Why Entry Level Jobs Demand Years Of Experience

Summary

The video script discusses the paradox of entry-level job requirements, highlighting how they often demand several years of experience despite being labeled 'entry-level'. It delves into historical hiring practices, the shift towards efficiency and outsourcing, and the impact of these trends on job seekers. The script critiques the modern hiring process, including the use of AI and third-party recruiters, and the role of application tracking systems (ATS) in screening resumes. It concludes by empathizing with job seekers and urging them to maintain professional presentation and confidence despite the challenges posed by an inefficient job market.

Takeaways

• 📊 38.4% of entry-level jobs require 3 to 5 years of experience, reflecting unrealistic expectations for new job seekers.
• 🏭 Post-WWII, companies filled 90% of vacancies through promotions, emphasizing the importance of entry-level positions for career growth.
• 🔄 The 80s and 90s saw a shift towards efficiency and cost-effectiveness, leading to a preference for recruiting skilled individuals over training.
• 📉 A significant decrease in internal promotions, with only 24% of vacancies filled internally, a 66% drop from previous decades.
• 🔄 The job market now demands skills for entry-level positions, creating a catch-22 situation for job seekers without experience.
• 💼 Companies spend more on recruitment than training, further discouraging the traditional purpose of entry-level roles.
• 📚 Despite the high demand for skills, 59% of employees are self-taught, indicating a lack of formal training in the workplace.
• 🎓 The value of a college degree has diminished, with 39% of employers avoiding recent graduates due to perceived lack of preparation.
• 📈 There's been a 20% increase in skills required on job listings in the past 5 years, suggesting inflated expectations for entry-level candidates.
• 🤖 The hiring process is increasingly outsourced, with third-party recruiters and AI models potentially skewing job requirements.
• 📝 Application tracking systems (ATS) filter resumes, often excluding qualified candidates who don't fit the ATS's keyword optimization.

Q & A

What percentage of entry-level jobs on LinkedIn require 3 to 5 years of experience?

Roughly 38.4% of entry-level jobs on LinkedIn require 3 to 5 years of experience.

Why have some industries, such as manufacturing and software services, started demanding over 50% more experience for entry-level jobs?

The industries are demanding more experience due to the relentless pursuit for efficiency and an attempt to improve the bottom line, leading to a preference for recruiting skill sets rather than training them.

What was the traditional goal of hiring for entry-level positions post-World War 2?

The traditional goal was to hire someone with good manners and a determination to work hard, providing them with a career trajectory, necessary training, and a fruitful pension plan as a reward for company loyalty.

What significant change occurred in the hiring process from the 70s onwards?

From the 70s onwards, there was a shift towards efficiency and cost-effectiveness, with many American jobs being replaced due to globalization, automation, and outsourcing.

How has the percentage of vacancies filled with internal candidates changed in the last 50 years?

There has been a 66% decrease in the last 50 years, with only 24% of current vacancies now filled with internal candidates.

What is the first issue that candidates and employers are facing in the job market according to the script?

The first issue is the 'catch-22' situation where candidates need skills to get a job, but the job is supposed to be the place where they learn those skills.

What percentage of executives believe American workers aren't as skilled as they need to be?

92% of executives believe American workers aren't as skilled as they need to be.

What percentage of employers avoid hiring recent college graduates for positions they are eligible for in favor of older candidates?

39% of employers avoid hiring recent college graduates for positions they are eligible for in favor of older candidates.

How have hiring practices evolved significantly from the post-World War II period to today?

Hiring practices have evolved from thorough job analysis and candidate evaluation to outsourcing much of the hiring process to recruitment process outsourcers, who often use subcontractors and AI models to create job postings.

What is the irony in the job posting that required 'four plus years of fast API' experience?

The irony is that Sebastian Ramirez, the creator of fast API, couldn't apply for the role because he only had a year and a half of experience with his own creation.

What percentage of Fortune 500 companies use an Application Tracking System (ATS)?

98.8% of Fortune 500 companies use an ATS.

