What's the Deal When Entry Level Jobs Say They Want Experience?

Why do some entry level jobs want 2 years experience? What do they mean by experience and should I bother applying? 

Good Question! Let's get into it:

Hi everybody, I’m Brian Clapp Director of Content for WorkinSports.com and this is the Work in Sports podcast…

Let’s talk about the Sports Career Accelerator event September 13-14^th in Atlanta --  we are super excited about this event, and I have to admit so much of our excitement is based on your enthusiasm. It’s infectious! As so many of you have asked for more information, or told us you are really excited, that has helped push us forward, and motivated us to make this the best event you have ever been a part of.

For fans of this podcast we are opening registration tomorrow! Tuesday August 7^th. I will be sharing a registration link on our Private Facebook Group page – and I will be emailing personally all the people who have entered their name on our early interest list.

You will get the first crack at registration for this one of a kind event.

Then we will open registration to the public on Wednesday…my hope is all of you fill it up first, so we don’t even have to bother with the non-listeners. How cool would it be for this event to be filled up with all for you ambitious fans?!

I will be at the event personally, so this will be a meetup of sorts too. And I’m telling you, the guests speakers and networking opportunities wil blow your socks off.

Now, many of you are probably wondering… Hey Brian, didn’t you say last week that registration would open for us on Monday?

Yes I did. But we had some tech glitches this weekend, so we are spending today testing everything to make sure it works correctly before we open to up registration to you. We want registration to be smooth and seamless, and I’d rather wait a day, than have tech mistakes we can avoid.

That’s life…sometimes you need to adjust!

Anyway look for the registration info tomorrow and let’s get this done!

On to today’s QA session question, this one comes from Ethan in Minnesota –

Ethan writes in –

“Hi Brian, love the podcast thank you so much for the content you share. I’m graduating from college in the spring and as you suggest I’m reading job descriptions now so that I can figure out the gaps I should fill in during my senior year. (SO SMART!).

One thing I am noticing is that many jobs that claim to be entry level are asking for two years experience – which seems to contradict the words entry level! Are these jobs I should ignore? Or apply to anyway…what’s the deal here?!”

Ethan what a great question – frustrating isn’t it? Entry level jobs want so much experience… how does that work?

Let’s separate the fact from fiction and dig into the reality of the job market.

1: What do job requirements really mean?

2: What does experience really mean?

3: Customize your resume and cover letter 

4:  Shot gun vs. targeted

5: Gap Analysis

Listen to the episode to find out more details on this entry level jobs discussion!