Experience

            Oscar Wilde once wrote, “Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.” Unfortunately, most employers don’t see it that way. They see experience as a necessary precursor for a job. When I graduated from college, I had the hardest time finding a job because I didn’t have the necessary experience. After months of searching, I was finally able to get a job for a while, but now I’m in the same position I was when I graduated. You’d think that having a bachelor’s degree with a double-major would be enough to qualify me for a number of jobs, but only experience seems to matter to employers anymore. How am I supposed to get experience if no one will hire me?

            One might argue that internships are a good way to get a starting position that gives you experience. Unfortunately, most internships are exclusively available to students who are currently enrolled in college. Some of us didn’t do internships during college because we couldn’t do work and school at the same time. College is stressful enough as it is; having a job on top of that is enough to make some students lose their minds. Why aren’t there more internship opportunities for recent graduates? There are also people who decide to change careers long after they’re done with college. They’ll need some starter jobs too. Employers need to realize this and create new ways for us to gain experience. We can’t get a future if no one will give us a past.

            Employers also need to realize that there are other forms of experience besides jobs in the same field. Sometimes jobs in one field can help a person develop skills that apply to a different field. College classes give students experience in learning about the field of their major, giving them knowledge about related jobs. Applicants could get the chance to explain these skills in job interviews, but many employers won’t even call them back for interviews because there aren’t any similar previous jobs on their applications. People forget that job experience and necessary skills don’t always go hand in hand. There are also skills that an applicant can’t gain until they’re actually hired and learn on the job.

            Most of my work experience has been in retail, fast food, and similar fields. Those types of jobs not only don’t pay well, but are particularly inflexible when it comes to scheduling. I think one reason I haven’t been able to gain better work experience is because the business world is prejudiced against millennials. We are viewed as lazy, self-centered brats with a sense of entitlement. That may be true with some millennials, but the truth is that a lot of us just have a different way of looking at the world. People of older, more traditional generations are set in their ways and have a hard time adjusting to our points of view. As a result, I may have to go back to the kind of job that society says is beneath me.