How has the perception of 'entry-level' jobs changed over time?

The perception of 'entry-level' jobs has changed from a position with no experience requiring training to a position that often asks for experience at a discounted rate.

Outlines

00:00

📊 The Paradox of Entry-Level Jobs: Experience Required

This paragraph highlights the increasing expectation for experience in supposedly entry-level jobs. Despite being traditionally meant for fresh entrants into the workforce, many entry-level roles now require 3-5 years of experience, especially in industries like manufacturing and software services. The text explores how companies shifted from providing training and career growth opportunities in the post-WWII era to a focus on hiring pre-skilled candidates. The evolution of corporate priorities, driven by efficiency and globalization, has resulted in a reduction of internal promotions, leading to a situation where candidates need experience for jobs that should have been their entry point into gaining skills.

05:01

🔍 What Employers Really Want: The Hiring Conundrum

This paragraph delves into how the recruitment process has changed over time. Traditionally, HR professionals conducted in-depth job analysis to match candidates with roles accurately. However, with the rise of outsourcing and AI-driven tools, much of this process is now automated or handled by third-party agencies, leading to a mismatch between job postings and actual requirements. The paragraph argues that these changes have contributed to unrealistic job postings, where the demands often far exceed what is genuinely needed. The text also discusses the inefficiency and detachment between hiring managers and the recruitment process, resulting in job descriptions that don’t accurately reflect the reality of the roles.

10:02

🤖 The ATS Barrier: Why Qualified Candidates Get Filtered Out

This section focuses on the challenges posed by Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) in the hiring process. Even qualified candidates often get filtered out due to rigid keyword filtering and algorithmic biases. It discusses how exaggerated job requirements, combined with automated systems, prevent many suitable applicants from even reaching human recruiters. The paragraph further highlights that despite these inefficiencies, companies continue to rely on ATS, contributing to the growing disparity between what is posted in job listings and what is truly needed for the role.

15:03

💼 The Reality of Entry-Level Jobs: Experience at a Discount

In this final paragraph, the author discusses how the term 'entry-level' has evolved into a misnomer. Entry-level jobs now demand experience while offering lower pay, creating a dilemma for those looking to start or switch careers. The text offers advice on how candidates can present themselves professionally and emphasizes that while the system is flawed, there are still actions individuals can take to increase their chances of success. The paragraph also reflects on the challenges faced by recruiters and hiring managers in dealing with inefficient systems, acknowledging that the issue is systemic rather than purely individual.

Keywords

💡Entry-Level Jobs

Entry-level jobs are positions that typically require little to no prior experience and serve as a starting point for individuals to gain professional experience. In the video's context, it discusses the shift in expectations for these jobs, where employers now often require several years of experience for roles that were once meant for newcomers, thus making it difficult for fresh graduates to enter the workforce.

💡Experience Requirements

Experience requirements refer to the number of years of work history an employer expects a candidate to have for a job position. The script highlights a study showing that an unrealistic number of entry-level jobs now demand 3 to 5 years of experience, which contradicts the traditional purpose of entry-level roles.

💡Skill Sets

A skill set is a collection of abilities and knowledge that an individual possesses, which are relevant to a particular job. The video discusses how companies have shifted from training employees to recruiting those with pre-existing skill sets, which has impacted the availability and nature of entry-level positions.

💡Internal Candidates

Internal candidates are employees who apply for a new position within the same company. The script mentions a significant decrease in the percentage of vacancies filled by internal candidates, indicating a shift towards external hiring and a reduced focus on internal promotion and training.

💡Automation and Outsourcing

Automation refers to the use of technology to perform tasks without human intervention, while outsourcing is the practice of contracting work to external vendors or service providers. The video script discusses how these trends have contributed to the reduction of entry-level jobs as companies seek to cut costs and increase efficiency.

💡College Degree

A college degree is an academic qualification awarded upon completion of a course of study in higher education. The script explores the changing value of a college degree in the job market, noting that it no longer guarantees career stability or even employment, with some employers avoiding recent graduates.

