Ask the Experts: Getting a Job Without Experience
Question:
I am a recent graduate with a degree in Communication Arts. I am having a great deal of difficulty finding employment in graphic design, mainly because I have no previous work experience. Where do I get this work experience?
First Answer:
This question comes down to the old catch-22, “I can’t get a job without experience, and I can’t get experience without a job!” It’s a subject I address head-on and in greater detail in my book DON’T WAIT UNTIL YOU GRADUATE!
Here is a simplified answer: Don’t look for a job. Search for a need. Communication arts is a field in which many people work on a freelance basis. Why? Because so many companies and organizations require their services, but not necessarily on a full-time basis. You want experience. Ask yourself: What can I do for someone else? How can my abilities help a company or organization achieve their goals?
As a graphic designer, you have the ability to design printed materials, logos, maybe even web sites. Now, who do you know might be able to benefit from these abilities? What you offer is a dire need, in one way or another, of every organization that opens its doors.
Check with friends, acquaintences, or family members. Do any of them own or work in small companies, or know others who do? When you talk to them, don’t attempt to “sell” them on what you can do. Instead, LISTEN to them about their business, and LEARN ABOUT THEIR NEEDS.
I cannot over-emphasize how important this is. All the skills you bring to the table are meaningless if you are unable to listen to and understand the needs of others.
When you serve their needs, you gain experience. You build relationships. You earn favors. Start right now. Before you know it, this habit will lead to a thriving business, or successful employment.
— Keith F. Luscher, Creative Director with Goettler Associates, Inc., a fund-raising consulting firm serving non-profit organizations nationwide, and author of Don’t Wait Until You Graduate!
Second Answer:
While many students wisely get a leg up on their careers by obtaining experience while in school, others don’t discover until graduation
that today’s employers want experience. For those who didn’t get
experience in their career field through internships and such while
in school, you still have some options:
- Think about the skills you’ve attained while pursuing your degree. Graphic design requires very specific technical skills and experience
with specialized software. Be sure that you are conveying to
employers in your resume and cover letters that you have the required
skills. Also use your resume to portray your “soft skills” to
prospective employers as transferable and applicable to the
graphic-design field. Show employers how the skills and experiences
you’ve gained relate to graphic design. You say you have no work
experience, but think in terms of the skills most employers seek
these days: teamwork skills, communications skills, interpersonal
skills, leadership skills, and skills especially important in graphic
design — the ability to multi-task, work under pressure and meet
deadlines. Then think about the things you’ve done to cultivate those
skills — class work, projects, research papers, sports,
extracurricular activities (especially leadership positions), and
volunteer work. Experience is experience. It doesn’t have to be paid. - If you are in a financial position to do so, you can still get the type of experience you probably should have obtained while in school. You can
still pursue an internship in your field. Since unpaid internships
abound, you may have to find one that pays at least minimally, and
you may be able to do so only if you’re in the right situation, such
as living with your parents. Or you could take an unpaid internship
during regular business hours and support yourself with part-time
paid work nights and weekends. If you economically must be in a
full-time job outside your field, consider finding some volunteer
work in your field that you could do after hours just to build an
appropriate resume and portfolio item. Graphic design lends itself
wonderfully to volunteer work. Countless nonprofit organizations
could use someone to design brochures, logos, ads, newsletters,
posters, Web sites, you name it. Graphic design also lends itself
well to freelance work. Try to drum up some freelance projects on
your own to build your experience. - Consider conducting informational interviews. A subset of networking, informational interviews won’t do much toward giving you
experience in your field, but they will provide more exposure to the
field and more contacts for your network. You may meet an employer
while you’re informationally interviewing who would be willing to
give an unexperienced person a chance. More likely, you’ll gain
information that will help you develop a strategy for breaking into
the field. You’ll find out exactly what you need to do to get someone
to give you a chance. Find out how to do informational interviews at:
http://www.quintcareers.com/informational_interviewing.html
— Katharine Hansen, former speechwriter and college instructor who provides content for the Web site, Quintessential Careers, edits QuintZine, an electronic newsletter for jobseekers, and prepares job-search correspondence as chief writer for Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters
