The job sectors requiring two or more years of experience for graduates to apply

Have you ever heard of the term “experience inflation”? If you have, you will know what an enormous source of frustration it is. If you haven’t, allow us to explain. It is one of the most dangerous trends in the job market at the moment and it is making it increasingly harder for graduate job seekers to meet the demanding requirements of roles originally meant for them.

How many times have you read the description of an entry- or graduate-level job role and discovered you don’t have enough experience? We bet a bunch of times. This is “experience inflation” – when an entry-level position (which by definition is meant to function as a role to help someone entering the job market for the first time without any prior formal work experience get their foot in the door), paradoxically requires a number of years of experience under the belt to qualify. 

To discover the true scale of the problem in America and to find out which industries are the most-demanding when it comes to experience, SEO and digital marketing agency Verve Search did an analysis of 50,000 “graduate-level”, “junior-level”, and “entry-level” job listings on US and UK versions of Indeed and LinkedIn.

Their findings found that, in the US, the IT sector seems to demonstrate “experience inflation” more than any other area of employment. The study found that nearly all of the US graduate-level and junior/entry-level job ads in IT required applicants to have at least one year of experience. To put this into exact numbers, the research revealed that as much as 94% of graduate-level jobs in the IT sector require at least one year of work experience and a shocking 96% of graduate-level job ads in the IT industry required applicants to have at least two years of experience. 

How is it looking for other sectors included in the analysis? Below are some tables outlining the different sectors and the percentage of job ads require a certain amount of experience. IT, Engineering and Marketing all live in the top, deeming them the worst culprits of “experience inflation. A stifling 92% of entry-level Engineering jobs require at least 1 year experience and 85% of graduate-level jobs in Marketing needing at least 1 year formal work experience for applicants.  

Graduate-level job ads requesting at least 1 year work experience:

Sector	% of ads
IT	94%
Marketing	85%
Media	82%
Finance	68%
Engineering	65%
Business	46%
Sales	35%
Retail	19%

Junior/entry-level job ads requesting at least 1 year work experience:

Sector	% of ads
IT	96%
Engineering	92%
Finance	88%
Media	83%
Marketing	77%
Sales	67%
Business	57%
Retail	15%

Graduate-level job ads requesting at least 2 years work experience:

Sector	% of ads
IT	93%
Marketing	84%
Media	79%
Finance	66%
Engineering	63%
Business	43%
Sales	32%
Retail	16%

Junior/entry-level job ads requesting at least 2 year work experience:

Sector	% of ads
IT	95%
Engineering	92%
Finance	87%
Media	81%
Marketing	74%
Sales	64%
Business	53%
Retail	13%

Overall, of all the US graduate-level job postings analysed, more than half (59%) demanded applicants with at least one year of experience. Likewise, the majority (68%) of junior/entry-level positions discovered required at least one year of work experience. This means that six in ten job ads for beginner roles in the US ask for at least a year of experience.

But what is the impact of this on graduates, apart from struggling to get hired with a ‘mere college degree’ to show for? College Recruiter put the question to independent career coach and consultant Hannah Salton, who stressed how candidates need to demonstrate even more how qualified they are for the job.  She said: “In today’s strange times, it’s more important than ever that hires can demonstrate value to the employer quickly when they start. They need to be flexible, adaptable and resilient to setbacks. Everyone goes through ups and downs in their careers, and the ability to respond to mistakes and challenges well sets hires apart from others. Self-awareness and emotional intelligence are also important.”

On top of that, she encouraged graduates and candidates to take a more active role in their job seeking. “It’s a tough market for everyone at the moment,” Salton explained. “All candidates have different things to offer, and may not be applying for the same roles as candidates with more experience. Candidates can set themselves apart from others but demonstrating an interest, awareness and a passion for the industry and the roles they are applying for. Networking is also a key opportunity to take advantage of. Use LinkedIn to connect and build relationships to help with your job search.”

Salton’s advice is solid and helpful, but it also raises the question of where the responsibility of eradicating “experience inflation” lies. Is it with the over-demanding industry or graduates and people starting out in their career?