The job I am currently am in was an internal job change and a natural progression from my prior role. Therefore, I did not give much consideration to the job description as I knew my skills were applicable. The one concern I did have was around the number of years of experience as I know I was lacking in that area (I only had about 1 year of relevant work experience) and I believe they were looking for 3-5.
My job role prior to my current role was the job that got me hired at Nike. Throughout my undergraduate studies, I had worked in food service roles but didn’t have relevant work experience for a real-world ‘Finance’ job, which is what I got my degree in. Therefore, I took that into consideration when applying for roles. I looked for very entry-level finance jobs at all different companies. I also took into consideration that working for Nike was a life long dream/goal of mine. This led me to give it a shot and apply for any finance role that I kind-of met the qualifications for Nike’s job site. What I mean by this is that I didn’t meet every qualification listed, but I felt I could provide applicable examples if given the opportunity. This led me to getting an interview and eventually getting hired.
Although my experiences have been more of a “shoot your shot” methodology, it has worked for me up to this point. When applying for job roles, I tend to focus more on how that role fits into my long term career goals and less on the years of experience. As my career advances and I look for roles to apply for, I do look to see how my work experience relates to the experience and qualifications they’re looking for.
Hi Kayla,
There are pros and cons to hiring internal versus external applicants. It sounds like being an internal applicant worked to your advantage when moving into your current position. Although they were looking for more years of work experience because you were an internal candidate, they were likely willing to waive that requirement since they would be able to save some time/money in training. I wish that we had more of this flexibility in my current position as a supervisor. There have been times when applicants in our pool met all qualifications, but we weren’t able to substitute education or other experiences in order to have flexibility on the required years of work experience.
I’m glad that you’re very happy in your dream job with Nike and am excited to continue hearing more about your experiences.
Thank you for sharing!
Courtney
Hi Kayla,
I like your way of thinking! Although I’m not in your current position, I feel like this is how I will go about getting my first real job as well. It was smart to look for entry-level jobs within a company, and congratulations you got hired at Nike! That has also been a long-term dream of mine, so hopefully I can follow in your footsteps! Great post!