How Can I Get Experience If Nobody Will Give Me a Job?

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”

Thomas Edison

"How can I get a job when I don't have experience?"

And the even more frustrating question:

"How am I supposed to gain experience if nobody will give me the opportunity?"

I've been there.

I moved to New Zealand at 22, by myself, with my family halfway across the world.

I arrived with two years' experience working as an Executive Assistant to the Director of a leading hospital and the owner of a corporate law firm.

I knew I could do the work.

But I didn't have New Zealand experience.

So I applied. And applied.

Rejection after rejection.

It hurt.

I ended up working on farms and in the back of restaurant kitchens. There was absolutely nothing wrong with those jobs, but I knew they weren't where I wanted my career to end up.

So I kept going.

Stop Waiting for the Perfect Experience

While studying towards my HR diploma, I became particularly interested in the careers advice component.

Maybe it connected with me because I was a candidate every single day.

I then took on a three-month project with a not-for-profit organisation where I developed job descriptions, wrote job advertisements, interviewed employees, identified workforce gaps and worked on workforce planning.

It wasn't a traditional HR job.

But it was real experience.

And that changed how I looked at my own CV.

Instead of focusing on the job title I thought I should have, I started looking at what I had actually done and where those skills could take me.

Your Experience Doesn't Have to Come From a Job Title

When I applied to a recruitment agency, I'd never worked in recruitment.

So instead of trying to hide that, I focused on what I could bring.

I'd interpreted job requirements.

I'd written job advertisements.

I'd interviewed employees.

I'd looked at workforce needs and identified gaps.

Those skills were relevant to recruitment.

I connected the experience I already had to what that employer needed.

I highlighted it in my CV and cover letter and emailed the manager directly.

The agency wasn't even advertising for someone at the time.

That approach got me an interview with two managers from different teams within the business. By the end of the process, both wanted me to join their team.

I still didn't have recruitment experience.

But someone finally saw the potential in the experience I did have.

You Probably Have More Experience Than You Think

If you're starting your career and looking at your CV thinking:

"I have nothing to put on here."

Dig deeper.

Have you:

• Volunteered?

• Helped with a family business?

• Completed a major university project?

• Built a website?

• Managed social media?

• Organised an event?

• Been involved in sport or community groups?

• Created something from scratch?

Now think about the skills behind those experiences.

Communication. Technology. Teamwork. Writing. Problem solving. Organisation. Leadership. Creativity. Resilience.

Maybe you're excellent with technology.

Maybe you're a brilliant writer.

Maybe you're a natural communicator.

Maybe you can sell.

Maybe you can analyse information and spot things others miss.

That's what you need to start uncovering.

Don't Just Tell Them What You Did. Show Them Why It Matters.

Don't just write:

"Completed a university project."

What did you actually do?

Did you research?

Analyse information?

Manage deadlines?

Present your findings?

Coordinate other people?

Solve a problem?

Use particular software?

Then look at the job you're applying for and ask:

"How could this experience help me do that job?"

Make that connection in your CV.

Make it in your cover letter.

Talk about it in your interview.

Don't pretend to have experience you don't have.

Show employers the value in the experience you do have.

Seven Years Later

Seven years later, I've worked for two major recruitment agencies and I'm now building my own small recruitment business, Click Talent.

But that's not the important part of this story.

The important part is where it started.

It started with rejection.

It started with someone telling me I didn't have the experience.

It started with roles that weren't where I ultimately wanted to be.

And it started with someone eventually deciding to give me a chance.

That's one of the reasons I want Click Talent to help the candidate who might be where I was seven years ago, and the employer who might be looking for their next best up and comer.

The Click Talent Take

If you don't have traditional work experience yet, don't automatically decide you have no experience.

Look at your study.

Your projects.

Your volunteering.

Your hobbies.

Your technology skills.

Your community involvement.

Your life experience.

Then ask yourself:

"What has this taught me, and how could that help this employer?"

Don't let rejection convince you that you have nothing to offer.

Keep trying. Keep learning. Keep building.

But most importantly:

Stop overlooking what you've already built.

Sometimes you don't need an employer to see an experienced candidate.

You need them to see your potential.

Your job is to help them find it.

By Amanda Dubier