"Entry level" Jobs

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Okay quick rant. I hate when employers put job listings under "Entry Level" when they require 3-5 years in a certain industry. Like I am a recent college grad so I require experience; but they won't hire me because of my lack of experience. It's really stupid. How are recent college grads supposed to get a job if they have 0 experience.

How, you say?  Internships and part-time work in a related field before graduating college.

While earning my EE degree, I stocked shelves at a local electrical supply warehouse, ran the counter at a Radio Shack store (R.I.P.), and did occasional gigs as a Production Assistant at the college TV/Radio station.  None of the work required a degree, and the pay was nothing to brag about, but I can honestly say that I had ". . . 3-1/2 years of part-time experience in retail electrical/electronics and TV/radio broadcasting".

Retail provides experience, and maybe just enough pay to carry you through until you get a more technical position.

I get frusterated by that as well, but I didn't get a college degree...I dropped out because of PTSD, being in a classroom makes me worried a shooting will happen even though the college classrooms were different from my High School. So kind of hard to pay attention when I am worried about that, hard to pay attention in general but that makes it even harder than it already was. But I do get discouraged when I see jobs I could maybe do but they require experience I don't have yet.

I worked throughout high school at a BBQ restaurant and worked for a short time at a distribution center before I got my degree. I currently work at a job that doesn't apply to my degree because I needed to get a job when I graduated or I was going to get kicked out. Now I am currently trying to find a job in the career/industry I want but its hard.

Yeah I understand. Everything is so dangerous now. How do you make a living without a degree?

I always found things like that to be frustrating and ridiculous. Not everyone is afforded the luxury to skate through university while volunteering. Most (that I know anyway) have to work at least one job to be able to afford to go to school and you have to take what you can get, which is often things like retail or food service. Unless you want a career in those fields, those sorts of jobs do you no good at all after graduation. I've seen my children and their friends deal with this exact situation as they enter the workforce. It sucks. I'm sorry you find yourself in this situation. If I had answers, I'd share. Best I have is to join in on the grievance.

I tend to find that entry level jobs which put 'three to five years experience' put it as more of a wish than an actual requirement. They'll adjust accordingly depending on the group which actually applies.

Sometimes, jobs I'm overqualified for think I don't have enough experience. Others that I would think I'm under qualified for, based on the listing, actually call back with some interest.

Job listings tend to be misleading.

I work at school, and I had a discussion about this with my new boss (he became my boss in October 2022). He told me: "If I want an executive secretary, and in front of me are two experienced secreteries and you, I would choose one of the two experienced. You are not experienced and they are. And they are socially flexible."
Then I wonder why he is a boss on a school. Students get a diploma and then try to find work. But they are not experienced.
He agrees though that he want to get more experienced, with little steps. I agree. But then the next thing. He asks me to look for administrative tasks that I could do. But I don't know anything about the administration. Previous bosses didn't want to teach me anything. They think: An autistic has a learning disorder and can't learn anything.

Of course I can do some reverse engineering by looking at the annual planning and knowing what items there are. Those times could give a clue about the work. How the work is broken down into procedures and divided over the co-workers. That should not be my task; it should be the task of an administrative boss or office manager, actually.

Outside work, I can learn things in small steps. If a step is successful, I will try the next step. Then the next step, and so on. Finally I get very experienced. Good examples are driving a car. First in a village or in a quiet district. Later on in busier arreas. Now I can drive a car in most European capital cities. I drove in a country where you must drive at the left side of the road. Or I could drive in a country with names and messages in Russian or in Cyrillic alphabet at least. I can read Cyrillic as fast as Latin script, also when I would drive in those countries.

I want to do the same at work. But bosses are looking for excuses to block all this. I told my latest boss, that this must stop, and the previous bosses wasted a lot of time and they always try find an excuse.

If an ideal candidate applies without the stated experience, it is easy for the employer to waive the requirement.  On the other hand, if someone who seems less than ideal applies for the job, the employer can just as easily cite the stated 'experience' clause (or any other clause) as the deciding factor in turning down the applicant.

You might be surprised (as I was) when an upper manager waives practically every requirement so that a candidate might be hired just to fill a position, especially one that is required under a profitable federal contract.

Actually, it is an inefficient system.

In the Netherlands there is a shortage of personnel, and there many unemployed people, looking for a job, even qualified ones.

I would like to know why there is a shortage of personnel and unemployment. There was a discussion that companies complain about personnel shortage and can't find experienced and qualified personnel. They have very high demands. But they will maintain the stupid HRM policy. A company with too few workers will function less effectivy and it will lose customers that are tired of waiting for their ordered products or services because there is no personnel. I think it is better to hire an inexperienced co-worker train him/her then not hiring anyone at all!

That is really annoying isn't it.

Or the other paradox: 'you need a qualification to do this job, but you can't get a qualification unless you're already working in that type of job.'

e.g. I wanted to become a Careers Adviser but I couldn't get a job in that area because I didn't have a qualification. However I couldn't enrol on a course to qualify as a Careers Adviser because I wasn't already working as a Careers Adviser.

Huh???

Ya I have been going through the exact same problem.I have not found a entry-level job after college because I have no experience.Personally, I think entry-level jobs should require zero experience since its meant theoretically for the entry-level college grads but thats just me.

Employers often seem delusional in terms of their requirements for candidates versus the pittance they often pay. I suppose up until recently, the jobs market favoured employers, though in my country with Brexit and labour shortage being increasingly an issue, the trend is reversing.

It is harder than ever now just to get a simple, entry level job, even if a person is more than qualified for such a position.

Ugh. One thing I hate is position swaps.

I'm not a youngster. I have 10 years of work experience ranging from Walmart to US government contracts. Tons of customer service.

I had 5 recruiters this month alone change positions on me. They were all management positions but when you talk to them they say "oh we put you on sales for a bit because we only promote within." All ended up paying less for sales which they put you in for an undisclosed amount of time. One was
$10/hr less than advertised!

Dont even get me started on places like LinkedIn which will have you thinking this mess is totally normal.