New research conducted by StandOut CV, an expert CV assistance agency, shows that almost half of entry-level jobs in the UK ask their potential employees for prior work experience.
After studying the requirements for 43 of the UK’s most popular entry-level roles, including coffee baristas, computer programmers and graphic designers, StandOut CV found that 37 per cent of employers required experience in that specific sector.
On average, while 21 per cent of the entry-level roles did not specify an exact length of experience that they desired, most of the jobs said that they expected 2.5 years of field experience.
After listing the top 10 entry-level roles, which included IT technicians, junior software engineers, baristas, associate product managers, graduate sales engineers, computer programmers, civil engineers, project managers, graphic designers and waiters, the data showed that IT technician roles ranked the most likely to ask for prior experience.
A huge 62.8 per cent of IT technician vacancies asked for an average of 2.3 years of experience, followed by 60 per cent of junior software engineer advertisements that required an average of 2.5 years of past experience and 58.8 per cent of barista positions that asked for around 2 years of training in that field.
While many barista roles focus on brewing speciality coffee, for those looking to enter the coffee industry, StandOut CV urged employees to apply for jobs by handing their resume into local cafes and restaurants instead.
While entry-level barista openings were listed as the third most likely to require prior experience, out of the top 10 entry-level roles that asked for industry experience, waiter roles were ranked as the least likely – measuring at 52 per cent.
This news comes after a recent UK Hospitality survey, the trade body for the UK hospitality sector, found that 25 per cent of hospitality businesses admitted to being on the brink of a financial collapse.
Entry-level waiter roles also ranked last in regard to salary, with the minimum salary for hospitality workers measuring at £18,935 a year.
The number of waiter roles that asked for experience was closely followed by graphic designer vacancies, with more than half, 52.3 per cent, of employers requiring previous experience in that field.
Despite being the least likely to ask for past experience, the study found that the waiter roles that did ask for experience, required an average of five years.
Administrative assistant vacancies also asked for an average of five years of prior experience, followed by associate product manager, project manager, executive assistant and account manager roles that asked for for years of past experience.
To earn a minimum salary of £27,047 each year, teachers are expected to have roughly 3.4 years of experience in that field.
Business analyst vacancies, which boast a minimum salary of £35,884, asked for the least amount of prior experience – currently measuring at around 3.2 years.
The StandOut CV report also highlighted that roles which were least likely to ask for previous work experience.
Out of all the entry-level job vacancies that required experience, teaching assistant roles ranked the least. Just 1.6 per cent of teaching assistant adverts asked for industry experience.
The research also exposed the healthcare sector for being the industry that boasts entry-level jobs that require the least amount of experience.
According to the StandOut CV data, just 3.8 per cent of social worker roles, which generate a minimum salary of £37,958 each year, required prior experience.
While dental nurse jobs also boast also boast a minimum salary of more than £35,000 each year, currently listed at £36,524, just 6.4 per cent of employers asked for past experience.
Less than five per cent of licensed practical nurse advertisements asked for industry experience.
