Cindy Meis is director of undergraduate career services at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business.
We need to talk about how we define “entry level.”
Too often, we see employers advertise positions as entry level but then require job experience. SHRM cited a study that found 61% of jobs advertised as entry level require more than three years of experience.
That’s not entry level, and it shapes who applies, who gets screened out, and how quickly organizations can build strong talent pipelines. In my work with undergraduate business students at the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business, one of the biggest barriers I see for getting a job isn’t lack of motivation, experience or education. It’s a job that advertises itself as “entry level” while requiring more than one year of experience.
That single line may look harmless, but in practice, it creates confusion, discourages qualified applicants, and wastes time for candidates and employers.
What employers mean when they’re looking for candidates with experience is “early career,” not “entry level.” The two terms are not interchangeable, and when we treat them as if they are, we remove the first rung of the career ladder, a rung that is imperative in this competitive employment climate.
Requiring even one year of experience can be limiting for new grads. Too often, employers discount experience that students gain from part-time work, student group leadership, or case study competitions. The editor of a student newspaper, for instance, is learning about project management and deadlines on the job, as is the data analyst intern at a global health insurance company. That should be considered experience.
Students aren’t sure what to do when they see a job listing that requires experience, not knowing if what they learned in a student group, class project, or internship will qualify. Oftentimes, the discouraged or confused candidate doesn’t even apply, or the employer isn’t quantifying those as experience. Either way, employers lose smart and motivated candidates.
In a challenging hiring climate like the one we’re now in, employers would be smart to distinguish between a true entry-level job and an early-career job. We need definitions to make the differences explicit. For instance, an entry-level job should be the first professional role following graduation, with student activity and internship experience counting as work experience.
Positions that require a year or more of professional experience after graduation would be defined as early career.
For clarity, employers can also add an equivalencies line to their postings: “Relevant internships, co-ops, capstone projects with external partners, or leadership in applied student organizations may be considered in lieu of full-time experience.”
This helps applicants to know exactly what the employer wants and not waste time applying for jobs they’re not qualified for. It helps employers because they won’t be overwhelmed with applicants who don’t have the right kind of experience.
Employers do value indicators of readiness that often come directly from college experience. Surveys from the National Association of Colleges and Employers show that employers are looking for evidence candidates can do the job and prioritize capabilities like problem-solving and teamwork, skills commonly built through projects, student organizations and applied coursework.
University career centers can help with this. We can’t assume employers will interpret coursework as “real” experience, so we can show students how to name their outcomes in business terms: deliverables, stakeholders, metrics, tools, deadlines and impact. When a student completes an applied capstone or employer-sponsored analytics project, that isn’t “just coursework.” It’s project execution in a real-world context; often with ambiguity, collaboration and deadlines that mirror work.
If employers are serious about building early-career talent, they can help by better defining what they’re looking for. They’re not lowering the bar by clarifying entry-level requirements. They’re removing noise and barriers for everyone.