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Don’t Have The ‘Right’ Experience For a Job You Want? Here Are Surefire Ways to Get Your Foot In The Door

Having previous experience is a requirement that many job listings cite to find the best candidates. That said, a lot of job hunters end up getting discouraged from sending in their resume as a result.

Feeling like they don’t have the ‘right’ experience to get the position, thousands of candidates may fail to consider new job opportunities and grow professionally. This shouldn’t be the case though. One can and are actually encouraged to still take a shot and send in applications.

Not Just About Experience

A lack of experience can be compensated with mentoring on the job from a more knowledgeable colleague or boss

According to Express Writers CEO Julia McCoy, experience doesn’t really equal the kind of qualities that an employer wants in a candidate like integrity, humility and more importantly, raw talent.

In fact, experience, for McCoy, can sometimes hinder a person because it gives them the disadvantage of being arrogant or having a know-it-all attitude. The business owner says she’d much rather choose a novice who’s talented and guide them to eventually become great at their job. Another perk of going this route is that employees hired and mentored this way are more likely to be loyal to the company.

The Importance of Showing Ambition

Meanwhile, ZeroBounce CEO Liviu Tanase believes that attitude should trump aptitude if one doesn’t have both yet. While bosses can compensate for a newbie hire’s lack of skills through training, they can’t really change their already set behavior, said Tanase.

This is especially true in workplaces in the startup industry where bold people are needed to push through even the most impossible of tasks. The CEO puts this belief into action in his own hiring process and he has been correct in doing so for the most part. At the end of the day, it’s stamina and ambition that can help people evolve for the better.

Being a Fast Learner

Demonstrate a willingness to learn and keep up with fast-paced changes in a company.

To make one more appealing to hiring managers, they should make sure that hiring managers know that they are fast learners and has potential. These qualities will let companies know that an otherwise inexperienced applicant can adapt to new situations and grow together with the company over time. According to Bubble co-CEO Emmanuel Straschnov, he’d rather choose someone who wants to grow over someone who has experience but isn’t flexible.

Meeting ‘Impossible’ Job Requirements

People who have the right skills but don’t have the right experience may still have a shot certain jobs.

And for those job descriptions with seemingly impossible to meet requirements, there are two more tactics that people should know about. First, applicants are advised to assess how fast they can learn the required skills that they don’t have yet. There are cases when companies might be willing to bend their requirements if they see a candidate’s willingness to learn.

Another thing one can do is see which of their current skills may be transferable to the job position they’re eyeing. For example, someone who’s worked in the press will have great communication and writing abilities that may be useful for other related fields.

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