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As someone who stands to lose their job in the coming month, articles like this highlight what I find frustrating about the job market. The vast majority of employers seem to be looking for people who do not exist. Ever noticed the amount of job ads that have the word “Senior” in the title, or ask for 10-15 years experience? Apparently there is a severe shortage of people who are experienced in their careers. All the experienced people must be so highly valued, and therefore highly paid that they never enter the job market.
What this leaves for the rest of us are positions that we have no chance at filling. Think how often you see a job advertised as “entry level”. Of the ones you have seen, how many were for sales? Probably all of them. So what can you do? Todd Bavol, the Job Search Ninja has some advice for college graduates which I think also works well for those with less than 15 years in a specific career. The item that really catches my attention is volunteering. There are always volunteer opportunities available. This seems to be a great way to gain experience and network all at the same time.
If a company wont hire you because you don’t have enough experience in the field, find a volunteer position that performs some of the same skill sets. This shows potential employers that you are learning and bettering yourself while being unemployed, and its building the experience that you need. It also allows you to network and interact with people who could help you down the road in securing a job. I am no career coach but this is what I would do if I were me ; )
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October 9, 2009 1:09 pm
I’d have liked to believe that “senior” professionals are really sought after. And they sure were, until a little while back.
But during this recession, I saw a unique phenomena: of senior pros with 12 to 15 years of experience losing their jobs to less-experienced people with lesser pay.
October 9, 2009 1:15 pm
This is in the same vein as this post by Bob Lotich:
http://www.brazencareerist.com/2009/10/07/job-vacancies-with-15-million-...
I've been seeing the same thing while helping my boyfriend search for jobs. See a job posting...read through it...think your skills match, and then they want 10-15 years experience.
October 9, 2009 1:19 pm
After reading the article you linked in your blog post, it seems like now is a good time to be an engineer.
As a person who is always keeping an eye out for new opportunities, there appear to be many job openings for the 'Senior' professionals with over 10 years of experience.
The more difficult problem appears when the job description calls for 10 years of management experience because many engineers begin their careers in a technical function and do not begin to gain managerial and leadership responsibilities until they have established their technical credibility. So in reality, they are really looking for professionals with MORE than 10 years experience in those cases.
I do like your suggestion for people to find volunteer opportunities that allow you to build those leadership skills that would be required to obtain such 'senior' level positions. I do just that. I work in a technical function at my company fulltime but I am very involved with volunteer organizations in my free time to build my leadership skills. So far, I have not tried to leverage this experience to obtain a senior position but the time is coming.
Susie
October 9, 2009 4:09 pm
@Mugdha V.: What that means is that there now are people who have been downsized and have that level of experience, so companies can prioritize them in their job searches. I'm not sure that's new, since I remember facing that in the early 1990s when I was looking for my first job. And I understood it--why would a company hire me when they could get someone with experience for the same money (or close to it)?
What I decided, though, was that I would apply for jobs that specified 3-5 years of experience. For many (but not all) jobs, these specifications are aspirational, not hard-and-fast requirements.
In fact, I got my first job that way. I applied for one position and was told that while I didn't have the experience needed for that, they did have a lower-level position opening up, and that I could be a candidate for that if I wanted to pursue it. I did, and I got the job.
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Grad School Zone
UVA (Darden) MBA Admissions Deadlines for 2010-2011
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The University of Virginia's Darden School of Business recently published its application deadlines for the coming admissions season. Here they are, followed by our comments in italics:
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