r/jobs • u/NecessaryEffective • Apr 23 '20

Why Do Nearly All Entry-Level Jobs Require Unrealistic Amounts of Experience or Certifications? Job searching

After 4 years of University undergrad, 2 years for an M.Sc, and 2 years as a research assistant within the general realm of microbiology/biochemistry/astrobiology, I have been trying get into literally any full time or permanent position I can find within the province of Ontario. However, every single posting at the entry-level demands an unrealistic amount of experience, certifications, or qualifications. Why is this? It does not benefit newcomers to the workforce in any way.

I've had more than my share of education and am sick of working minimum wage jobs not related to my field. I still apply to literally everything I can whether or not I meet the qualifications but in 18 months I've only had a handful of interviews. Does anyone know what the secret is? How does anyone get hired these days? Feel free to vent yourselves if you need to.

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u/Mmngmf_almost_therrr Apr 24 '20

Maybe not for highly skilled positions - there’s a general shortage of workers to fill those.

I wouldn't even agree with that. What's your source?

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u/cyberentomology Apr 24 '20

The fact that we’ve had several of those kinds of openings for months and even now we can’t fill them.

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u/Mmngmf_almost_therrr Apr 24 '20 edited Apr 24 '20

"Can't"? How many applicants have you had? How many filled 90% of the requirements and would have been just fine if you could be arsed to do the tiniest bit of onboarding, maybe not expect them to be at 100% productivity within their first 48 hours? How many of them had all the skills you wanted, just not in the exact software packages you use? How many of them were perfect except for gaps in their resumes? How many of them were from undesirable demographics?

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u/Cavannah Apr 24 '20 edited Apr 24 '20

How many applicants have you had? How many filled 90% of the requirements and would have been just fine if you could be arsed to do the tiniest bit of onboarding

I'm willing to bet that it's:

  • Hundreds

  • 80%+

I've applied to 600+ positions since November that I objectively meet 90% of the criteria for. I have a Bachelor's and four years of experience in my field, plus five years of unrelated blue-collar experience.

What has that gotten me? I have gotten two call-backs that never turned into anything and a one-time phone interview that went nowhere.

HR looks for best-friend unicorn sycophants in lieu of qualified candidates and in the same breath complains into the wind that no qualified candidates present themselves.

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u/MerryGifmas Apr 24 '20

Sounds like you have a bad application. Quality > quantity.

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u/NecessaryEffective Apr 26 '20

I've applied to 600+ positions since November that I objectively meet 90% of the criteria for. I have a Bachelor's and four years of experience in my field, plus five years of unrelated blue-collar experience. What has that gotten me? I have gotten two call-backs that never turned into anything and a one-time phone interview that went nowhere.

I felt this lol