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 some steps to analyze the problem before solving it:
1. Choose a job target. We’ll use nonprofit communications for this example.
2. Research to learn (and list) the typical duties. Here’s what came from a recent 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.
Most 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.
3. 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 student 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 résumé.
4. 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 steps. 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 most people, that bridge would be some kind of hands-on, immersive experience such as an internship, certificate program, volunteer gig or part-time job.
On the other hand, your analysis could reveal that you have some good experience but not in all the areas. In that case, 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 probably have an idea already, but some 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 50-50 in terms of your interest, you’re ready for the home stretch. It’s time to build a résumé 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.
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