If you’re a recent college grad hunting for jobs, you’ve probably run into this paradox: “Every job requires 3-5 years experience, so how am I supposed to get the experience I need to find a job?”
It can be a frustrating experience, as even most “entry-level” jobs tend to list experience requirements. What are you supposed to do?
In this guide, we’ll help you out. We’ll take a look at how to get the experience you need for jobs, how to address your lack of experience in interviews, and why you probably have more experience than you think. This way, you can break through the experience barrier and get the job you want.
Getting your first job can feel impossible when every employer wants candidates with experience But how do you get experience when no one will hire you without it?
It’s a frustrating catch-22 many new job seekers face. Thankfully, there are several smart strategies you can use to build up your resume and start gaining that coveted job experience.
In this complete guide, we’ll cover different ways to get experience so you can finally land the job you want.
Why Job Experience Matters to Employers
First, it’s helpful to understand why employers emphasize job experience so much in their hiring. There are a few key reasons:
Proven Track Record
Employers look for candidates with experience because it shows you’ve already proven you can do the job duties successfully Someone with years in a similar role will likely get up to speed faster There’s less risk of failure compared to hiring someone completely new to the work.
Developed Hard and Soft Skills
Through on-the-job experience, you’ll naturally build both the hard technical skills and soft interpersonal skills necessary for the role. These are tough to teach otherwise. Employers want candidates who have already developed these through real-world practice.
Cultural Fit
Relevant job experience also indicates you’ll be familiar with the industry culture and environment. You’ll already understand the workflows, systems, and team dynamics common in that field. There will be less of a learning curve adapting to a new company.
Gaining Experience Without a Job
Clearly, having directly related job experience gives candidates a big advantage. But there are still ample ways to build up your skills and prove yourself without formal paid employment:
1. Complete Internships
Internships provide short-term, hands-on work experience for those looking to break into a field. Most are aimed at current students, but many accept recent graduates or career changers.
Though often unpaid, the payoff of relevant experience can be worth it. Use internships to:
- Gain exposure to a field and confirm it’s a good fit
- Understand roles/duties from the inside
- Get mentored and build your network
- Apply classroom learning in real-world settings
- Show initiative and strengthen skills
- Obtain professional references
Completing one or more successful internships in your desired field can tremendously boost your resume and chances of finally landing a paid job.
2. Volunteer Your Skills
Volunteering is another excellent way to demonstrate relevant skills and experience. Look for volunteer roles that will allow you to apply your abilities in a meaningful way.
For example, someone interested in event planning could seek out volunteer coordinator roles for local nonprofits. A aspiring teacher could tutor students at an after-school program or community center.
Other ideas include volunteering to manage social media for an organization or assisting with administrative tasks in a field office. Track your accomplishments and contributions to include on your resume.
Nonprofit and community groups are often eager for skilled volunteers. Giving your time can quickly translate into tangible experiences to showcase.
3. Try Job Shadowing
Job shadowing means observing a professional on the job to understand their day-to-day responsibilities and gain exposure to a role. This can be a helpful career exploration technique.
Reach out to family, friends, professors, or alumni from your school who work in roles of interest. Explain your situation and ask to shadow them for a day or part of a day. Come prepared with questions to ask.
Job shadowing shows initiative and gives you insider perspective into the realities of different jobs. It’s a chance to experience different work environments and see skills in action.
Add these observations to your resume. Discuss how job shadowing confirmed your interest and helped you learn more about the field.
4. Continue Your Education
Pursuing targeted education and training is another route to build skills and experience.
Enrolling in a certification program demonstrates an interest in continually developing your abilities. Completing certificate courses can give you knowledge to apply right away on the job.
Post-graduate internships also offer valuable experience. For example, many looking to become counselors or therapists pursue a Master’s degree that includes clinical hours under supervision.
Continuing education shows commitment to your field and deepens your skillset. It’s time well invested.
