There is no substitute for experience

There is no substitute for experience                                                           060311

 

                If you look at job advertisements in the paper you will find that most of them require the applicants to have experience in the relevant field. The interesting thing is that there is no school of experience where you can enroll and spend time acquiring this experience. You have to find it in another place. This tells us that those who get the jobs are most probably people who are doing something at the time of applying.

                Many young people refuse to do anything that is not related to the degree or diploma that they acquired because they think it is a waste of time. They feel degraded if they have to do a manual job after graduating with a first class degree. The important thing to remember, however, is that to get the job that you trained for you need to have experience, and that experience is difficult to find because the first job you look for is looking for experience even though your degree is weeks old.

                Most companies that offer graduate traineeship courses take the raw graduates and let them go through every department in the company to make sure they are acquainted with the happenings of the company before they let them do what they trained for. Most of these trainees express their frustrations everyday to their superiors because they keep doing everything else except what they trained for. This is because they do not understand an important principle in the work environment.

                A manager who only knows the managing principles without knowing the system he is managing is an ineffective one. The decisions he/she makes at the top affects everyone in the system and it is better if he/she understands what that decision means to everyone. If the manager has worked with the cleaners and the accountants and every other department in the company, he/she will make decisions understanding their impact at every stage. That is why, even though you are an engineer they take you to work in the accounts department for some times because the company system is one even though it has many parts. The experience you gain from working in a field that is not your area of specialization will eventually work to your advantage. You can only be experienced when you are doing something.

                There are many people who enter big companies doing the least job but end up in managerial positions because they appreciate that the end of a matter is more important than the beginning. What is important is to be in the system in the first place. Companies usually advertise for posts internally and only advertise outside if there is no one internally qualified enough to take the post. If you are waiting outside hoping to get a break into the company while you have no experience you will be disappointed because the break may never come. You have to get experience first.

                If there is a company you want to work for that does not have the post you are dying for at the moment, consider offering to work in any other department in that company. The only openings may be for cleaners. If you take that up and do your best there, someone will soon notice and your promotion may come sooner than you expect. I know people who have applied for jobs using their O’ level certificate only to produce their degrees when posts were advertised internally. Of course the management is surprised at such antics but if you were humble enough to work hard in a job that you are overqualified for, they will think you will be a good candidate in the field where you are qualified. If you become effective again in that area then you will rise through the ladder of the company quickly. It is only for those who do not mind getting experience in a field which they did not train for.

                Experience will be asked for when you look for the job of your dreams. If you are wise you will take up every available job and use it as a stepping stone to your next better job. That experience at a higher post can be used to secure even higher positions. All this is possible because without experience you are unemployable.

                Consider finding for yourself a job that does not need experience. These are the least jobs in most institutions. Work hard like your life depends on it. It is difficult for company directors not to notice someone who works hard. Soon they will be looking for openings in other areas where they can give you more responsibilities. Your promotion comes easier if you work hard in an unpleasant job.

                The reason why companies insist on experienced applicants is that they can always get a reference from your previous place of employment. If you work hard at whatever you do, no matter how insignificant it seems, you will be in a position to get a better job than the one you ave right now. If you are not yet employed, you can get the best job by starting at the bottom of the ladder. Work hard there and soon you will be at the top. It may take time but there is no rising to the top if you do not have experience, and there is no school of experience around here.