a chicken-and-egg situation

a chicken and egg situation/problem

A situation in which it is unknown what happened, or what needs to happen, first. You need experience to get a job, but you need a job to get experience. It's a chicken and egg situation.
See also: and, chicken, egg, problem, situation
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

a ˌchicken-and-ˈegg situation

a situation in which you do not know which of two connected events is the cause of the other: Is she unhappy because she gets into debt, or does she get into debt because she’s unhappy? I suppose it’s a chicken-and-egg situation.This comes from the question ‘Which came first — the chicken or the egg?’.
See also: situation
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • a chicken and egg situation/problem
  • a chicken-and-egg problem
  • chicken and egg
  • situation
  • broaden
  • broaden (one's) horizons
  • once-in-a-lifetime experience
  • speak from experience
  • growth experience
  • jarring experience
References in periodicals archive
Ironically, this is a chicken-and-egg situation. Which comes first: the infrastructure or the enabling technology?
Roadkill on the information (super)highway
"It's a chicken-and-egg situation," Philander says.
El Nino's Atlantic counterpart