Posts tagged with “experience”

It's a problem many new graduates and those looking to switch careers face: you need experience to get a job, but you can't land a job without experience. Quite the dilemma.

From unpaid internships to exaggerated facts and padding resumes, people handle this quandary in a variety of ways and most of them do manage to end up plodding along happily in their chosen fields. I found one particularly creative approach to dealing with 'need experience to get experience' in this article over at Harvard Business -- the basic idea is to find a business or colleague in your area that needs something but doesn't have the resources to make it happen, check your pride at the door, and strike up a bargain where you offer your help in exchange for the experience.

Believe me, it makes more sense in the article so pop over and give it a read, then pop on back and tell us what you think: is it a realistic option for people?

The economy has tanked and is starting to get better, but unemployment continues to grow as companies restrict their budgets and look for more ways to save during this time of need. As such, the fewer companies who are hiring are inundated with resumes from applicants with a broad range of skills and experience. Recently, I placed an advertisement on the job boards for a Business Analyst and had a variety of candidates apply, from landscapers to 20+ year Project Managers.

More and more employers are receiving resumes from candidates who would typically be overqualified for their positions. Often times these candidates will receive an interview request, later to be informed that they are overqualified for the position. In my opinion, there are few things more frustrating than being told you are too good for a position. I am sure others agree, but being that I am in a position to understand the hiring managers' point of view, I will share it with you.