Every job requires different skill sets, expertise, experience, knowledge all that jargon that we try to attain in order to be prepared to apply for a position.
What if I told you that the boldest move you could take was applying for a position that listed experience that you don’t have?
To be honest, I do this all the time and if we didn’t, we would never be prepared.
There is this toss-up between not knowing if you should take a risk for a position not completely prepared and wing it or wait until you are ready to retire to redeem yourself and finally apply.
As an entrepreneur and student, this is something I face a lot.
You could wait all your life to have the experience but you will be disappointed that you will never get there.
The hardest part is always starting and dealing with failure.
We are the best at creating hypothetical solutions, injuries, concerns, complaints, you name it we do it to get around a problem that we don’t want to fix.
We are stubborn and want things our way without realizing that work can be fun and a huge payoff in the long run.
That doesn’t mean burning yourself out.
It takes time and diligence to learn something, that’s all and everyone is capable of that.
The most comfortable route is where we are now and being uncomfortable is not where we want to go until we realize how much better and worthwhile it is for us in the long run.
A perfect example of not waiting until you have x amount of experience is Jessie Itzler, he founded one of the largest jet companies in the world, Marquis Jet, partner at Zico Coconut Watter, and was a rapper all before the age of 50, starting when he was a teen.
Now that can sound very ambitious and it is.
There is nothing wrong, absolutely nothing wrong with being average.
You set your goals realistically and depending on your financial situation, that is the best way to go.
For him, that seemed like a no-brainer and he couldn’t sit still.
You don’t have to do something that someone else did just becuase it worked out for them.
But my point is, life may seem short but it is also pretty long so go for it you have nothing to lose.
Okay, hold you horses, Mia.
So I apply for this position reading that I have to have 2 years of SQL, querying and database experience for my role and I’m only a freshman in college.
I want an internship but unable to get one because I need internship experience for it.
This is a loophole I see thousands of students go through including myself, every single year!
In college we practically pay for breaks.
We have 6 months of school and 6 months of winter, spring, weekends, and summer break combined which is even 20 days more than the amount of time we sit in a classroom.
That brings us to the question of what is college for?
Don’t worry, I’ll address that another time.
When you look at the experience required for the job and the amount of free time you have, especially as a student, there is a direct correlation with what you can do with that time.
Sure, you can get a job flipping burgers or stocking shelves at a brick and mortar store and although work experience is great, it won’t teach you as much as being stern with yourself and teaching you know, more skills.
Everyone has their own method in applying for companies and there’s this big hype around recruiting sessions during the fall.
If you want to know my method, let me know, it’s pretty simple just like me.
It’s a stressful time, especially on LinkedIn and we get upset mainly because we always want something we don’t have and compare ourselves, which puts us in the worst positions.
No matter what you do, you will never feel enough and that needs to stop.
Take action.
Nothing is preventing you and don’t blame it on not having enough money, time, support.
If Jessie had time to build a billion-dollar jet company as a millennial, you have time to get off Netflix and read the requirements of a job.
Yes, it is true.
If you don’t’ have the experience, by the first round you most likely will be kicked off by the AI, robotic application system since most companies receive hundreds of thousands of applications they simply don’t have time to go through each applicant so they screen your resume to reduce the pool.
Unfortunately, that’s the way it goes.
If it is a smaller firm or you have connections, it is an easier route for you, for sure.
More people are behind.
So utilize them if you know you don’t have the requirements down!
For my first and longest internship as a senior in HS, I interned at a Wall Street firm.
I wanted to gain practical real corporate experience before college and I intended on working there for 2 weeks commuting to the NYCity every day after school and ended up staying for 8 months!
You have to make sacrifices.
How I Got The Job:
-I volunteered there for the past few summers
-Stayed in close contact and by close contact that doesn’t mean giving someone your business card or resume and checking in with them when you need a position 5 years later. Stay in touch on a regular monthly basis instead.
Don’t worry they were in your position. They know the awkwardness of outreach!
Networking is between people.
Act like a person.
They will help you if you treat them right.
-They Googled Me
-Saw the projects I’ve done
And gave me a try!
A new employee, intern, volunteer is an investment.
Show you are one.
I was the youngest and longest intern at the firm.
I definitely wasn’t qualified for a college internship as a senior but I had the motivation, responsibility, patience, leadership, financial and digital basic knowledge, a fast learner to be able to help innovate upon the company and bring some young blood.
