Dear employers,
We, the job-seekers, are asked for far too much experience that we simply cannot provide, and why? Because other employers are like you and demand the same experience.
So, where does it start, and where does it end?
If you think those looking for an internship or entry-level job are going to know that either position requires some experience in a similar field of work, then these positions should really be called something else. Why not just call them associate-level (or beyond) and skip out on internships and entry-level positions altogether?
You have no idea what you're missing out on if you keep limiting your choices like this.
Do you how hard it is for us? The job-seekers, in my case, the millennials (AKA the "burnout generation" because of how, you know, we keep overworking and burning ourselves out trying to please you), and even the generation that comes right after us, those just starting out in the workforce, all subjected to suffer and scavenge for bread crumbs at low-paying, part-time, or even odd jobs that have nothing to do with what we really want. Why? Because the jobs we want expect so much that we can't deliver, can't put down on a resume.
Where does it start, and where does it end?
Trust us when we say that we would love to have all that experience you've been looking for in applicants. To acquire all those skills, to get that starting point that we've all been looking for. If only someone were kind enough and willing to give all that to us.
Not just for nothing, no. For our hard work, for our unconditional dedication, for our capability to learn and to grow and to climb higher and higher on the corporate ladder. Yes, we all need the money – who doesn't? – but if some of us were willing to come in without a paycheck, to just come for the experience, even if it costs them a hefty ticket to do it, then those are the ones who deserve the most praise, who one day should get the paycheck they've been searching for.
So let's break this cycle you keep putting us in. The one where you have us chasing our tails around when it's close to a lost cause. And I say close because some employers are generous enough to take on diligent workers like many, if not most of us – yes, I know, not all – ready to start making a living for ourselves, which brings me back to my point:
We all need to start somewhere.
When you say that "experience gets experience," it's a paradox so ridiculous and so complex to us that it downright doesn't make any sense, to anyone for that matter. But when you finally put an end to the circle of employment frustration, stop discouraging us from ever working at all, then we can finally get somewhere, and we'll get you that experience you keep asking for.
