At 24, with a bachelor’s degree and no full-time job, this Reddit user did not frame their situation as a labour-market puzzle. They framed it as a dead end.“Nobody is hiring me,” they wrote. “I have no experience. How do I get a job to get experience if every position requires experience?”The post struck a nerve because it captures a problem many young graduates recognise but rarely articulate without shame. “All my friends have jobs and it’s so embarrassing for me to be the odd one out,” the user added.
“Guess I’ll be living with my parents forever now.”This sense of personal failure often hides a structural issue. Entry-level hiring has narrowed. Job descriptions demand experience even for junior roles. Internships are unevenly paid or unpaid. And degrees, especially in the social sciences, are frequently sold to teenagers without a clear explanation of how employers actually read them later.
What Harvard-backed career guidance shows, however, is that “no experience” rarely means what candidates think it means. And it is not the same thing as having no value.
What employers mean by “no experience”
In most cases, a lack of experience simply means a candidate has not held a similar job before. It does not mean they bring nothing to the workplace.According to Harvard students and recent graduates often underestimate the skills they have already built through coursework, group projects, volunteering, internships, gig work, or leadership roles.Employers hiring for entry-level roles know this. What they screen for instead is whether a candidate can learn, communicate, and show up consistently.That matters for candidates like the Reddit user, who wrote that online gig work is “the only thing I can put on my resume” and that it “doesn’t exactly count as experience.” In reality, it often does, if framed correctly.
Why entry-level jobs still ask for experience
Entry-level does not mean zero expectations. These roles are designed as training positions, but employers still want signals of reliability and skill transfer.According to Harvard, employers consistently look for ambition, communication skills, dependability, willingness to learn, teamwork, and a basic level of professionalism. None of these traits require a formal job title to develop. They require evidence.This is where many applicants fall short. They apply broadly but describe themselves narrowly, listing job titles instead of capabilities. When rejections follow, it feels personal. “I’ve applied to everything and it’s nothing but rejection after rejection,” the Reddit user wrote.
Reframing inexperience as an asset
One counterintuitive strategy Harvard emphasises is not hiding inexperience but naming it. Employers hiring junior staff expect gaps. What they want is clarity about how a candidate will close them.Coursework can be framed as project experience. Gig work can be framed as client management, deadlines, and self-direction. Volunteer roles can be framed as operations, coordination, or communication.Cover letters matter here. They are not meant to apologise for a thin resume. They are meant to explain how existing skills translate to the role. Brief personal examples can show work ethic and learning ability more clearly than generic enthusiasm.
Skills before credentials
Another recurring theme in Harvard’s guidance is skill alignment. Many entry-level job postings cluster around a small set of tools and competencies. Spreadsheet software, basic data handling, writing, social media management, research, and presentation skills appear repeatedly across industries.Rather than applying blindly, candidates are advised to identify these patterns and close gaps deliberately.
Short courses, certifications, and internships can substitute for formal experience in many fields. A 2019 study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that more than 70 percent of internships led to job offers.This matters for graduates who regret their degree choice. A social science background does not disqualify someone from technical or applied roles if they can demonstrate relevant skills.
Networking without privilege
The Reddit user mentioned that even a referral from “my dad’s friend” did not lead to a job. That experience highlights a misconception about networking. Referrals help only when paired with a clear fit.Harvard frames networking less as asking for favours and more as gathering information. Platforms like LinkedIn allow candidates to study career paths, identify recruiters, connect with alumni, and understand how roles are filled. Informational conversations often lead to clarity before they lead to jobs.
The slow path out of stagnation
None of these strategies offer quick relief. They require reframing identity, rewriting resumes, and tolerating more rejection. For someone already feeling left behind, that can feel exhausting.
But the alternative is internalising a market failure as a personal flaw. As the Reddit user’s post shows, the emotional cost of that belief is high.“I regret it now,” they wrote of their degree. Regret, however, is not a hiring criterion. Skills are. So is persistence, even when it feels invisible.The first job rarely arrives with certainty or validation. It arrives when someone decides that “no experience” is not a verdict, but a starting point.