Lack of experience-what a hurdle

I've come to find in my six months of looking for a job that my lack of experience is what's getting in the way of me finding a job. I've had several interviews but it never makes it past that stage because I keep hearing the same thing, "not enough experience." Ok, I get it, I don't have enough experience but how am I supposed to get it if no one is willing to hire me & allow me to gain some? It's just a vicious circle & it's driving me crazy!

Has anyone else found that lack of experience is getting in the way of finding a job? I just spent six years in college gaining experience in my field of choice, how is that not enough? Unfortunately, school related experience doesn't transfer over to work experience. I actually applied for the same position (editor/proofreader) at the same place twice in a matter of about three months & though they hadn't filled the position, they still wouldn't take a chance on me because of my lack of experience. It's incredibly frustrating. I just feel like shaking these people & saying, "I know what I'm doing, just give me a chance!"

I've always wanted to work at my local library & I've applied there more times than I care to count but they're never hiring so nothing ever comes off it. A few weeks ago however, they were hiring & I applied as fast as I could & sent a great cover letter, my resume & two letters of recommendation & hoped to at least get an interview. After a few days however, I received a little note in the mail saying the same old thing that I've been hearing from everyone, they would be going with someone a little more experienced, but thanks for applying! You're welcome, now give me a job! So I decided that if they weren't going to hire me, I was going to volunteer & get my foot in the door & that's exactly what I've been doing all week. Every morning this week I've gone in & inputted book barcodes into their database. All in all, I inputted about 3,000 books! Crazy, I know. Every day I got a little more done & by the last day I had gotten about 700 books done (in one day)! Surprisingly, I actually really enjoyed the work & the people I was working with were very impressed at how much I had gotten done & how well I had been doing & that was exactly my goal. Show them how well I can work & hopefully when they have an open position I'll be the first person they look to! It stinks that I didn't get paid for any of that work but it got me experience & that's all I can ask for right now! I will be continuing my volunteer work next week so fingers crossed it leads to something!!