What to say when you don’t have experience!

Recently, as I helped a client prep for an upcoming job interview, I asked him to tell me about his experience with one of the job’s requirements: the ability to use the software program Crystal Reports, a tool to create high-end documents.  His answer, “I don’t have experience with that.”

Until then, he’d provided impressive responses to every question, and this answer landed like a lead balloon. I feared it might kick him out of contention, so together we came up with this action plan which could be executed before the interview:

• Do his best to get some hands-on experience with the program. Luckily one of his co-workers is a whiz at Crystal Reports, and offered to stay after work one evening to walk him through it.
• Study tutorials, and if possible, complete some training. A Google search on the keywords, “Crystal Reports Tutorials” pulls up several options, including a 12-minute video available for no cost on YouTube. Other more in-depth education options are available on Udemy.com, where a 9 hr. class can be purchased for $20, and on Lynda.com, which offers a detailed 4-hour training, and can be accessed for free using a Poudre River Library District membership card.

At the very least, my client could describe any experience he possesses that’s related to Crystal Reports, although not exactly the same. I call this a parallel interview response, and it can go like this: “Regarding knowledge of Crystal Reports, what I have to offer is knowledge of creating high-end reports in Microsoft Word, adding in charts and tables through Excel.

“I’m also willing to study the program on my own time to get up to speed faster, as I did when I had to learn a new program for a job I held a few years ago. In two weeks I was successfully producing the results they needed, and I’m confident I could do the same for this position.”

Gaps in experience come up often in job interviews, but with a little planning and action, you can fill them to improve your chances of being the chosen one.