What Does “Entry Level” Really Mean?

These days, even though the issue is recognized, jobs still require “entry-level” candidates to have at least three years of experience on top of their Bachelor’s degree, and Master’s are more preferred. But then someone in their 50s is too experienced for the job, even though they have a Bachelor’s degree and at least 30 years of experience. What’s the deal with this?

As an art student, my teachers would remind us that we can use our school experience as work experience when applying to jobs. We’re lucky in this way because we work on projects every week and are required to act as professionals while we create business relationships with our fellow students.

The following is an example of this dynamic. In fashion school, the design students make clothes with the help of the textile students. They then seek a styling student to put together a photo shoot featuring their designs. The styling student is responsible for finding a photographer, a model (which are either other students or professional models), and sometimes a journalism student to write an editorial on the photoshoot. Although I can only speak as a styling/journalism student, I think it’s safe to assume most art school experiences are like this.

It’s much harder for those who aren’t in hands-on education. A summer internship still isn’t enough experience to land an entry-level job, even if the company is marketing its open position towards recent grads.

Which brings me to another point, our educations, no matter if they were hands-on or not, should count as our experience. What use would our educations be if they didn’t provide us with the right tools to succeed in our careers? I give a lot of praise to employers who recognize education as experience and don’t also require outside experience.

I’ve been applying to jobs for over a year in any position that is relevant to my degree. A few months ago, I had a phone interview with a manager at a small company I had applied to. At one point in the interview, she told me “I know that our job description says that this position is entry-level, but I still don’t think you’re experienced enough.” This statement clearly hurt; I’m a journalism student with experience writing for my school and other publications.

Not only this, but the position had entry-level in the job description and title. If a company puts entry-level in the title and description, they should be willing to train their new employees if necessary and should not be turning away someone for lack of experience. They put entry-level in the description, which means potentially anyone with any experience could apply.

What do you think about entry-level jobs and their required experience? Let me know in the comments, I would love to open a discussion on the subject!