5. Start Freelancing
Freelancing allows you to independently offer your services on a project basis. It’s a flexible way to build a portfolio and prove you can complete work successfully.
Websites like Upwork, Fiverr, and Freelancer let you create profiles highlighting your skills and experience. You can apply for gigs in your category.
Starting small with a few freelance jobs can help you get real-world examples of your abilities. As you complete projects, you’ll gain ratings, reviews and repeat business.
Be sure to collect and showcase freelancing achievements on your resume. Tout your client satisfaction and ability to deliver results.
Freelancing demonstrates great initiative, self-motivation, and professionalism to future employers.
Other Ways to Strengthen Your Resume
Besides directly relevant experience, here are some additional techniques to make your resume stand out:
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Highlight transferable skills – Emphasize versatile competencies like communication, analysis, teamwork, and creativity that apply across roles.
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List major accomplishments – Quantify achievements and projects from past jobs, academics, or activities. Demonstrate the value you brought.
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Get references – Include bosses, professors, coaches, or organizational leaders who can vouch for your abilities.
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Show leadership – Note experiences as president of a club, captain of a team, or chair of a committee.
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Include test scores – Listing excellent results on standardized tests like the SAT shows your abilities.
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Show off projects – Having a portfolio website, design samples, or stats from a sports team can give concrete proof of your talents.
Being strategic and creative about presenting related experiences, skills, and achievements can get your foot in the door.
How to Get That Initial Job Experience
As a new job seeker, standing out takes persistence and ingenuity. Follow these tips to finally land that critical first role:
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Cast a wide net – Don’t limit yourself to just formal internships or high-level positions in your field. Apply to related entry-level roles, part-time gigs, freelance projects, and temporary work. They all provide valuable experience that hiring managers will find useful.
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Focus on smaller companies – Major corporations receive thousands of applicants and have the luxury of setting higher experience expectations. Look for openings at startups, small businesses, nonprofits, and local companies where you’re more likely to get considered without a long work history.
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Use connections – Tell everyone in your network you’re looking for opportunities to gain experience – friends, family, previous bosses, professors and classmates, extended contacts. Something may open up if the right person learns of your search.
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Follow up relentlessly – Don’t let your applications get lost in silence. Reach out to the hiring manager after submitting to reiterate your interest. If you still don’t hear back after interviews, follow up again. Politely check on status and restate why you’re a great fit. Your persistence could pay off with a chance.
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Highlight desire to learn – Play up your eagerness to work hard, take initiative, and soak up knowledge from mentors. Counter lack of experience by emphasizing your passion, capable mindset, and quick learning abilities.
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Consider temporary roles – Temp agencies place workers in short-term support jobs at many companies. It gets your foot in the door, lets you demonstrate skills, and can even lead to permanent offers.
Gaining Experience is Challenging But Worthwhile
Launching your career without on-the-job experience is frustrating. But know there are always possibilities out there if you’re creative and determined. Use a combination of smart strategies to get the experience every employer requires.
Volunteer, pursue education, take temporary or freelance gigs, tap networks – anything demonstrates and strengthens abilities. Highlight these proof points prominently on your resume.
With persistence, you’ll get that initial opportunity. Prove your talent, learn all you can, make professional connections, then keep rising up the ladder. The effort invested early on will pay continuous dividends throughout your career.
Make the Rest of Your Application Superb
If you lack experience, you can often make up for it elsewhere in your job application. I already mentioned the importance of a tailored resume, but this philosophy extends to other areas as well.
First, be sure that all your communications with the company are professional and free of errors. Emails you send while you’re applying may not be a part of the official application process, but they could still influence your chances. For more info on how to communicate like a pro, read this.
Next, make sure you’re punctual for all interviews (virtual, phone, and in-person). It sounds silly, but being on time can set you apart from other candidates before you even open your mouth. There are lots of ways to ensure you’re on time, but nothing beats a well-organized calendar.
