How do you gain experience if you have none?

biologynerd
Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:48:39 +0000

I’m having a hard time right now with my job search and internship hunt. I have been looking for internships in human resources since December but most of them are 45 minutes to an hour away and unpaid. Being that I support myself, I can’t afford to work 40 hours for free even if it does look better on my resume.

I have had jobs in retail and serving but I know that is not going to get me hired. My question is, on most employer’s websites or applications they require 3 to 5 years experience. I have had an internship doing research in the I/O psychology lab, but that’s about it. Its more like 9 months of experience, not even close to 3 years. How do I land an entry level job without experience? I am willing to work my way up but there seems to be no place to start :/