what tasks are relevant to the work you seek and then conduct those tasks to build needed experience Let s break that down for someone wishing to break into a new field perhaps a new graduate or a career-changer or a caretaker re-entering the workforce You ll need various attempts to analyze the dilemma before solving it Choose a job target We ll use nonprofit communications for this example Research to learn and list the typical duties Here s what came from a latest batch of job postings for the duties of a nonprofit communications person Strong writing ability newsletter and web content social media posting monitoring website management writing editing press releases building external relationships for the organization grant writing creating training materials etc The bulk jobs wouldn t demand all of these duties but the variety gives you a sense of what the job primarily consists of Not surprisingly that would be communications Match your own skills and experience to the list Put a mark next to the duties you ve conducted before whether that was in a job for a class as a volunteer or just on your own You ll need to prove your ability for these areas so now s the time to gather up the evidence Perhaps you ve written newsletter articles for your house of worship or build relationships between your apprentice club and college administration Put everything into computer files on your desktop or file folders on your actual desk easily accessible when it s time to write your r sum Look for the gaps between the job duties and your own background The second time through the list of duties you ll be using a different symbol or color to mark the communications job tasks you haven t done before These are areas where you need to gain experience and build skills So those are the problem-analysis initiatives What if you discover a complete lack of skills or related experience for the job you desire That s when you ll need a bridge that takes you from zero to the minimum needed by the average employer For majority people that bridge would be particular kind of hands-on immersive experience such as an internship certificate undertaking volunteer gig or part-time job On the other hand your analysis could reveal that you have specific good experience but not in all the areas In that development you ll need a plan to fill the gaps For example suppose one gap is a lack of website management how can you develop this ability You presumably have an idea already but certain of the possibilities include taking a class using tutorials to build maintain a site for a small nonprofit or startup asking a friend to teach you or requesting to cross-train on this function if you re working in a job now Time for a recap So far you ve chosen a target job analyzed the job s usual duties and the skills needed to do them reviewed your own skills and experiences identified the things you can do have done before and identified the things you can t do while making a partial plan for learning to do them Not too shabby as my dad used to say Now here s the baseline question How badly do you want to break into this field Assuming it s at least a - in terms of your interest you re ready for the home stretch It s time to build a r sum touting the skills you do have while starting on the plan for getting the other skills In both categories remember the power of examples You ll be more convincing if you create online and print portfolios to share with prospective employers during your interviews Come back next week for more ideas to break the no-experience-no-job cycle Amy Lindgren owns a career consulting firm in St Paul She can be reached at alindgren prototypecareerservice com