3-5 Years Experience

I remember how excited I was the first time I realized I had the coveted "3-5 years experience" that every single job opening ever written requires. It was an amazing experience because I realized why it was so valuable. It wasn't merely something to check off of the list; during those years, I acquired experience and skill in everything else required of my job. I not only know what needs to get done, but I know how to do it.

Before I had those years of experience, I had my knowledge of English, a basic understanding of the art of persuasion, and some common sense. And as great as common sense is, a job requires specialized sense. If I am told to go and create a proposal or a formal statement, and they expect a certain quality of content, I may end up staring at a blank screen and not knowing how to start. Now, I know what the form and format is and I know how to get started and it's just second nature to me. And that is the value.

Of course, the flaw of 3-5 years experience is that you are assuming the experience is relevant. As I said before, a job requires specialized sense. Just because I know how to construct a proposal doesn't mean I know how to create a proposal for every company. Along with 3-5 years experience comes certain habits developed from the companies that gave that experience.

I think Human Resources would be wise to drop that wording from job requirements. Any truly intelligent company would understand the value of molding a person into a specialized component, specifically trained to excel at their company's work. It will take time and energy to do that, but it can be totally worth it.