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by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.

Taken from "The Career Doctor’s Cures & Remedies". This article is part of a series from The Career Doctor's Cures & Remedies to Quintessentially Perplexing Career and Job-Hunting Ailments. Read more.

Okay, so maybe it’s a little unfair, but you still need to deal with the fact that employers are looking for all job-seekers to have some amount of experience -- even for those "entry-level" positions.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Randall S. Hansen is a nationally recognized career and job-search expert. He is currently Webmaster of Quintessential Careers, as well as publisher of its electronic newsletter, QuintZine. He writes a biweekly career advice column under the name, The Career Doctor. Dr. Hansen is a certified electronic career coach. He is also a tenured, associate professor of marketing in the School of Business Administration at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida. He is an author and presenter of hundreds of publications and papers. He is co-author, with Katharine Hansen, of the top-selling Dynamic Cover Letters. And he has been an employer and consultant dealing with hiring and firing decisions for the past fifteen years. His opinions and comments are often quoted in the media. Read more about Dr. Hansen. He can be reached at randall@quintcareers.com.

Tips on gaining work experience

From Randall Hansen, Ph.D.

All the employers we’ve talked to recently about college graduates stress the importance of experience. These employers want college grads who not only have the educational background, but have one or more types of work experiences.

Here are the types of experiences college students can expect to have:

• Internships. One of the best types of work experiences. Internships involve working part-time in your expected career field, either during one of the semesters or over the summer. Besides gaining valuable experience, you get exposed to the business environment and gain valuable references and people for your network. You can find more information and resources at Quintessential Careers: Internship Resources.
• Summer Jobs. These jobs are not always in your field of interest and may even seem to be simply a way of saving money for school, but having any kind of work experience is valuable and many offer transferable skills that carry over to other jobs. You can read more about summer jobs and find links to top summer job Web sites at: How to Find a Summer Job.
• Campus Jobs (work-study). Many students simply see work-study as a form of financial aid, but you can make the most of your experiences by identifying key skills you use on the job.
• Entrepreneurial/self-employed jobs: a growing number of students have started their own businesses - whether traditional ones, such as lawn maintenance business or emerging ones, such as a Web-based business. Make sure to include these on your resume.
• Temporary Work. Some students work for temporary agencies doing a variety of work. Where you’ve done professional work or work with good transferable skills, make sure to include it on your resume. See our Temporary Employment Jobs.
• Volunteer work -- school, church, club, not-for-profit organizations: working for one of these groups can be a win-win, where you are helping out your community and you can be gaining valuable skills and experience.
• Research Papers/Projects. Especially if you do not have a lot of work experience, don’t rule out the experience related to senior theses, term papers, and group projects.
• Certification Courses. Many industries, such as technology, offer special certifications, which can add experience for you as well as add value to you as a potential employee.
• Campus Activity Positions. Key experiences -- especially leadership positions -- you had in various campus organizations should be included on your resume.
• Fraternity/Sorority/Social Club Positions. If you’ve held important leadership roles or been involved in a major project(s), you should list these on your resume.
• Extracurricular or Sports Leadership Positions. Some employers look specifically for athletic experiences because of the belief that being an athlete helps build teamworking and leadership skills.