What Does Entry Level Mean in a Job

Looking for your first job can be confusing. It's hard to know what to search for, and even if you do find a job that looks interesting, it's hard to tell if you have the required experience to actually land the job. Here on One Day, One Job, we write about entry level jobs for new college gradates. If you're a college student or a new college grad, then you're in the right place. We're going to take a look at the intricacies of what "entry level" really means, and help you figure out how to determine what companies really mean when they list experience requirements on a job posting.

What Does "Entry Level" Mean?

The only word that is commonly used to to identify jobs that are suited for new college graduates is "entry level." Many companies use the term, but there are just as many that don't. Here's the definition from Wikipedia:

An entry-level job is a job that generally requires little skill and knowledge, and is generally of a low pay. These jobs may require physical strength or some on-site training. Many entry-level jobs are part-time, and do not include employee benefits. Recent graduates from high school or college usually take entry-level positions.

Entry-level jobs which are targeted at college graduates often offer a higher salary. These positions are more likely to require specific skills and knowledge. Most entry-level jobs offered to college graduates are full-time permanent positions.

As you can see, there are really two definitions. For this reason searching for "entry level jobs" often won't yield the results that you're looking for. You'll come across too many jobs that you're overqualified for because you have a college degree, and you'll also miss out on all the jobs from companies who don't call their jobs "entry level." You can try searching job boards that only list entry level jobs for new college grads, but those also offer limited options. The only way to consistently find great career opportunities at companies that are willing to hire new college graduates is to learn how to read between the lines in a job description.

Does Anyone Really Have No Experience?

Now that we've gotten to the bottom of what "entry level" actually means, we need to discuss how you can figure out which jobs to apply to as a new college grad with "no experience." If you find an awesome job that says that it's specifically suited to new college grads who have no work experience, then you're all set. If you find a company with a college recruiting section on their website, then you're also in good shape. That is, unless you come across a company that lists "entry level jobs," but then includes job descriptions that say that they require "3 years of experience." Before you rip your hair out in frustration, you should realize that every single company has a different interpretation of what a year of experience actually is.

One company that we worked with said that internships, volunteer work, coursework, membership in college organizations, and almost anything else that might help you hone your professional skills can be considered experience. That means that this company would actually list a job as being entry level and requiring 3 years of experience, but they would consider applicants who had never had a full-time job before. This is probably the broadest interpretation that we've seen, but you should make note of it.

There are also companies that say that they want someone who has 1-3 years of work experience. They mean what they're saying. They want someone who has spent time in a full-time job. That doesn't mean that they won't hire you, though. Companies are often overzealous in the experience requirements that they list. They have an unrealistic perception of who the ideal candidate is. These are the types of jobs that many new college grads don't have the confidence to apply for. That's the wrong attitude. Many of these jobs are within the reach of new college grads who are able to sell themselves. The key is being confident enough to apply and framing your non-work experience in terms that make you sound like you'll transition into the new job with ease. We've seen it work time after time.

How Do You Identify These Jobs?

Reading between the lines is tough. The most simple advice that we can offer is to apply for any job that you think that you can do. If the job description sounds interesting and doesn't seem to be beyond your capabilities, go for it. As long as the experience requirements on the job posting are within the range of 1-3 years, you should at least get a look. Whether you're scanning job boards, searching Google for jobs, or targeting specific employers, you need to realize that there is almost no consistency between companies when they list experience requirements. When you're job searching, you need to look carefully at job descriptions and company websites to get an idea of their culture. See what kind of experience their current employees have through LinkedIn, and use that information to get a better sense of what companies are actually looking for.

If this is overwhelming for you, then don't worry about it. Every day we profile of a new employer who is hiring new college graduates. You can look at our archive of the best entry level jobs, see what kind of jobs are available to people with your college major, or subscribe to get our jobs in your e-mail every day for free. We're pros at reading between the lines, so you can trust us to find the entry level jobs that you will probably never find on your own.

What Kind of Opportunities Are Out There?

We often hear from new college grads that they're not sure what kind of jobs are relevant to their college major. The beauty of many entry-level jobs is that your college major doesn't matter much at all. There are a ton of jobs out there that will let you start fresh; but what if you feel committed to trying to put your education to good use? A few months ago we added tags to all of our posts to make it easier for you to navigate the hundreds of entry-level employers whom we've featured. In this post we're going to link those tags to specific college majors.

