4 Strategies For Securing Interviews When You Haven’t The Relevent Experience

“Sital, I’m applying for roles but employers are being so fussy in the current market - if I haven’t the exact experience they’re looking for, they reject me. Doing the same thing over and over again with the same rejections over and over again is so frustrating. What else can I do?”

“Sital, I’m trying to make a career change into a new area but can’t  secure interviews. I know I have the relevant skills and would do a great job, but they keep rejecting me because I’ve not got the experience. But how can I get the experience if they don’t give me a chance?!! Any ideas on a better approach?”

“Sital, I’m tring to make a change internally to a new function, but they won’t consider me because I haven’t the experience. But I know I’ve got the skills and would be much better than the people currently in those roles! What should I do?” 

 

Here’s what you should do;  follow these four strategies:

 1. Focus on results and achievements

 

If you’re trying to make a career change or shift into a new area, your resume/CV and the whole way you market yourself should be much more focused on what you can deliver and the benefits of your talents rather than your experience.

 

That means your ability to make an impact on commercial outcomes: sales, improvements in service levels, compliance and risk, employee engagement and retention, cost savings and time savings.

 

You can’t compete on experience so compete on results and the value add.

 

2. Focus on transferable skills

 

I made my first career change 10 years ago. I left the UK retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) to join a City recruitment consultancy specialising in financial services whilst having no track record in the same field. I had little experience of direct sales (which is a large part of a recruiter’s job) and didn’t really understand how financial services operated. So I did my research and identified the key skills needed to be a recruiter, and then ensured that my CV/resume showcased those skills from my M&S background.

And that’s exactly what you need to do if you haven’t the exact experience for a particular role. Focus on the transferable, portable skills and how they apply to the roles you’re applying for.

3. Focus on your values, attitude and personality

 

When I consult and advise organisations on recruiting the right talent, I urge them to focus their selection decisions on finding people with the right attitude, values and personality to fit into their teams rather than someone with the exact experience.  

 

Why? Because the success of a new recruit is based so much on the cultural fit into the team and organisation. If they don’t fit in, they won’t be effective or successful - regardless of how relevant their experience is.

 

So use that to your advantage by turning up the volume on you and your individual style rather than your experience.

 

“but how do you do that if you can’t get in to speak to them?”

 

You go by referral:

 

4. Go by referral  

 

If you’re trying to make a change into a new area and you’re spending all your time applying for jobs online or just applying to recruiters - you’re in for plenty of set-backs. Similarly, if you’re applying to internal roles just through the official application process and HR, then you’re likely to face more set-backs.

 

But when you get introduced by a contact, their relationship and their ability to sell points 1-3 above on your behalf can really help to get you into the interview room. For internal moves new areas, a strong informal relationship with decision makers in that new area is critical to securing interviews and roles. 

 

Alternatively, get a good recruiter/head hunter who knows you well to sell the benefits of 1-3 and convince their client to meet with you. When I made my move from M&S into recruitment, I was fortunate to have a fantastic recruitment-to-recruitment firm (who find jobs for recruiters) who found potential roles for me and convinced their clients that I was worth meeting.

 

But even then, I came into contact with this firm via a referral from one of their biggest clients. So, as you can see going by referral is the very best way to secure interviews.

 

Einstein once famously defined insanity as “…doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

 

If you’re going insane from hitting the same brick wall of rejection, maybe it’s time to change your strategy. These 4 strategies above would be a good start.

By Sital Ruparelia

Comments

[Jim Edwards]

Good article!

[Kingsley Tagbo, IT Career Coach]

One of the best ways to obtain job experience is to volunteer or take a short-term internship. Many bootstrapping startups cannot afford the employees they need and will gladly give you on-the-job training (and a reference) in exchange for your labor.

[Dan Eustace]

Hi Sital,

Fine topic and solid input.

Focus: results
By way of supporting you, provide examples where you come up to speed quickly and meet objectives in different disciplines.

Focus: referral
By way of supporting you, recognize that your references can be employees that you know at companies. Many quality companies have employee referral programs where it is their interest to find solid new hires that succeed.