Employment a Requirement for Hiring?

CC by Caro Wallis

My last blog post was about my frustration with the vicious cycle of employers not giving the chance to gain experience because you don’t have experience. To make matters worse, an article on Yahoo! claims that recently, a popular requirement to get hired by a lot of employers out there is that you need to be currently employed. Throw them a bone, people! It just so happens that my boss is one of these employers who are turned off by an applicant who is unemployed. She’s explained before that she thinks they’ve just been out of the loop too long and have lost their motivation and work sense. Maybe there’s some truth to what she’s saying…but it seems like self-defeat for our economy.

A Vicious Cycle: Trying to Gain Experience

CC by isazappy

When I was first trying to get my break on the creative side of the advertising industry, I quickly learned that people would only consider hiring someone with experience. And I understand why. You can’t trust me to execute creative work that will get results or impress the client if I have absolutely no experience.

But how is one supposed to gain experience if no one will hire them?
It’s a vicious cycle. I took the first job I could get, which was a position as an Account Executive. I was told I could eventually make a switch over to the creative side whenever there was an opening or as I learned the ropes along the way. DO NOT fall for that.

I don’t think they were deliberately lying to me. I just don’t think they thought it through. The longer I was an Account Executive, the deeper my roots were being grounded there. Aside from the fact that I was learning the system and getting better at my role, I also had my own clients. It is only natural that my bosses would not want to end that relationship that i built with my clients and have them switched over to a whole new Account Executive who they did not know. I finally had to resign when I saw that a job in the Creative Department was not in my future there.

How I Finally Started Gaining Experience
I applied to every job posting on all the job search engines and sent out a personalized email to every Advertising agency in Miami. I got nothing. Finally, as I started to reach the end of my list of Advertising agencies to contact, I decided to take a different approach. I needed to offer myself as an intern. I would not specify whether I wanted a paid or unpaid internship (let people offer money if they wanted to). I simply said that I lacked experience and hoped to gain some by interning at their agency. Within a week I had to decide between two different job offers. Both were paid but one paid slightly less and was further than the other. I started working as an Intern Junior Copywriter and after 1 month, I was hired as a full-time employee.

Did you have to find a way around the obstacle of needing experience for your type of work?