Wellington Recent Grad Confirms Getting Job Experience Difficult When You Have No Job Experience

young woman with laptop at cafe

ROSEMARY ABBOTT | National

TOUGH GIG!

Hannah Fowler, 22, has hit a complete roadblock whilst applying for a marketing job she saw advertised on New Zealand’s Seek job website today.

It’s not because the Victoria University of Wellington marketing graduate isn’t capable of doing the position advertised, it is simply because she has absolutely zero experience in a marketing role listed on her CV to date. 

Sitting at a Cuba Street cafe with her laptop very visible to other cafe patrons, Fowler’s eyes lit up when she saw a ‘Marketing Assistant’ job advertised for a recent grad at a Lambton Quay start up.

Quickly clicking into the ad, Fowler’s confidence grew after seeing the first bullet point listed for the position.

“You have a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing or equivalent qualification,” she read, her eyes flashing as she mentally ticked that off, taking another sip of her soy latte.

But  she came crashing back down to earth a second later as the second bullet point crushed her dreams. 

“At least two years’ experience in a marketing support role is essential for this role.”

“Oh come on! How the hell does a recent grad get that?!” Fowler spat, nearly launching a mouthful of her soy latte onto our Whakataki Times reporter.

“No wait. How does anyone get job experience when nobody will actually hire you without experience!?” yelled the aspiring marketing executive.

As our reporters were about to suggest she ask the same company about any admin work that might be going, Fowler came to the conclusion that she would go for the job regardless of her lack of experience in a previous role.

“Well, it’s a longshot but I’m just going to have to hype up my key transferable skills as much as possible. But I can already hear the sniggers from HR when they read this CV and cover letter. Ughhh. I might as well go back to Uni and pointlessly do Honours.”

More to come.

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