Work Experience: Glad Tidings to Fresh Graduates

HR DESK

with

Moruf Kolawole Nasir

(Experienced HR professional)

nmkolawole@gmail.com; jarushub@gmail.com

It could be very discouraging and disappointing when, after passing through lots of self denials, sacrifices and rigour of university education to acquire the certificates which accompany the university education, opportunities to apply for job with the certificates surfaced and one is disqualified from applying due to lack work experience.

The truth, although bitter, is, one cannot really condemn hiring managers for this choice of screening. No one wants to hire a liability, and to a large extent the mere fact that Mr. Ijimere has work experience along the line of a job vacancy being advertised is an assurance that Mr. Ijimere knows what the job entails. And to hiring managers that reduces the risk of hiring unsuitable hand.

The question fresh graduates never ceased to ask is “where do they expect us to get the work experience if all of them refused to hire us for lack of work experience?” Here is glad tidings to you:

To start with, jobs that require work experience are mostly categorized into: 1-3 years; 3-5 years; 5-7 sometimes to 10 years and 10 years and above. As entry level applicant you could attempt the first category and be considered. How? Read on:

Do you know that a good number of fresh graduates who assume that they have no work experience actually have some marketable work experience, even after their service year?

Will it not interest you to know that the time you spent at your uncle’s workshop running ‘errand’here and there (to enable you earn few naira for T/fare whenever you want to go for job interview or to submit applications) could actually help your CV carry more weight? You also ask how?

Common! You stay in your aunt’s shop whenever school is on long vacation for roughly four years, yet you carry CV with no work experience?

Ok! What about this- As an undergraduate, money was not forthcoming from home, to survive you ventured into buying and selling almost throughout your undergraduate days, and you were able to live large on campus with the proceeds yet you circulate CV without work experience?

Brethren! There is no other work experience than these for fresher, other things you could add are your undergraduate stewardship experience. Remember, in your aunt’s shop you were buying things, fixing her generator, changing bulbs, repairing refrigerators, servicing air conditioners etc, trust me those are part of the job description for Admin Officer. If your aunt’s shop was even very big, you oversaw the activities of her sales girls and drivers, seriously you were an Admin Officer in that shop not “assisting my sister” that could even qualify you as front desk officer if you also attended to her customers. All you need to do is to package your CV well and defend your claims.

What about our undergraduate ‘business man’? Trust me, you have at least three roles put in one, the choice of which to emphasize is yours. You were a marketing executive, an account officer, Logistic personnel etc of your business.

Mind you, I am not encouraging you to lie (in fact, in one of my previous articles I identified lying as one of the viruses in your CV). What you need most times is the ability to think deep and not undermine some works you have done in the past, instead, look through your past work experience and find alignment with the one you intend to apply for that demands 1-3 years experience.

If after reading this article, you still have no work experience to put in your CV, then it is time to look out for where to render free service (internship) to put in your CV as your work experience; otherwise, keep applying for your usual graduate trainee or leave your chance to fate.

Although, I cannot claim ignorance of the fact that some of these adverts require the work experience to be post NYSC, but who says working your CV nicely to fit the job requirement with your pre NYSC experience cannot earn you an interview? Funny enough what most professional hiring managers are interested in is your exposure and skills, your ability to identify those roles/duties in the previous‘not-too-coordinated’ jobs and bring it to fore by structuring them into your CV and your ability to be able to justifiably prove that you can deliver if assigned those roles/duties.

Always remember “In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn”.

Other cases from HR DESK

12 Reasons Why Employers Fire Employees

12 Viruses in Your CV

What you need to know about annual leave

I am being deprived of my annual leave, what should I do?

Who is an Employee?

HR DESK: My employer cuts my pay, what should I do?

HR Desk: Case Study 1

You may also want to read Jarushub widely acclaimed hit article: Common Interview Questions and Answer Tips

Excellent CV writing is one of Jarushub Premium Services

Registration is also on for the 2nd Jarushub Career Conference

[Don’t forget to vote Jarushub as Nigeria’s Career Blog & Overall Blog of the Year]