💡Job Listings

Job listings are advertisements or announcements for job vacancies. The video discusses the inflated requirements often found in job listings, which may not accurately reflect the actual needs of the position, creating a barrier for potential applicants.

💡Application Tracking System (ATS)

An Application Tracking System is a software application used to manage the flow of resumes into a company's human resources department. The script mentions that the ATS can filter out many applicants based on keyword optimization, often without human review, which may exclude qualified candidates.

💡Hiring Process

The hiring process encompasses the steps an employer takes to recruit, screen, interview, and evaluate job candidates. The video script describes the modern hiring process as being outsourced and reliant on third-party recruiters and AI models, which may lead to inefficiencies and misalignment with the hiring manager's actual needs.

💡Workforce Preparedness

Workforce preparedness refers to the degree to which workers have the necessary skills and qualifications to perform their jobs effectively. The script cites statistics suggesting that a significant portion of the workforce is self-taught and lacks formal training, which may contribute to the perception that recent graduates are unprepared.

💡Efficiency and Bottom Line

Efficiency in a business context refers to the most effective use of resources to achieve maximum productivity, while the bottom line refers to a company's net profit. The video script argues that the pursuit of efficiency and improving the bottom line has led companies to prioritize cost-effective hiring practices over investing in employee training and development.

Highlights

A study on LinkedIn reveals that 38.4% of entry-level jobs require 3 to 5 years of experience, with some industries demanding over 50%.

Post-World War II, 90% of corporate vacancies were filled through internal promotions, emphasizing entry-level positions.

The shift in the 80s and 90s towards efficiency and globalization led to a 66% decrease in internal hiring over 50 years.

Only 28% of talent acquisition leaders consider internal candidates an important source to fill vacancies.

The job market now prioritizes recruiting for skill sets over training, impacting the true purpose of entry-level jobs.

92% of executives believe American workers lack necessary skills, with 59% having no formal workplace training.

39% of employers avoid hiring recent college graduates, favoring older candidates with more experience.

Employers are increasing experience requirements in job listings, with a 20% increase in skills required over 5 years.

Traditional hiring practices have evolved significantly, with many companies outsourcing the hiring process.

The use of AI models and third-party recruiters may lead to exaggerated job requirements not relevant to the actual job.

Only 39% of hiring teams receive interview training, impacting the quality of job postings and entry-level positions.

Sebastian Ramirez, creator of FastAPI, highlights the absurdity of job postings requiring more experience than the creator.

Inefficient hiring practices and the use of tools like AI may contribute to unrealistic job requirements.

A survey found that meeting 50% of a job posting's requirements is as effective as meeting 90% for getting an interview.

98.8% of Fortune 500 companies use ATS, which may screen out quality applications due to inefficiencies.

Less than 61% of HR leaders report hiring for entry-level positions, down from 79% in 2022, according to a PwC survey.

Approximately 300,000 US jobs are outsourced annually, often replacing what would have been entry-level positions.

The real meaning of 'entry-level' has shifted to often require experience at a discounted rate, complicating career starts.

The video concludes by emphasizing that the chaotic job market is not the fault of the job seeker, but an inefficient system.

