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Everyone wanted experience: Here’s how I made myself employable after college

Jack Hulatt discusses how graduates can stand out by building practical proof of skills rather than relying on qualifications alone.

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Everyone wanted experience: Here’s how I made myself employable after college
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By the end of university, it felt like I’d fallen behind.

All I seemed to hear about the graduate job market was how competitive it had become – especially for “entry-level” roles that still asked for experience. The more I looked, the more it felt like a loop: you need experience to get experience, and my peers seemed to have got a head start somehow.

A Resume Genius survey of hiring managers found that only 25% consider educational qualifications “essential,” even though the job market is flooded with fresh graduates. By official figures, an estimated two million bachelor’s degrees were issued in the 2021–2022 academic year alone.

So after graduating with a degree in International Relations, and realising during university that I wanted to move towards data and technical work, I changed my approach to jobseeking. To get hired in such a competitive environment – especially when transitioning fields – I needed to show employers proof of my skills in action. But how? I had academic achievements, but little evidence that I could do the kind of work I wanted to be hired for.

Instead of waiting for experience, I started creating it. Here are five things that helped me do that.

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I found out which skills mattered in my field

A recent survey suggests that 73% of hiring managers struggle to fill entry-level roles because the skills they’re seeking are not readily available. To close the skill gap, I used relevant job listings to identify the most sought-after skills in my field. I looked at roles I actually wanted, flagged the skills that kept coming up, and made those my focus.

I picked one core skill (Python), then added a few that supported it in the real world – basic data analysis, working with APIs, plus communication and marketing skills so I could explain and apply what I was learning. The point wasn’t just to sound well-rounded. It was to be able to prove I can contribute meaningfully from day one. 

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I prioritised active learning over passive exposure

Once I knew which skills to focus on, I realised another problem: it’s easy to feel like you’re learning while you’re really just watching. During online lectures or video tutorials I could follow along, but when I opened a blank file I didn’t know where to start. Courses were useful, but without practical experience, the information is just as likely to go in one ear and out the other. 

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So I treated learning the same way I treated job listings: like a checklist. Every week, I had to produce at least one small result that forced me to use the skills without prompts. That might be a script that cleans a dataset, a call to a public API, or a short analysis of something I’m interested in with one clear takeaway. If I couldn’t explain what I’d done in a few sentences, I hadn’t learnt it yet – and I definitely couldn’t prove it to an employer.

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I substituted project experience for work experience

For me, the most frustrating and worrying part of entry-level hiring is how often “experience required” shows up in roles that are meant to be entry-level. According to CV Genius research, only 20% of entry-level roles actually go to candidates with no professional experience. I didn’t have a neat set of internships to point to, so I needed another way to show I could do real work, not just talk about it.

That’s where small projects helped – but only when I treated them like work, not hobbies. I’d start with a clear question, set a deadline, and keep the scope tight so it didn’t drag on for weeks. For example, I built a simple data visualisation tool to generate on-screen graphics for my YouTube videos, I prototyped a site that turns news articles into ESL worksheets, and I took on basic freelance Python work whenever I could. Each one gave me something concrete to show, alongside a straightforward way to explain what I did, why I built it, and what I learnt along the way.

I used social media to build credibility

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Hiring managers need something they can actually see to verify your skills. For me, that ended up being my YouTube channel.

I started posting gaming videos in a small niche, which might sound unrelated – but it forced me to do the kind of work employers care about. I planned content, managed my time, wrote scripts, edited, designed thumbnails, learned basic SEO, and tracked what performed well. I was also responding to comments and feedback constantly, which is basically stakeholder communication in real life. In six months I went from zero to 1,000 subscribers and reached YouTube Partner. More importantly, it gave me visible proof that I can build something, iterate, and stick with it.

When applying for new roles, your proof doesn’t have to be directly related to the industry you’re applying for – it’s most important you build something that you genuinely enjoy, whilst thinking about how it can translate to your career goals.

I made it easy for employers to understand my skills quickly

Even with decent skills and projects, I found that none of it mattered if it was hard to understand quickly. Most hiring managers are quickly scanning rather than sitting down to study your application. So I started treating presentation as part of the work.

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I built a portfolio site, because this isn’t just for software developers. A simple website can work for almost anyone as it gives employers one place they can quickly click through to verify what you’re claiming, instead of relying on bullet points alone. It doesn’t need to be fancy, just a clean page with a few strong examples, short explanations, and links to the work itself. I linked it on my CV and LinkedIn so it was always one click away.

I also created two versions of my CV: an ATS-friendly one for online applications, and a graphic version for when I’m sending it directly to a person. The graphic one let me experiment with layouts and simple visuals to make my skills and results easier to grasp at a glance.

Employment history isn’t the only proof of ability

Those “proof pieces” gave me something real to point to in interviews. I could talk about not just what I was interested in, but what I could actually do, how I learned, and how I handled feedback when things didn’t work the first time.

That’s ultimately how I landed my role as a digital PR and data specialist. I wasn’t the candidate with the neatest trajectory or the most traditional internships. But I could demonstrate that I build, ship, iterate, and learn quickly – and that’s what employers are really looking for.

Now, working with hiring data and job seeker research every day, I see the same pattern repeatedly: entry-level roles are competitive not because talent doesn’t exist, but because proof is rare. Most candidates describe potential. The ones who stand out demonstrate capability.

You can’t control the market. You can’t rewrite your degree. But you can control the quality and clarity of the evidence you put in front of employers.

When you’re early in your career, the goal isn’t to sound ready. It’s to build undeniable proof that you are.

Jack Hulatt is digital PR and data specialist at Resume Genius

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