Anyone feel like they're not qualified for anything?

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DavidK
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05 Aug 2009, 11:31 am

Even the lower-paid jobs are asking for relevant experience now. Right down to jobs like working in a fish and chip shop, or packing fruit on a production line.


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gbollard
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05 Aug 2009, 4:30 pm

DavidK wrote:
Even the lower-paid jobs are asking for relevant experience now. Right down to jobs like working in a fish and chip shop, or packing fruit on a production line.


Make it up.

The worst that can happen is that you get fired.



DW_a_mom
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06 Aug 2009, 12:14 pm

I'd be more for re-coloring the truth. If you are fast and concise in packing a suitcase, for example, that might show good skills for an assembly line. And so on. Mom's go through this all the time when they try to go back to work after being "home" for years. What skills do they have? PLENTY. Multi-tasking, organization, diplomacy, and so on. Take a look at what you are good at in real life, that you have done, and see how it fits in with the skills needed for the job.


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gbollard
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06 Aug 2009, 4:33 pm

DW_a_mom wrote:
I'd be more for re-coloring the truth. If you are fast and concise in packing a suitcase, for example, that might show good skills for an assembly line. And so on. Mom's go through this all the time when they try to go back to work after being "home" for years. What skills do they have? PLENTY. Multi-tasking, organization, diplomacy, and so on. Take a look at what you are good at in real life, that you have done, and see how it fits in with the skills needed for the job.


It is still "making it up" though.

It makes sense to require a degree to be a doctor but not for many other jobs. It's important to know how to work a computer when going for a secretarial job (and typing speed is important too) but it doesn't matter if you've got Word 97, 2003 or OpenOffice experience. You can easily figure out how to move from one system to another.

Don't admit to lacking experience - you can be sure that none of the other candidates have.

I used to only go for jobs if I had every single bit of experience requested. My current (10 years) job was like that. During the interview I was asked why I was the only candidate who had all the experience (most only had 50% of the required experience) and I couldn't answer. I'm sure the CEO thought that I was lying about my experience. Now I know better, it was the OCD comorbid or my aspergers that was talking.



Jkid
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06 Aug 2009, 8:29 pm

I have the same feeling. At every work-study job I look at I see qualifications that they require that I simply don't have, even in jobs I could do.



C-57D
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07 Aug 2009, 1:40 am

I spent my post-school years doing minimum wage work - short-term contracts on the good stuff, but also things like retail, pubs, that kind of thing. Then I lucked out and ended up running a comic shop for three years, but it was still minimum wage and the business was dying. So I went to university and got a degree. I applied to the civil service graduate scheme and passed all the selection aptitude tests, though in the end I got a job with them that wasn't on the graduate scheme.

And nearly a year into the job, I still tell myself that they're going to find out they've got the wrong guy and fire me. I keep thinking "What do I know about this? I'm the guy who sells comics!"

Moral of the story - if you've proved you can do it, have a little confidence. I bluff, but when I'm having a good day, I have a REALLY good day. It's only the occasional bit of self-doubt that spoils it.


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