Transcripts

according to a study of over 3.8 million

jobs on LinkedIn roughly 38.4% of

entry-level jobs required 3 to 5 years

of experience with industry such as

manufacturing and software Services

demanding well over 50% I want to

address the many reasons why the

entry-level job is being plagued with

unrealistic

expectations to properly represent the

complexities of the entry-level job a

once straightforward role we will be

using the state-of-the-art Scooby-Doo

sandwich beginning with everyone needs

to start somewhere just not with us from

the end of World War 2 and leading up to

the 8S corporations filled roughly 90%

of their vacancies through promotions

and lateral assignments causing a

substantial emphasis on the entry level

position the goal was to hire someone

with good manners and a determination to

work hard as the company could then

provide the potential candidate with a

career trajectory the necessary training

to allow that to happen

and a fruitful pension plan as a way of

rewarding company loyalty while this

representation of the entry-level job is

what most candidates strive to find

today unfortunately the events that

followed the 70s largely shaped what

entry level means today the 80s and 90s

began a Relentless Pursuit for

efficiency and an attempt to improve the

bottom line many American jobs were

being replaced with the increase in

globalization as Automation and

Outsourcing were the prioritized method

of delegating most roles along with this

shift companies found it was more

cost-effective to recruit skill sets

rather than train them as only 24% of

current vacancies are now filled with

internal candidates a 66% decrease in

just the last 50 years with only 28% of

talent acquisition leaders reporting

that internal candidates are an

important source to fill vacancies as

companies really began to prioritize

recruiting skill sets instead of

training skill sets it brings us to our

first issue that candidates as well as

employers are facing you need skills to

get a job that'll teach you skills that

requires a piece of paper when you

should have been getting

skills hello you've reached the house of

unrecognized talent please start after

the with the shift of planning for

attrition rather than training for

retention companies have really begun to

paint themselves into a corner leaving a

nation of raw talent feeling fused on

the effective steps to be able to jump

start their career as companies invest

four times as much into recruiting as

they do training it discourages the true

purpose of the entry-level job entirely

as it is more coste effective to provide

as little training as possible and

instead demand the skill set is already

provided however the entry-level job is

also in demand as 92% of Executives

think the American workers aren't as

skilled as they need to be with Forbes

reporting that 59% of employees have no

actual workplace training and are

entirely self-taught you are now

employed by one of the most successful

restaurants in bikini bottom but it

didn't get that way overnight because

the store closes at 6 and whether the

demand for the college degree is going

to increase or decrease it's impossible

to predict but one thing that we can say

for certain is that the college degree

no longer guarantees the same career

stability as it once did and if anything

it actually might be doing the opposite

according to a 2023 survey by

intelligent of 800 us managers directors

and Executives who are involved in the

hiring process when asked if they avoid

hiring recent college graduates for

positions they are eligible for in favor

of older candidates 39% of employers

said that they do 60% of employers are

willing to implement a variety of

different tactics to avoid working with

a recent college graduate 59% offer more

benefits and higher salaries to attract

older workers 48% let older employees

work remotely or in a hybrid format and

46% were willing to hire an older

employee who is overqualified for the

position to avoid working with someone

younger and 58% of the 800 surveyed

stated recent college graduates are

unprepared for the workforce one crabby

patty for me and a pipsqueak Patty for

the boy now wait just a darn minute

Scott d CEO of avinia a us-based career

matching service for new graduates

stated employers are unhappy with the

level of talent they are getting in the

entry-level space so instead of trying

to take corrective action they've

increased experience requirements in the

last 5 years we've seen a 20% increase

