I did well at the interview. I produced not one but two different solutions to the test problem that was given to me, with time to spare. Today, I receive an e-mail where they say that they are afraid they can't provide me with 'conditions suitable for my level of knowledge and skills'.
How in the world am I supposed to get re-employed if I get rejected from entry-level jobs because of my overcompetence, but don't have the job experience in the area where I can work long-term for the non-entry-level jobs?
I love crapitalism. /s
Not that I've been in a situation to "do" what I'm about to suggest but ignore "years of experience" as best as you can when applying for a job.
If you've got the skill set, the interest in doing the job, apply anyways. Don't even need to justify not having the "years of experience".
I'd bet that the "years of experience" is only mentioned to arbitrarily reduce the number applicants.
I do get asked explicitly how many years of experience I have.
However, I did get offered a job that requires 3 years of experience, and they are currently considering my candidacy. Have to wait and see how that will work out.
I'm not saying that you can't answer the question when asked in an interview or that you need obfuscate it on your CV. I'm saying to not let the "you must have x years of experience" in a job posting scare you away from applying if the only thing that you're lacking is having "x years of experience".
If you're sitting down for an interview, the interviewer isn't all that likely to immediately end the interview once they realize that you don't have the arbitrary number of years experience posted in the job description.
I mean, one you've learned how to do something like add 1 and 1 to get 2 it doesn't matter that you've been doing if for 1 year or 50 years.