How to get the missing experience you need for that perfect job.

Before I start with any advice I want to remind everyone that there is a talent in writing job adverts – some are great and others are awful. Have you ever applied for a job based on the advert only to find that when the information pack comes it is not really what you understood from the advert? And even worse – have you reached interview stage and then found out that it is nothing like what you thought you were applying for.

With that in mind though  – unless you are headhunted – that is the way that you will find out any job is available.

So now you read the advert – and maybe even the expanded online description – and think uh-oh I don’t have that experience….

I have covered this so many times before and I am coming back to it now because students here in the UK will be writing dissertations, handing in final work, preparing for exams – and for most of them in the back of their minds will be the question - “What on earth am I going to do to earn a living after this?”.

So the big tip I will give is to think – really think – about what experience you have already.

If the advert says you need 2 years experience of something  – it shouldn’t really for a couple of reasons – it could fall foul of age discrimination rules and where did the 2 years come from anyway. So choose to go with it being prepared to tell the recruiter about the range of experience you have in the key areas without drawing attention to the time spent getting it.

If a must have is experience in a specific sector – and you don’t have it – then there are a couple of things to think about.

1. don’t apply for this job but give the company a call to chat to see if it is one in which you would like to work in future and then – if it is – go out and get some experience elsewhere
2. give up without making the call – but be really sure why you did that. If the job advert was so attractive in the first place why wouldn’t you do what I suggest in (1)?

Ok – assuming those barriers have been moved the rest is up to you.  Unless you have lived a very sheltered and unexciting life miles away from civilisation you will have gained experience in all sorts of things in all sorts of ways.

This is the point where I need to stress that you are the person who knows most about you. No kidding – I hear you cry? Yes indeed – and you will do yourself no favours by not getting to know yourself even better right now.

Taking any regular job advert as an example it should ask for both personal attributes (the person specification in HR speak) and skills must /nice-to haves – alongside that old favourite of course of experience required.

If they want creative – think about everything you have done to date which has been creative…and  – crucially – think about how you can relate that to what they do ( which in itself will show you can be creative..)

They want reliable – show how reliable you can be. Tell the story – don’t just make a statement.

Working on your own or in  a team – give an example of both  – what you were doing, who else was involved, what happened, what you learned, what you were proud of, what feedback you got.

Work under pressure – even if you are only just leaving school you must have done that to get through exams. Once again be able to tell the story – about the planning, the goals , what happened when things slipped, the results. If you are one of those rare people who sailed through without stress or concern think why that was. Is it something that an employer might really want?

These are just my thoughts. Anybody else out there with advice that could be really useful to those setting out into the big world of work in the near future?