A few years ago, when I was trying to change careers, I started going to interviews after earning the required certificate. And all three of my first interviews — the very first ones I’d ever been invited to — were failures.
The first interview fell through because they told me I didn’t have experience. That’s pretty typical for people switching fields. Everyone looks at your résumé and asks, “Why do you think you can work in this new profession?”
But I took something important away from that interview. Instead of getting upset and thinking, “How am I supposed to get experience if I’m changing careers?”, I asked: “Under what conditions would you consider my application and hire me?”
She said, “If you had experience.”
So I asked, “How would you suggest I get it?”
And this woman — the interviewer and the centre director — gave me very good advice: look for work when others find it inconvenient, like weekends or evenings.
A few months later, I went through another interview. They asked me why I had a gap in my employment history. I mumbled something unclear because I wasn’t prepared for the question. I said that sometimes I just like changing jobs. Obviously, that was the wrong answer. Later, I thought about what I should have said. And again I asked her why I failed the interview. She said they were looking for someone who’d been in the same role for more than three years.
I didn’t pass the third interview either. It was a panel, and they asked very specific questions about how I handle stress. And I wasn’t ready for that, either.
What’s the point of all this?
After gathering all these failures, I was finally able to solve the gaps I had — and I held on tightly to the golden insight from the first interview. Within a year, I found weekend work — Saturday shifts and evenings. That was my first job in the new field.
I’ll tell you next time how I got that job with no experience.
Get my interview guide here 👇🏻