in the number of skills required on job

listings this is where I believe that we

really begin to gain Insight on the

requirements needed for an entry-level

job as well as the confusion for the

push of having a college degree as well

as being reprimanded for having one

which gets us to the chocolate sauce on

the sandwich being what the you

employers actually want throughout much

of the post World War II period the

hiring practices of large corporations

have evolved significantly traditionally

human resource professionals conducted a

thorough job analysis to identify the

specific task required and the ideal

attributes of a candidate they were

aware of the reasonable demands needed

from the hiring manager

and performed a job evaluation to

determine the job's position within the

organizational structure and his

correspondence pay scale relative to

other roles job advertisements were

widely posted on job boards and in

newspapers roughly after a week of

extensive interviews reference checks

and skill tests the candidate was then

offered the role however according to a

2019 article on the Harvard Business

review about 40% of us companies

according to research by K Ferry have

out Out Source much if not all of the

hiring process to recruitment process

outsourcers which in turn often use

subcontractors and I was slightly

suspecting this to be the case however I

had no idea the magnitude at which this

is happening what is becoming

increasingly more popular for the job

hiring process is the hiring manager to

write down a wish list of qualities and

requirements the potential candidate

should have this then would have

historically gone to a seasoned

recruiter where they would help G the

necessary requirements for the role

however this is largely now just sent to

a hiring staff of HR now the reality is

is that in many cases the hiring staff

then outsources this very thing to a

thirdparty recruiting process and

depending on the thirdparty recruiter

they may then use AI models to sort

through the requirements needed to help

create the job posting the candidate

that now applies for that very role will

first have to pass through an

application tracking system or ATS once

they have done so they will then

experience their first round of

interviews however this is typically

also done by a third-party interview

network which then is followed by an

interview within the HR department and

may then be followed by an actual

interview with the hiring manager and if

your feathers are not ruffled enough

only 39% of hiring teams received

interview training and I believe this to

be a very large issue with job postings

as a whole but most importantly the

entry level position as I suspect what

we are seeing in the job posting is

substantially different from what the

hiring manager actually ask for and

isn't necessarily relevant to what the

actual job is going to entail to further

explore this I went to chat GPT and

typed in to create an entry-level job

for a YouTube company as if you were the

hiring manager and this was the result

first off this looks extremely similar

to most listings on indeed and secondly

the requirements for the most part do

not reflect what I would consider to be

entry level and are not what I would

deem necessary as someone that creates

YouTube videos having started with no

experience and while I totally

understand that chat PT pulls from the

internet and uses predictive programming

to give you the end result I don't think

it's out of the realm of possibility

that recruiters May may be using chat

GPT or something of that nature to

create the postings that many of us see

today and if I didn't actually create

YouTube videos I could have looked at

the posting that it created and thought

yeah that seems fair because I had no

reference point to be able to understand

what is actually needed for that job so

imagine what manufacturing engineering

software um postings are going to look

like if you're not not actually an

expert in that industry how do you have

any idea what is actually needed to

qualify for that position and I think

that's where a large portion of this

divide is actually coming from and

according to that same article on

Harvard Business Review only about a

third of us companies report that they

monitor whether their hiring practices

lead to Good employees few of them do so

carefully and only a minority even track

cost per hire and time to hire so it

truly could be the wild west of what is

actually taking place in these job

[Music]

