How do I go about getting work experience?

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tardtasticx

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#75974 27-Jan-2011 00:00

I've applied for about 20 different jobs, most of them to do with answering phones / customer interaction etc.. and because I've never worked in retail or been a CSR, 3 jobs have only replied to me. All were saying I wasn't experienced enough, the rest didn't reply at all (2 of the replies were from Vodafone and the other was from the warehouse I think, so big ups there, even if it isn't good news). So if I need experience to get a job, how do I get experience if I can't get a job due to that reason? Parents suggested offering to work for free at places, but none of them have options to enter comments or something.

Cheers in advance

Regs

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Snowflake

#431631 27-Jan-2011 00:04

go door knocking and offer to work for free or as intern.

its a tight job market for entry level workers, so you might find it tougher with no experience.

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robbyp

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#431635 27-Jan-2011 00:08

tardtasticx: I've applied for about 20 different jobs, most of them to do with answering phones / customer interaction etc.. and because I've never worked in retail or been a CSR, 3 jobs have only replied to me. All were saying I wasn't experienced enough, the rest didn't reply at all (2 of the replies were from Vodafone and the other was from the warehouse I think, so big ups there, even if it isn't good news). So if I need experience to get a job, how do I get experience if I can't get a job due to that reason? Parents suggested offering to work for free at places, but none of them have options to enter comments or something.

Cheers in advance

Don't offer to work for free, as I think it shows to an employer that you don't value what you do. Due to the new labour laws, they can get rid of you easy enough these days, if you aren't what they are after. Getting a job can be largely about who you know, and them saying you aren't experienced enough is I think is just an excuse, because they could easily train you. Just keep applying and you will find something, and it is good experience in itself. Just don't get into the mindset that you will never find anything, because it isn't true. This recession however will make it a lot harder, as people aren't really hiring.

tardtasticx

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#431640 27-Jan-2011 00:20

Regs: go door knocking and offer to work for free or as intern.

its a tight job market for entry level workers, so you might find it tougher with no experience.

Ohk, start tomorrow then. Do you think many places would accept?

tardtasticx

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#431642 27-Jan-2011 00:22

robbyp:
tardtasticx: I've applied for about 20 different jobs, most of them to do with answering phones / customer interaction etc.. and because I've never worked in retail or been a CSR, 3 jobs have only replied to me. All were saying I wasn't experienced enough, the rest didn't reply at all (2 of the replies were from Vodafone and the other was from the warehouse I think, so big ups there, even if it isn't good news). So if I need experience to get a job, how do I get experience if I can't get a job due to that reason? Parents suggested offering to work for free at places, but none of them have options to enter comments or something.

Cheers in advance

Don't offer to work for free, as I think it shows to an employer that you don't value what you do. Due to the new labour laws, they can get rid of you easy enough these days, if you aren't what they are after. Getting a job can be largely about who you know, and them saying you aren't experienced enough is I think is just an excuse, because they could easily train you. Just keep applying and you will find something, and it is good experience in itself. Just don't get into the mindset that you will never find anything, because it isn't true. This recession however will make it a lot harder, as people aren't really hiring.

Yeh thats true. I'm still gonna keep applying for jobs no matter what, even my dad finds it hard because he wants to leave his job that he hates, and hes worked at so many different places, some not even related to engineering, but not many places are offering jobs to suit.

Regs

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Snowflake

#431646 27-Jan-2011 00:28

tardtasticx:
Regs: go door knocking and offer to work for free or as intern.

its a tight job market for entry level workers, so you might find it tougher with no experience.

Ohk, start tomorrow then. Do you think many places would accept?

if you present well, show that you are eager and a hard worker, and can speak english well then thats going to be a good start. door knocking shows initiative and that you're seriously looking. none of those qualities are obvious in an email or online application. who knows, you door knock somewhere and they may even have an opening that they havent yet listed, or something you never thought of doing but that might suit. i got my first couple of 'pre-career' jobs door-knocking

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robbyp

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#431650 27-Jan-2011 00:42

Regs:
tardtasticx:
Regs: go door knocking and offer to work for free or as intern.

its a tight job market for entry level workers, so you might find it tougher with no experience.

Ohk, start tomorrow then. Do you think many places would accept?

if you present well, show that you are eager and a hard worker, and can speak english well then thats going to be a good start. door knocking shows initiative and that you're seriously looking. none of those qualities are obvious in an email or online application. who knows, you door knock somewhere and they may even have an opening that they havent yet listed, or something you never thought of doing but that might suit. i got my first couple of 'pre-career' jobs door-knocking

Same here, I just walked into a retail chain when I was looking for a summer job, and they said they woudl hire me . Some retailers however can be rude. These days I do the hiring.

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LookingUp

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#431669 27-Jan-2011 08:36

I'm with Regs on this one - the way to differentiate yourself from others is to present in person. Be prepared for lots of rejection though, but don't take it personally - it's a tough world out there and it may take time to just happen to be in the right place at the right moment.

The "work for free" thing is a toughie, and I don't necessarily agree that it undervalues your worth. What it says to me (as an employer) is that this person backs themselves sufficiently to invest their own time into work on the basis that they believe they'll prove themselves. The flipside is that those working for free can cop some flack from paid employees, as they may see it as a threat to the stability of their role, so be prepared for that. Also be wary of those that are just looking for a bit of free help, but if nothing else, you will get some experience out of it.

I wish you all the best of luck, and look forward to hearing how you get on.

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#431686 27-Jan-2011 09:13

tardtasticx: I've applied for about 20 different jobs, most of them to do with answering phones / customer interaction etc.. and because I've never worked in retail or been a CSR, 3 jobs have only replied to me. All were saying I wasn't experienced enough, the rest didn't reply at all (2 of the replies were from Vodafone and the other was from the warehouse I think, so big ups there, even if it isn't good news). So if I need experience to get a job, how do I get experience if I can't get a job due to that reason? Parents suggested offering to work for free at places, but none of them have options to enter comments or something.

Cheers in advance

What sort of work/experience are you actually after ?

XPD / Gavin

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ieatservers

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#431763 27-Jan-2011 11:43

Google some local companies that you would like to work for and email them and ask if you could do some work experience, it worked for me!! in IT.

gzt

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#431783 27-Jan-2011 12:28

+1 on the door-knocking/email suggestions. You get to talk to a lot of people you would not otherwise meet and get a lot of helpful advice and pointers along the way, leading to a lot of opportunities.

It will definitely work so use your effort wisely - If you have a career/study path in mind, and you are prepared to put this kind of effort in, go for something around your field of interest.

There is a difference between interning and working for free.

Interning is a relationship where it is understood you will be picking up skills and learning from more experienced people while offering something in return. Eg; If you are actually helping someone out with their job and you are learning something (which could just be familiarity with the environment) at the same time.

I worked for a large corporation where we talked about this kind of thing a couple of times and made initial contact with educational institutions to indicate interest but didn't get much response. Starting from our end quite a bit of effort would have been required to set something up and define the parameters. If someone had walked in and proposed something to us - it would have been accepted.

For instance, in support this might involve helping an engineer with their job by spending the grunt time installing and recreating application and o/s conditions (or configuring hardware) needed before a particular support problem can be examined.