To get a job you need experience, but to get experience you need a job. Training, volunteer work, and self-employment can help to bridge the gap initially.

I used to teach part of a year-long adult-education course in full stack web development. The government would fund people for a year to take the course and at the end they were expected to get a job. We crammed a lot into that year, and as with any undertaking, people largely got out of it what they put into it. Some people were very successful.

At the end of the course, my students found themselves in a catch-22 situation: to get a job they needed experience, but to get experience they needed a job. We helped them out by helping them build portfolios, which we hosted on our website, and by helping them get them temporary intern positions (essentially volunteer work) while they were still supported by our program. Two months of our program were devoted specifically for work experience.

Our program ended over a decade ago, but this is still an approach you can take if you’re starting out in a new career. Volunteer work or self-employment can help you get the experience you need to get a new job. The best time to switch to a new IT career, therefore, is while you’re still working at your old job. This way you can support yourself while you learn and apply your new skills. If you’re still in school, volunteer to be a tutor or to take part in research. Take any co-operative employment you can get.

The Cost of Admission to IT is Usually Low

Most development software is free (as in free beer). If you have a computer you can install it at no charge. This gives you a chance to practice your skills and to build sample projects that demonstrate your abilities. Likewise, web services like AWS have entry-level tiers that provide web hosting for no cost (with barely enough bandwidth for a portfolio site). A public GitHub account is also free. You can store your source-code on GitHub and put the URLs for that and your portfolio right in your resume.

What About Your Resume?

The sad truth is that the first people who will read your resume will be computer-illiterate. They will be looking for keywords for skills and technologies. That’s not to say that you can just dump a bunch of keywords into your resume and get a job, but these people are the gate-keepers to the real decision makers. No one at this point is going to be looking at your portfolio or GitHub account.

You could put a “Skills” section in your resume and list your skills there. That way the HR gate keepers will find them and you might get through to the next step. It’s much better, though, to list your skills in the “Work Experience” section of your resume. Volunteer work and paid work are both valid experience. You can also list skills under “Education”, but but in my opinion experience is what will get you a job. That should always be your focus. Of course you should also be as truthful as possible when you list your skills.

Your resume will get you a first interview, and how you do there will determine if you get a second. When it comes down to making a final decision between you and a small number of other candidates is when your portfolio and your GitHub account will come into play. They will give you an edge over other candidates who don’t have similar advantages.

Conclusion

So yes, there is an experience catch-22 when changing careers (or when starting out). From what I saw over the 15 years I was a trainer, volunteer work can make up the gap when you haven’t had an actual job. Therefore, if you’re planning on changing careers (or if you’re in IT and you want to change your technology stack) it’s better to lay the groundwork while you’re still employed in your old career.

Categories: Work

Tags: side-gigs, Work