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As anyone who’s graduated from university or applied for their first job in recent years can attest to, something new – and alarming – has happened to entry-level jobs: they’ve disappeared.
A recent analysis of close to 4 million jobs posted on LinkedIn since late 2017 showed that 35% of postings for “entry-level” positions asked for years of prior relevant work experience. That requirement was even more common in certain industries. More than 60% of listings for entry-level software and IT Services jobs, for instance, required three or more years of experience. In short, it seems entry-level jobs aren’t for people just entering the workforce at all.
And while that first job is harder than ever to get, it’s also more important than ever, says Alan Seals, an associate professor of economics at Auburn University, US. It may be the bottom-most rung on the employment ladder, but a worker’s first position sets the tone for their career.
“The most important time in your career is the first three years,” he says. “The quality of your first employer really matters. So, how do you get that first job?”
The simple answer is workers need something more than motivation or a college degree to enter the workforce now, whether it’s lots of internships, or the connections to get around a complex application process without an algorithm weeding them out. But not everybody has access to those advantages, and the result is that workers are being left behind.
The rise of the internship
An ever-growing internship market means more young people are fleshing out their resumes before they even leave university, says Seals, who notes many students are now getting their first internship after first year.
“Internships are now the entry level,” he says. “Most of the students in college are doing or trying to do internships, and now it’s increasingly common to do more than one.”