With the increase of professional competitiveness for graduates and Gen Z’s, also comes the increase of questioning what employers deem to be desirable attributes and skills to be considered as potential candidates. With some young aspiring professionals either not having enough or any work experience, it creates a stronger element of competitiveness and an increase in what will make a candidate different from all the rest.
An individual with no work experience may think of themselves to be ill-equipped for the job that they are applying for and even more so if they are unsure about what field of work they wish to go in to. In terms of not having had enough work experience for what the job role demands, there are ways to better advance your skills and knowledge.
When applying for a job role, it might be worth considering tailoring your CV so that it escorts the job role. For example, if applying for a job in finance, advocating your skills in analysis and or having excellent communication skills may aid you in reaching the next step in the application process. Additionally, other skills for a job role can be attained online via completing free courses in order to gain a qualification. Websites such as Oxford Home Study can facilitate a candidate in gaining a qualification for the industry of interest as well as furthering their knowledge and in turn, catching the eye of the employer.
On the contrary, there may be graduates and young professionals who are unsure about what kind of work and or industry they want to go into. In the instance that this is the case, analysing your strengths and what you are good at may better advance your compatibility with job roles and employers. Being able to demonstrate what you excel in could potentially indicate to the employer an intuitive sense of self-awareness which can translate into aiding a candidate in analysing reports for example.
Another aspect of job compatibility is being qualified for the job but not being qualified for the job. This is referring to having the skills and experience ‘on paper’ but not possessing skills that enable interpersonal work relationships. It could be argued that companies and employers are beginning to pay more attention to the personalities of budding candidates and what they can bring to the company to set themselves apart.
An article written in 2013 by Dan Schawbel for Forbes illustrated this talking about his work experience earlier in his career. Schawbel mentioned the importance of making good career choices early on but also shed some light on the importance of building relationships in order to excel and widen the pool for professional growth; all of which can contribute to being more desirable by the next firm at your next career stop.
The tech-world is a seemingly difficult and an intimidating field of interest for many young budding professionals. However, as intimidating as one may perceive it, there are a number of things which can be done in order to aid Gen Z’s and millennials in the application process. There are websites such as ‘Code first Girls’ and ‘Khan Academy’ which can facilitate in alleviating the factor of no work experience when applying for tech jobs. Besides the general skills (excellent communication etc), tech firms are also looking for individuals who are overly familiar with JavaScript and have an understanding of software development. Said software development includes IOS application development as well as applications accessible through Android.
Conclusively, although it is acknowledged that certain areas of employment require substantial work experience and a vast amount of knowledge, it can be noted that there are more accessible ways of attaining skills and knowledge specific to the job or career the individual is interested in. Additionally, promoting your personality and acknowledging strengths and weaknesses can aid in being viewed as a fitting candidate by employers as potential harnessed and built upon. However, it is worth noting the importance of having communicative traits as this can assist an individual in creating rapports and interpersonal relationships with colleagues.
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