If you're new to the workforce you're all too familiar with the word experience because you don't have any; but, you need some to get your foot in the door.
This same problem can occur when you go from being a one person contributor to applying for jobs that involve managing people. Many companies don't want to take a risk on a rookie manager.
There's hope for your experience problem and in this article I will give you the advice I wish I'd received. Let's get you the opportunity to gain that invaluable experience.
The Entry Level Dilemma
You've just graduated and have zero experience, plus you have this label that is also repulsing companies. You're a millennial or generation Z. While millennials take up 30% of the workforce and by 2020 will make up 46% of it, they still have a bad reputation that makes getting jobs difficult. And with the reputation of generation Z being equally as harsh the mountain climbing that is finding a job just got steeper.
Eat a slice of humble pie. I believe confidence is important but when you're trying to land your first job humble is the name of the game. As Patrick Lencioni talks about in his Ideal Team Player model,
"Ideal team players are humble. They lack excessive ego or concerns about status. Humble people are quick to point out the contributions of others and slow to seek attention for their own. They share credit, emphasize team over self and define success collectively rather than individually."
Remain humble about your abilities and how you can't wait to be a contributing member of the team.
Make eye contact. Yes, I just repeated what your grandmother always said but this skill is quickly disappearing from the mainstream. As Forbes Magazine reports, "Too little (eye contact) can make you appear uneasy, unprepared, and insincere."
On the other hand, don't stare your potential employer down either. You don't want to seem like you're about to rob them. As Forbes states, "As a general rule...direct eye contact ranging from 30% to 60% of the time during a conversation - more when you are listening, less when you are speaking - should make for a comfortable productive atmosphere."
Ask questions that you can't find the answers to on a Google search. I caught you! You were about to ask how many employees work for X company weren't you? DON'T!! Instead ask something personal such as "Can you walk me through a typical day for you in the office?" or "If I'm hired what will the first 90 days look like, where would you like me to be at 180 days?"
You've just made the hiring manager think and any hiring manager worth his/her salt loves questions that require more than a one word answer.
Talk about how excited you are for THIS job. I've interviewed many entry level candidates that go into their longterm plan of managing people and running companies. One interviewee compared themselves to Mark Zuckerberg (you can't make this up). While your ambition may be high, remember, in order to make it to the next level (or be the next Zuckerberg) you need to master the current role you're about to be paid to do. Show enthusiasm for this learning opportunity because that's exactly what it is, an amazing chance to learn and grow your hard and soft skills.
The New Manager Dilemma
You've put in the time as a one man (or one woman) show. You have awards, promotions and now it's time to lead a team but you can't seem to get that position without experience.
Give examples of leadership in your life. Since you haven't had the experience of leading a professional team dig deep in your past and think of a time you lead a project, graduate school group or even moved up to management in a part-time job. These all demonstrate your capabilities to make hard decisions under time and work pressures (the life of a manager).
When have you thought outside the box? In my undergraduate program I was unhappy one semester with a grade I made. I decided to email the teacher and schedule meeting to discuss exactly what lead to the B. Kindly listening to the professor and pleading my case I was able to move to a B+. I did this with another professor, and another. Some moves were up As, just because I asked! Can you think of a situation in your life where you chose to step back and think through other possibilities to a problem? If you share a real life story like this it demonstrates your problem solving ability, a highly coveted skill in the land of management.
Think longterm. While I told you as an entry level candidate to tone this down, with experience under your belt it's time to demonstrate longterm thinking. Where you want to take this role and how you will teach your team in the next year? In the same vein, the 90 day plan you asked for as an entry level applicant will also reverse. Present your 90 day plan for your new management role. Taking initiative and showing you know how to see the forest AND the trees will win over your new boss.
Get the lay of the land. Once upon a time I too was a rookie manager. I was lucky enough to have Scott Huddle take a chance on me. I do see why hiring green managers is problematic though. Without the correct leadership guidance that I received from Scott I could have made some disastrous mistakes. Let's be honest, I still made mistakes of the disastrous variety but Scott was there to help pick up the pieces, shield me from the higher ups and teach me the lesson in the blunder.
I was also lucky that my first employee, David Korley was (and still is) a dream employee. Dave was the type of employee you had to tell to go home. He worked too much. (I told you he was a dream)
I tell these stories because you need to know what you're walking into. Do you have supportive leadership and an amazingly cooperative team or absent leadership and a disengaged team? As an emerging leader you need the former to get your feet wet. If you are on the fence about the support you'll receive and the team you're walking into don't take the role. It takes a village to raise a leader and you don't want to be raised by the village idiots.