On the Job Experience:
Hiring Managers Want It, But How Can You Obtain It??
(Taken from a guest blog piece I wrote for the Career Advisory Board — posted on DeVry University’s President’s blog on 11/3/2011).
In the context of today’s rapid technological and economic change, both job seekers and employers alike are faced with a daunting set of challenges. While many individuals and organizations see an economy in and headed for another recession, the recent economic downturn, in fact, represents a fundamental transformation and restructuring of the economy.
The Career Advisory Board, presented by DeVry University released a new Job Preparedness Indicator Report that brought to light how this period of transition is not only impacting employment and unemployment, but it is also affecting future professional competencies and skill sets.
To many employers, the serious gaps that exist between educational credentials and actual individual competence are becoming all too clear. What many job seekers are now faced with is a “catch-22”: Hiring managers stress the importance of needing prior work experience, but job seekers struggle to find actual opportunities to gain that critical real-world knowledge.
According to the report, 66% of employers agree that job seekers often find themselves applying for jobs that require skills and experience that can only be acquired after being hired. Job seekers are aware, too, of many prospective employers’ reluctance to hire someone without experience – in fact, 78% of job-seekers agree that too many positions in today’s job market require skills that can only be acquired after being hired.
So when it comes to valued workplace skills and competencies, what can job seekers do to get their skills more in line with what hiring managers are looking for and gain that all-important on-the-job experience?
1) Seek New Ways to Gain Real-World Experience. Paid or un-paid internships, apprenticeships, traineeships and volunteering – are great ways to learn valuable analytical and critical-thinking skills and boost business acumen. These experiences allow employers to see how proactive a candidate is. It will be crucial for job seekers to clearly demonstrate how these skills can be transferred to the workplace.
2) Behold the Power of Staying Connected. Secondly, job seekers should leverage and tap into peer-to-peer and alumni networks, as these are becoming increasingly valuable tools and resources. It’s important to build a strong network and equally as important to maintain it. While social media tools such as LinkedIn provide an opportunity to do so, taking the relationship offline is vital – make a brief phone call or meet for a cup of coffee. By fostering strong relationships ahead of time, you will have the confidence to reach out in the future to take your career to the next level.
3) Seek a Mentor and Be a Mentor. Having a mentor can help job seekers gain critical workplace knowledge that will support career growth. But on the flip side, for young job seekers, being a reverse mentor is also important as it teaches communication skills and demonstrates a depth of knowledge in a particular area(s).
Clearly, for job seekers, the competition for many jobs is intense. A reexamination of the current workforce will be critical, especially as job seekers increasingly face a greatly perplexing world of differences in hiring styles and processes.
on the “Future of Careers in the Emerging Economy.”