Once you’ve arrived at the interview, now’s your time to shine. In addition to dressing for success, be friendly and courteous. If you can get the interviewer to like you, then that can sometimes make up for your lack of experience. Ultimately, people hire people they like.
Need to brush up on your social skills before your next interview? We’ve got you covered.
Ways to Get the Job Experience You Need
I hope you read through the previous section and discovered that you have way more job experience than you thought.
But maybe you’ve done a few interviews and found that you still lack the experience for the job you want. In that case, let’s look at some ways to get the job experience you need.
We’ll start simple and easy with informational interviews.
Informational interviews are different from traditional job interviews. Instead of determining whether you fit a specific position, informational interviews are a way to learn more about a field or job. They can be especially useful if you’re attempting to enter a new industry and want to learn more about the necessary qualifications.
So how do you set up an informational interview? Unlike regular job interviews, there isn’t an application to fill out or a hiring manager to talk with. Rather, you’ll need to take the initiative and set up informational interviews yourself.
Generally, this means contacting someone who does something that interests you and asking if you can set up a meeting to learn more.
This is easier than you might think. To start, people love to talk about themselves and what they do. Furthermore, most professionals are happy to help people interested in their field (especially if you’re a student or recent graduate).
So don’t be afraid to reach out! LinkedIn is a great place to start these conversations, but you can also find contact info on the websites of companies that interest you.
To learn more about how to set up informational interviews, as well as how to make the most of them, read this.
Informational interviews are great for learning more about what you should do to get job experience, but they won’t get you much experience. For that, you should consider an internship.
Even if you did do an internship or two while in college, perhaps you still lack the required experience. Let’s say you majored in a humanities field, did a couple of internships related to that, but now you want to work in a more technical role. In that case, you would likely benefit from doing an internship that lets you learn the necessary technical skills.
Certainly, it can be disheartening to realize that you need to do yet another internship if you already did one as a student. But the long-term benefits could still be worth accepting lower pay or weird hours in the short term.
This is especially true when you consider that internships can lead directly to full-time jobs. Companies will often recruit from among their interns, which makes sense. Interns already know how things at the company work, which means less training and onboarding. And the company already has a sense of the intern’s work performance, meaning less interviewing.
Even if it doesn’t lead to a full-time role at the company where you interned, internships also let you broaden your network. Again, this is especially useful if you’re trying to break into a field where you don’t have a lot of connections. And the right connections, as you hopefully know, open the doors to the best jobs.
For advice on how to get an internship, check out this guide.
Internships are a great way to gain experience and connections, but they aren’t always practical or even possible. In such cases, you can create your own experience through freelancing.
For some fields, freelancing is arguably a better (and faster) way to gain experience than interning. My current writing career, for instance, started with small freelance writing gigs. I could have gained some of the same experience interning at a marketing or content agency, but I wouldn’t have learned as much.
When you’re freelancing, you have a lot more risk, responsibility, and incentive to perform well than in an internship. Therefore, freelancing will teach you as much about business in general as it will about specific marketable skills.
In some cases, you could decide that you prefer freelancing to working a full-time job. But even if you decide to go with a more traditional corporate job, the experience you gain freelancing is great material for your resume and job interviews.
Freelance experience shows that you’re self-motivated, know how to meet deadlines, and can manage your time under pressure. All of which are things that smart employers will look for in a potential hire.
Not sure how to start freelancing? Learn how.
If you follow the advice in the previous section, then you should have plenty of experience to talk about in a job interview. However, you should also know this: years of experience is rarely the most important part of a job application.
After all, the length of time you’ve done something doesn’t say much about your actual ability — you could spend five years doing something poorly and it would still count as “experience”. What matters far more are the results you produce and your ability to explain what you’ve done to a potential employer.
That’s why I’ve included this final section, which covers how to excel in a job application and interview even if you’re less experienced than other candidates.
Here’s what you should do:
