Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Experience v. Passion


"you'd like to think we live in a world where passion and energy would mean something to an employer...but experience seems to be the old ball and chain bringing people together"

Gen Y makes a mark and their imprint is entrepreneurship sets the tone for this quote by yours truly this morning to dear ol' dad. I'm not flailing or discouraged, just frustrated.

  • Experts say these children of the baby-boom generation, also known as Gen Y or echo boomers, are taking to heart a desire for the kind of work-life balance their parents didn't have.

I am part of a generation that has a certain passion for work (and life) that many of the people (get ready for a sweeping generalization) who are hiring entry-level youngsters aren't accustomed to in their own career.

When the job brief states "2 years (or more) of agency experience," it's a barrier to entry. It's meant to weed out the weak candidates. I'm still standing. Just a bit frustrated.

2 comments:

LB said...

Don't be discouraged....I would hire you without experience!

Unknown said...

Oh hell yeah, the 2 years of job experience has hounded and haunted me as there's almost no way to get a foot into the damn door.

I applied for a position at OHSU, for Multimedia related stuff. They want experience in a hospital environment or eduction (Got that) environment and a Bachelor's in Multimedia. Its not the "perfect" fit but its exactly in the scope of my degree and skillset, I only have about a year's worth of experience and of course they want "2 years". I applied but I'll probably yet again not even get a foot in the door because of the age old experience barrier. Part of my yearning to get Master's is so I can by pass two years of job experience at a lousy job and student bills as I've noticed that a Grad school degree seems to be the the loophole clause, "Or a Master's a degree" substituting for said experience.