You have someone who graduated from university and they're looking for a job, but, the jobs require a few years experience; what do they do?

A) Look for a different job.

B) Intern somewhere and get the experience then re-apply – downside to this is that interns aren’t always paid (or paid well) so he may miss out on earning money he needs for subsistence.

C) Apply and hopefully get an interview anyway – tell him to mention any experience even remotely related to the job he’s applying for, even if it’s a long shot.

Try anything to get started – work as an intern, work in lower level jobs, work in a slightly unrelated field. Work as a civil servant even. Someone starting out needs to get experience, even if it is not the most enlightening.

Lie! Sounds terrible, but when I was young, I wanted to get out of my office and work in the keypunch room (now I am showing my age.) I told them that I knew how to keypunch (a lie) with the idea that I could figure it out, and besides, every machine is slightly different, so I would have to be trained anyway. It worked. In a matter of a few weeks I could out-keypunch any girl in the room. Besides, even today, students are taught to manipulate their resume to fit the job they are applying for. Your nephew can also claim to have worked in a related field to put himself through college. Hey, whatever it takes!

…and don’t forget that any volunteer work can be claimed as work experience…. so if he managed a school paper, a club, a fraternity, that may be counted as experience. Also include summer work.

@Skaggfacemutt lying is absolutely terrible advice. It’s trivial for employers to check on that information, and they usually do.

When I graduated with a useless BA I got an unpaid internship that turned into a paid job eventually. And that was before the recession. I imagine it depends a lot on what he majored in, but having an unpaid internship is better than being unemployed.

Intern, paid or unpaid.

Intern (give your hard earned skills to some company who is going to still make profit off you).

My older brother went through this because he was looking for jobs working with a newspaper and nobody would hire unless you had previous work experience in the field or if you had interned for a decent paper. So he interned for a couple of papers (unpaid work) and finally got hired full-time by a good newspaper as a copy editor.

There’s no harm in applying anyway if you can get everything and anything relevant written down on the resume, but I would not count on getting hired.

This is difficult, but basically they need to just work to find a job until they catch a break.

For any future children you may end up helping with this, I’d say tell them now to get this experience WHILE they are in college. It helps immensely, and in a college town setting, it’s alot easier to find a place that will let you as a student get your foot in the door, including working for the university.

Networking, at this point is huge @Jude you need to spread the word to people you know, your nephew’s parents do, people at church (if that applies to your family), and pretty much everyone you know until someone can get him that first job.

Also, your nephew should go back to college (not to classes) but to the campus where he can find on-campus interview days, and college career fairs both of which bring HR people that fully expect and are looking for people like your nephew, without the relevant experience.

Many of my friends were recruited right off campus for companies that have programs that groom college graduates with the knowledge but without the experience!!!

@Qingu Well, of course you don’t put down a specific company and time frame that can be checked. Like @njnyjobs said, say you did like work on a volunteer basis or in high school or college (or worked for your dad, friend, or cousin). Anyways, it might be bad advice but it worked for me. It got me where I wanted to go, and I never had to resort to working for nothing. I had confidence in my abilities, so I knew they would be happy with my work – it was just a matter of getting in the door.

@Skaggfacemutt, I think that’s pretty slimy, personally.

Also, you’re supposed to put down specific companies and time frames on your resume.

Considering that there are 7 unemployed people for every open position today, employers have the leeway to be a lot more careful about who they hire. And if you lie about your experience, chances are you’ll be blacklisted from everyone on that employer’s network. And you’d deserve it.

@Qingu Okay, I have been firmly chastised. I probably did beat out other “honest” applicants for that keypunch job. I wanted it, and I told them what they wanted to hear to get it. I did a great job for them, and too bad for those honest people. I see now that I went into the wrong profession – I should have gotten into politics.

This is exactly what intern programs are designed for.

Keep looking.
Try to get a job where they offer some training first.

This is the sh*t I hate the most… we are looking for someone with “experience” in the field.
Sometimes it’s a really bad thing. Some barely graduate and they ask for experience .. bummer

Tell him to get used to being paid by the hour. Yes, I’m bitter about my useless college education, and the years of loan payments that still lie ahead of me.

My dad always told me to apply for those jobs anyway, and try to show why you are capable handling the work despite your lack of experience.

Here’s one harsh reality that I am having a hard time deciding how to articulate. But here, goes…

If you are expecting somebody else to toss money at you in exchange for something (regardless of what it is) that you can do for them, you must compete with the gabillion of other unemployed out there who are just as eager to convince a potential employer that they can produce more value for the company than the salary they will be paid.

OTOH, if you are at a point in your life where you do not have obligations beyond your own personal comfort, then you have the luxury building your own opportunity from scratch. Of course, if you choose that course you will have to contend with the whole “occupy Wall Street” crowd that seems to believe you are somehow evil for wanting to grow the economy, create jobs, and if all goes well make a profit for your efforts. Alas, currently in America, “the land of opportunity”, the deck is stacked somewhat against you at the moment, and the motivation for trying to build your own opportunity is rapidly being removed by those who appear to think that it is a good idea to punish those who strive to be successful.

I truly wish your nephew the best of luck (he’s going to need all of it he can get)!

Look for entry level jobs in that field and work your way up or take internships. That is what I’m trying to do right now.

Demonstrate your expertise. Ask to work for free for two weeks to show that you can handle the job. ( sometimes works)?
Here in my small town several taxi drivers are Graduates from College and University
Degrees, trying to make a living to pay off their debts.( Student Loans).
They had too.
Some with “Social Worker” Diplomas work volunteer in the same field plus work taxi at night.