The "No Job Without Experience, No Experience Without a Job" Dilemma

© 2000, Mark Adornetto

There is probably no challenge more frustrating than trying to get an entry level job in IT when you are told that you don't have enough experience. How can you get experience for an entry level job where you are planning to get your experience? This obstacle is especially frustrating when you read and hear about companies expressing the difficulty of finding candidates to fill IT positions. Well, while it's true that not everyone who wants one will qualify for an IT position, there are ways to improve your attractiveness as a candidate. While the demand for experience on entry level applicants may seem puzzling, consider the perspective of the potential employer who is taking a major risk and making a major investment of time and resources when they hire a candidate. If you have no "hands on" experience, then there is no guarantee, despite good training and certification, that you can properly do the job. After 1, 2, or 3 years of experience, an employer has fairly good assurance that you've proven your ability and interest, are a low risk, and are more likely to perform at the particular technology. Considering your IT career, it may help to view your candidacy as having three elements, not just one. The three elements to consider are; Experience, Training, and Certification. Each of these elements is an important component to being an IT professional. 1. Experience isn't enough because there isn't proof that you are competent at what you do. Also, experience alone doesn't provide a verification of how much you know. 2. Training isn't enough because having theoretical knowledge doesn't mean you are ready to perform, or that you know all the pitfalls related to performance. An accurate analogy here would be driving a car. You may have read every book published on driving and know all the rules of the road and have a thorough understanding of how the mechanics of your car work, but you will clearly never be a competent driver until you have considerable experience behind the wheel. No amount of training or theory is a replacement for actual experience. 3. Certification is often required because it helps an employer verify what you know. You may have been trained and may even have experience but without certification, there is no way for an employer to determine the depth of your understanding. Certification helps to prove the depth of your knowledge. Getting back to the topic of experience, you can now see why it's an important element of your candidacy. So, how do you get experience? Here are some suggestions. 1. Do volunteer work to get experience. There are many organizations that could use volunteer help and would be very happy to receive a donation of your time. Look into local service, civic, and other groups in your area that could benefit from your time. If you plan ahead and start volunteering while you are still studying, you can implement what you are learning as you go along and may be in a position to have sufficient experience when you complete your training. 2. Do an internship. Many companies offer candidates an opportunity to work as interns while they are studying the technology. This is a great way to get experience while you learn so check into internship programs at companies that you have an interest in working for. If they don't have an intern program, maybe you can encourage them to start one. In my book area, I have a section with books on Internships that will help you find the right company and provide you with tips to make your internship a success. 3. Do your own projects. If you are a programmer, build an application you can put on a floppy, a Zip drive, or your laptop to bring to an interview to demonstrate your skill. If you are a web developer, publish some web sites you can show to an interviewer to that illustrate your skills. Of course, be sure that your HTML is clean and that everything on your site looks great and works perfectly. 4. Get "hands on" training. While self-study is a great way to go, it may be a limitation when trying to enter a field. If your training program doesn't offer "hands-on" experience, you may face a tougher challenge of proving your ability. Self-study methods and technical schools can be a great way to learn and get certification but you will probably also need experience. Plan ahead to get experience while you're learning. 5. Make sure your job search tools are in perfect working condition. Even if you're a programming Mozart, you'll never get a chance to prove your skill if you have a sloppy resume and do poorly at job at interviews. A sloppy or poorly written resume will eliminate you from consideration in less than 15 seconds and if you have poor interview skills then you will never get past the interview stage. To make sure you look good and sound good, invest in professional resume and interview help from a Career Coach. 6. If you are targeting particular companies, find out what training programs THEY favor. It's much easier to get training from an organization that a potential employer recognizes than to try to sell them the training you received if they are not familiar with the school. To discover what training programs and/or schools they may favor, ask someone who works at the company or arrange for an informational interview with a hiring manager. 7. When applying for a job, you can add quite a bit of weight to your candidacy if you express a passion for what you do. A candidate that can articulate why they have a passion for cyberspace and web design can overcome limitations in experience and training simply because of their drive and desire because drive and desire typically translate into high performance and high performance is just what an employer is looking for. While this dilemma can be a frustrating challenge when trying to enter IT (or any other career for that matter), there ARE strategies you can implement to help you land the position you want. With a little planning and good strategy, you can prove your skill and get the job. If you want to invest in a great resume and interview coaching, contact me for a free email consultation at: mark@markadornetto.com