Our list of college majors comes directly from the 2004-2005 U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Higher Education General Information Survey. We've also included the number of graduates for each major to give you an idea of what kind of competition you're facing. The tags pages that we've linked to our based our opinions of which employers match up best with each educational background.

1,439,264 undergraduate received Bachelors degrees during the 2004-2005 school year. Below you will find the distribution of new graduates in each major and the types of jobs that we think might appeal to them. This is a work in progress, so please leave comments and suggestion on anything that may be miscategorized or left out.

Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Conservation (23,002 new grads)

• Agriculture
• Conservation
• Energy
• Green

Architecture (9,237 new grads)

• Architecture

Area, ethnic, cultural, and gender studies (7,569 new grads)

• Bilingual
• Trends

Biological and biomedical sciences (64,611 new grads)

• Biology
• Biotechnology
• Medicine

Business (311,574 new grads)

• Account Management
• Accounting
• Advertising
• Analyst
• Business Development
• Consulting
• Finance
• Food
• Hospitality Management
• Human Resources
• Investment
• Marketing
• Merchandising
• Operations
• Product Management
• Recruiting
• Research

Communication, journalism, and related programs (72,715 new grads)

• Account Management
• Advertising
• Communications
• Consulting
• Editorial
• Journalism
• Marketing
• Public Relations
• Social Networking
• Television
• Training
• Video
• Writing

Communications technologies (2,523 new grads)

• Telephony

Computer and information sciences (54,111 new grads)

• Software Development
• Information Technology
• Web Development

Education (105,451 new grads)

• Education
• Teaching — Learn about Teacher Certification
• Fellowship Programs

Engineering (64,906 new grads)

• Engineering
• Software Development

Engineering technologies (14,837 new grads)

• Construction
• Manual Labor

English language and literature/letters (54,379 new grads)

• Education
• Teaching — Learn about Teacher Certification
• Journalism
• Writing

Family and consumer sciences/human sciences (20,074 new grads)

• Apparel
• Fashion
• Food
• Outreach
• Non-Profit
• Social Work

Foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics (18,386 new grads)

• Bilingual
• Education
• Teaching — Learn about Teacher Certification

Health professions and related clinical sciences (80,685 new grads)

• Biology
• Biotechnology
• Food
• Medicine

Legal professions and studies (3,161 new grads)

• Law

Liberal arts and sciences, general studies, and humanities (43,751 new grads)

• Education
• Teaching — Learn about Teacher Certification
• Endless options beyond these

Library science (76 new grads)

• Research

Mathematics and statistics (14,351 new grads)

• Accounting
• Consulting
• Education
• Finance
• Investment
• Math
• Teaching — Learn about Teacher Certification

Military technologies (40 new grads)

• Aeronautics
• Defense
• Flight

Multi/interdisciplinary studies (30,243 new grads)

• You designed your own major, you can figure it out yourself.

Parks, recreation, leisure and fitness studies (22,888 new grads)

• Food
• Sports

Philosophy and religious studies (11,584 new grads)

• Writing

Physical sciences and science technologies (18,905 new grads)

• Chemistry
• Research

Precision production (64 new grads)

• Apparel
• Product Development
• Product Management

Psychology (85,614 new grads)

• Human Resources
• Social Work
• Outreach

Public administration and social services (21,769 new grads)

• Government
• Non-Profit
• Public Policy

Security and protective services (30,723 new grads)

• Defense

Social sciences and history (156,892 new grads)

• Education
• Human Resources
• Museum
• Teaching — Learn about Teacher Certification

Theology and religious vocations (9,284 new grads)

• Non-profit

Transportation and materials moving (4,904 new grads)

• Aeronautics
• Flight
• Transportation

Visual and performing arts (80,955 new grads)

• Arts
• Design
• Fashion
• Music
• Production
• Video

Have any input? Leave a comment.

Image credit to Flickr user Sara V.

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What Does Entry Level Mean in a Job

Source: http://www.onedayonejob.com/blog/first-jobs-no-experience-needed/

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