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Experience RequiredPosted Sunday, March 7, 2010, at 11:40 AM
I am currently seeking employment. My younger sister is seeking new employment beginning in May. My brother-in-law is also possibly seeking new employment in May. So obviously between the 3 of us we have read a lot of employment ads. What gets me is when an employer asks for X number of years experience. I have to ask, how does a person fresh out of college have those years of experience when they've been trying to learn something? How does someone like me have experience when they've mainly done retail all their working years? Why wouldn't the employer want to hire someone with next to no experience and train them to be the employee they need? Yes it may cost time and money, but in the end it could be completely worth it.
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My name is Heather and I've lived in Northwest Iowa most of my life. I have 2 sisters of which I am the middle child. I am a proud aunt to a niece and nephew who I love and adore. I went to South Clay until I finished 6th grade. I then went to Laurens-Marathon where I graduated in 2001. From there I attended NIACC in Mason City where I recieved a college degree in 2003. I started working when I was 16 at K-Mart in Spencer. I have also worked at Wal-Mart in Spencer and at Northwest Communications in Havelock. I am one of those unlucky ones that is currently unemployed. I am also recently divorced. With the loss of a job and the end of a marriage, I am back in the home where I grew up.
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There does seem to be a lot of employers who want X years of the exact experience for the exact job for which they're hiring. However, I'd encourage you to think of the tasks you've done in your years of retail and the things you've learned in college.
What I do on cover letters, is point those things out in the form of "You want...I have." Example:
"You need someone with extensive customer service skills. In six years of working in retail, I have worked with customers one-on-one as a sales associate, with problem solving at the customer service counter, and in communications at Northwest Communications."
Even if they say, "Must be energetic with a positive attitude and have 99 years of customer service experience," you can ignore the 99 years for a moment and be very positive and energetic about the experience you have.
I'm not a career expert by any means, although I've been in the job market so many times, I am pretty good at the resume thing. For now, I give up and am an entrepreneur working from home on a couple of different businesses.
Anyway, all the best to all of you. The job market is really tough.
well said, lakewriter. But, the bottom line is this - the one hiring still has the final say. A no experience hiree is usually a babysitting job where the one who gets paid is the one being babysat. There are many want ads that say "no experience necessary" When you have no job experience, you don't get to pick and choose. College degrees do not guarantee any job. Do like the rest of the folk: Start at the bottom and work your way up...
I have had a history of success in giving people opportunity. Our current sports editor had never written a sports story when he applied, but it was something he really wanted to do. I took the chance and it's paid off quite well. His first three years with the Daily Reporter, Jeff was the recipient of the top sports story of the year in small dailies at the Iowa Newspaper Association awards banquet. Just goes to show that desire can sometimes outweigh experience.