listings and as my final representation

of this process a man named Sebastian

Ramirez spotted a job posting that

required four plus years of fast API

which is a web framework for building

HTTP based service apis in Python what

is ironic about this is that Ramirez

couldn't even apply for this role

because he only had a year and a half of

experience because he was the actual

creator of fast

API and I personally don't believe that

there is any malicious intent in the

majority of these postings except for

ghost jobs I personally believe that the

majority of this is just happening with

individuals that are inexperienced in

these individual sectors and are using

Tools in an inefficient manner I

personally believe that largely what we

are seeing as requirements in these

postings are just exaggerated wish lists

of a hiring manager in fact a 2018

survey found that applicants who could

meet at least 50% of a postings

requirements were just as likely to get

an interview as applicants who meant 90%

of a postings requirements except this

is met with one frustrating mystery the

application tracking system a survey

done in 2023 stated that 98.8% of

Fortune 500 companies

use ATS ATS screen and filter resumés to

optimize and discover the best

candidates for the available position

and while most listings may be

exaggerated wish lists the ATS system

doesn't necessarily know that to be the

case in its pursuit of efficiency and

keyword optimization 75% of applications

are never actually seen by humans hrtech

journalist J.R jonovan states that 88%

of employees believe that ATS actually

screen out the quality applications with

the applicable skill sets because their

applications are not best suited to the

ATS software and in this continuous

pursuit of efficiency and increasing the

bottom line we arve to the bun on top of

the sandwich the Outsourcing of domestic

jobs less than 61% of human resource

leaders said that in 2023 they were

hiring for entry level and less

specialized positions down from 79% in

2022 according to a PWC survey and

employers expect 23% of all roles to be

disrupted in the next 5 years due to the

rate in which technology is developing

according to research of the world

economic Forum lastly according to

Forbes it is estimated that

approximately 300,000 us jobs are

outsourced every year and largely these

are directly taking what would have

typically been entry-level positions so

in reality even if the application

process was perfect simply just the

removal of promoting internal hires and

instead hiring from outside companies or

just Outsourcing it all together we can

see the entry-level job as a whole is

just continuously getting replaced so

then we get the olive on top of this

Scooby-Doo sandwich the real meaning of

entry level now for most of us we have

the foolish understanding that entry

level means no experience no training

and it's simply a place for us to be

able to get our foot in the door and

jump start our careers those words is it

possible to use them in a sentence

together like that unfortunately in most

instances it appears that entry level

means asking for experience at a

discounted rate entry level jobs that

require two plus years of experience pay

20% less than other jobs that require

two plus years of experience which

leaves you in a position if you're

wanting to start your career or make a

career shift in a way that participates

in the societal Norm of the labor force

you're largely having to take a massive

bite out of this Scooby-Doo sandwich as

we begin to conclude this video I really

just want to preface the fact that I am

not saying recruiters hiring managers

third party recruiters HR departments

companies corporations are bad or are

malicious in some ways probably some are

I think it's impossible to say that

they're all good or to remove some blame

I think mostly what is happening is that

there's just a lot of

inefficiencies I believe that there's

probably a lot of individuals that are

really trying to make this chaotic

system work in some sort of way but I

think unfortunately a lot of these

inefficiencies fall on the candidate

fall on the individuals that are wanting

to jump start their career wanting to

provide for families wanting to be able

to have a future and I don't think that

that is right but I think largely a lot

of this chaotic mess is not something

that we can actively control I can do my

best in sharing this but this is all in

a goal or all in pursuit of hopefully

taking some of the pressure or blame off

yourself for you not achieving whatever

the success is in this chaotic mess I

think it's very hard to be able to

process you know 5 100 applications and

not getting approved what I really am

trying to just reiterate is that it's

not because of you it's because of a

very inefficient and garbage

system but with that being said this is

in an attempt to still allow you to

control what it is that you can do and I

think that as a whole we need to do a

much better job of doing these

certain factors

of what was actively looked for

throughout the 40s 50s 60s and 70s that

when we walk we need to make sure that

we have our heads up that we have some

sort of confidence when we walk that we

have atire that makes us look somewhat

professional I believe that

opportunities can come at any time I

believe that a firm handshake is

important that looking someone in the

eye during a conversation these are

these certain factors that truly can

make a difference and I understand that

it's hard to even get an interview and

all of these different aspects but I

believe that if the opportunity does

arise we want to make sure that we're

ready for that time I only got my job

when I worked um at the bank for 5 years

because I went in after um High School

to get a credit card and the only reason

I got a job offer was just because I was

able to hold a conversation with the

banker he thought that I was much older

than I was and that was because of the

way that I held myself when I became an

actual Banker I grew up my hair and I

had a picture of myself and my

girlfriend uh when we were still in high

school and so I consistently had older

individuals asking me if those were my

kids and the reason was because the way

that I presented myself was much older

much responsible much more confident

than what I actually look like and that

doesn't mean that I always feel that way

but I think again it's very important to

be able to practice some of these

practical skill sets

now I don't want to take away from the

fact that again things are very

difficult but I think there's a lot that

we can still do that we can still just

try our best on and please just remember

that the responsibility does not lie on

you just continue to do what it is that

you can and I hope that everything works

out for the best I hope this video was

able to provide some value to you um if

you are a in HR a recruiter a hiring

manager and I got something wrong please

share it in the comments comment section

so that we can learn from that weirdly

this was one of the hardest topics I've

ever had to research the information is

not congruent uh it's it was very

difficult to be able to piece some of

the or to form some of these pieces

together so I would appreciate your

input on that as well as always thank

you all so much for your time I hope

you're doing well thank you so much

bye-bye but for every good employee

there's one who is not so good let's see

in a 10 Ive impatient a glazed look in

the eyes look carefully at the I really

wish I weren't here right now button

there's a name for employees like this

but we'll call him Squidward