The young professional's dilemma

Those of us who have friends looking for jobs or are looking ourselves know the following catch-22 all too well - No experience? No job. No job? No experience.

As someone who will be starting his post-education job search very shortly, I am acutely aware of this dilemma. And as hard as I may try, I cannot possibly attain "three to five years of relevant experience" in the next six months.

But as a former intern in a Human Resources department, I understand the need to hire experienced workers. In the current economic environment, the labor market is broad and industries move too fast for companies to accommodate large learning curves for new employees. So is there any hope for those of us who are just starting out?

I'd like to think the answer is yes. In order to test this, I conducted a (blatantly unscientific) survey of people I knew who were employed. I asked them questions about the internal and external factors they believed most influenced their success in finding a job. The sample was decidedly skewed towards young professionals; 10 of the 12 people I surveyed were between 16 and 30 years old, and nine of them had three or fewer years of prior work experience before they were hired; five reported they had less than a year.

I asked the survey respondents for nine factors they believed helped them get a job. I then asked them to rate the factors from 1-9, with 1 being the most important and 9 being the least important. Using my own judgment, I then split up the answers into two categories - Things you can control now, and Things you can't control now. For example, answers such as "Experience" and "Knowledge" were generally placed into the Things you can't control now category, while "Maturity", "Research" and "Confidence" were placed in the Things you can control.

Based on the results of my informal survey and some of my own observation, I am happy to report - there are a lot of factors we can control that truly do make a difference in our job search. Of the 83 quantifiable factors respondents gave, I felt that 60 of them, or over 70%, described controllable factors. When I looked at the "top three" list for each person, those results remained fairly consistent; 18 of the top 30 were within immediate control (I have placed the table of the "Top 3" responses below).

This doesn't mean that we can earn a job based solely on intangibles. However, what it does show is that the details matter, and that proper preparation can go a long way in winning over a prospective employer. I saw this with job interviews in the HR office; people overflowing with technical skill and business acumen weren't hired because they didn't understand the company mission or lacked the necessary people skills. Those who were hired and thrived understood how to communicate, took the time to prepare, and possessed qualities that fit with the organization.

Most likely, my resume will not change drastically from now until when I begin job hunting. As such, it would be kind of silly of me to fret about not having the necessary experience on my resume. Instead, I will focus my energies on understanding what organization I could fit into best and how I can articulate my resume in a way that speaks to that organization. "Soft" skills may not show up prominently on a resume, but they do make a difference, especially for young professionals. To that end, I resolve that "three to five years relevant experience" will not stand between me and finding gainful employment.

Figure 1. "Top 3" Responses