It was tough to start working the corporate life after school, commute, dress up, handle coffee meetings, and WebEx, but it was surely the greatest experience I’ve had, not because I knew the firm saw their investment.
I felt appreciated and to make sure you do, stay focused.
Have a goal in mind and make sure you add value to them.
Set up your hypothetical why’s. Pretend you are the interviewer.
They want to know your why and deliver it.
Provide something to them and they will provide it to you 10x more in return.
Enough with the rambling, now for the real skills.
Just to get started as a refresher, there are soft and hard skills.
Employers look for both.
Hard skills are acquired and show you are ready for a specific job.
A few include: SQL, JavaScript, Marketing, financial modeling, IT support and even making a recipe for a specific banana bread believe it or not!
And soft skills are learned over time.
You cannot cram them for a test the night before and are pertinent in any job.
Now they are actually valued more highly than hard skills.
Even companies now such as Goldman Sachs and Capital One don’t pay too much attention to your major as much as let’s say tech monopolies still do.
Showing an interest, curiosity, passion, humility, leadership, empathy, problem-solving, collaboration and especially, EQ, emotional intelligence are the strongest ones you can have.
As with any skill, you can never be perfect, especially with soft ones, except if it’s a cozy pillow.
Myths about these skills:
Hard skills: You have to be an introvert to have them
Soft skills: You have to be an extrovert, loud and clear
These are both wrong.
Everyone is able to achieve a balance of both.
We all are shyer in front of strangers than with our parents.
If we weren’t that means it would mean we don’t care about respecting other people and only focus on saying what we want to say.
So to learn hard and soft skills under 30 minutes is impossible.
Don’t worry, this is not clickbait!
I’m getting to it.
Where you can learn these skills take only 30 minutes a day and you will be ahead of most of the applicants, even though this is never a competition, only against yourself if you want it that way.
The right balance of both and ideally having more soft skills can be ideal since you do want to come across as human, not a robot.
At the end of the day, you want to work with someone who is able to communicate their problems and be able to work in a team effectively.
Being a genius only working in your cubicle and afraid to interact with your coworkers is still an asset to the team, but in the long run, won’t lead the company to achieve greater things since culture is not on point, cough cough Wells Fargo needs a check up on that at the moment.
So with these skills in mind and written on your resume in action-based form, you need to know how to prove your skills rather than just showing it.
Well, that’s what an interview is for!
Regardless of the questions, first impressions always count and can make or break you depending on how you act.
Even posture and eye contact matters.
It isn’t a skill but a habit that I lack sometimes myself!
Make sure you always have a smile on your face, portray enthusiasm and confidence, and prove that you want to contribute to the team.
Contribution means providing examples of what you have accomplished.
If a question such as, when was a time you worked in a team or what was your most impressive achievement, are great opportunities to showcase how you utilized the skills that they are looking for on the job requirements put to work!
Now for the drumroll, the most in-demand skills.
So according to LinkedIn, the Top 10 Hard Skills Are for 2019-2020:
Blockchain: To support cryptocurrency-move data across the internet used with Bitcoin
Cloud Computing: all companies are built on teh cloud. Theses skills help build the framework behind cloud infrastructure
Analytical Reasoning: understand stuff and make decisions
Artificial Intelligence: machine learning, robots turning into us to automate work for us humans
UX Design: wed design and software patterns in Adobe and Photoshop
Business Analysis: Excel and PowerPoint are the most used in this industry
Afifliate Marketing: Rise of social media-influencers
Sales: How to manage a team, sell the products needed and convince more and new buyers
Scientific Computing: Used by data scientists, engineers, and software programs include: MATLAB and Python
Video production: YouTube, iMovie that jazz
Top 5 Soft Skills:
Creativity
Persuasion
Collaboration
Adaptability
Emotional Intelligence: How to interact with employees and manage your own feelings to make wiser decisions and calm down
Now with our limited attention spans, this is where I plan on learning more and some of them I have already completed courses on!
And as always, I’m not famous enough to be sponsored so these are of course, not.
Coursera
LinkedIn Learning
EdX
Skillshare
These are the only ones I’ve used because they are free with student discounts and actually get to the point.
Education is the pathway to everything you want.
Please don’t strive to know it all and memorize them.
That won’t get you far.
Learn because you want to, practice because you can!
Companies will value you if you prove your worth and experience.
They want to see you as a person because realistically, they have training boot camps for a reason once you get hired.
There is only one you and someone is looking for your insight, leadership and knowledge you just have to go for it and take that leap.