What is Experience… Really?

As a recent university graduate I found myself in a disheartening and utterly unexpected predicament. Repeatedly I was told by potential employers that I did not have enough experience to fill the positions for which my education had prepared me, but was too qualified to return to the type of jobs that had previously supported me. Even though I had been in the workforce for more than ten years, and even though those who interviewed me admitted that I was skilled, this small matter of "experience" continued to arise. I believed that I had sufficient skills and experience to be capable of performing the tasks for which I was applying, yet employers felt otherwise. This lead me to question, what is experience… really?

According to the dictionary, experience can be defined as knowledge or skill that is derived from training or participation in a task. In other words, I gain experience as I learn to perform a task and later when I apply that skill independently. Experience is having done something in the past which makes you now familiar with and capable of performing said task. Applied as an example, I have "officially" been in the workforce for a little more than ten years. During this time I have performed many tasks and gained many skills. When viewed in light of our aforementioned definition, I clearly have experience. So why is it then that I am told that I do not?

Recently I applied for an opening as the Manager of the Administration Division at a respected company. After reviewing my resume the higher-ups at the company forwarded to me five "assignments" that were designed to test my skills. I heard from them once again; they were impressed by my work and wished to meet for an interview. Upon our meeting, the man with whom I was interviewing was clearly shocked by my appearance; it seemed that he was not expecting me to be a twenty-five year old woman. The interview was a disaster. As I recall, I was asked only two questions. I was then informed that although I clearly had skills, the other applicants had more "experience." Before meeting me he had been impressed by my work, but now I had suddenly been labeled "inexperienced." It was made clear to me that I was no longer being considered for the position.

As this example illustrates, for many people experience is associated with age. As we grow older we encounter new situations, we learn, we experience life. So what then is an individual such as myself who has gained a lot of experience relatively early in life to do? Organizations wish to hire individuals with experience , but if no one will hire you where is this experience to come from?

Writers often find themselves in a similar situation. They may wish to become published, however, publishing firms and agents may not accept manuscripts from previously unpublished writers. Enter Fiction. Fiction has two principle goals: to entertain our readers, and to provide a forum in which writers can make that first push into the publishing industry. When you submit a work to Fiction you are no longer "unpublished," you are officially a writer. You have not been "discovered," but your portfolio has been expanded. That is what it all comes down to afterall, isn't it; experience?