Story of a Fresher

Beating the System

We've all heard it: "You can't get a job if you don't have experience, but how do you get experience if no-one will give you a job?". Doesn't seem fair, does it? Some kids are lucky. They've got an uncle or brother or cousin who can pull a few strings for them. Once they're in, they can say they've got that magical stuff called "job experience" that every boss looks for. Some kids are so smart. You know the type. They skip grades in school and all the colleges are begging for them. They're too busy being smart to be cool. They really make an impression on potential bosses, and they get hired. Then there are the kids who find underhanded ways to make money. They don't want a real job. They usually look pretty cool driving around in big fancy cars flashing wads of money. They don't look so cool years later sitting in a jail cell. And finally, there's the rest of us. We walk into one personnel office after another, filling out job applications. By the time you're finished, you've memorized your Social Security number for life. They all say the same thing: "We'll let you know."

Only they don't. You never hear from them again. There is a way to beat the system. It's a pretty ingenious solution, too! But you've got to want it. What I wanted was to be a bartender, but my idea will work for almost any job. It started when I signed up for a bartending school. The contract gave me three days to change my mind and cancel. In those three days, I went around to different bars and asked the managers if they'd hire someone who'd gone to this school. They all said no, not if the person didn't have any real-life job experience.