2 to 3 years experience required

As a recent college graduate with no internship experience or office experience I assumed that once I hit the job market I would be looking for "entry-level" jobs. It only made sense. Me being someone that wanted enter into the corporate world at an entry-level position. As I hit the job boards however, I found that "entry-level" actually means you need 2 to 3 years of experience. Am I the only one that this doesn't make sense to? Was I lied to as a child? Under this logic, any job can be an "entry level" job. I don't feel like I'm making any sense except to me, so here are a few examples that I came across that sparked this post.

Job Title: Receptionist
Job Responsibilities:
Answer and direct all incoming calls in a timely and courteous manner
Welcome all visitors in a courteous manner
Administer the conference room schedule of 12 conference rooms
Process food/catering requests and place orders with contract vendors
Qualifications: Strong customer service skills and TWO YEARS experience.
Source: http://www.forrestsolutions.com/careers/jobs.shtml#accounting-office-support

Thats right ladies and gentlemen, you need to have been in the corporate world for two years to be qualified to answer phones, welcome people, and accept an order of general Tso's chicken for Ted from marketing. I can easily see this as an entry level position, a place to learn about a company before they move you to a position with more responsibility, but the fact that they require you to be working for two years and still call this "entry-level" is, well, just wrong.

Job Title: Administrative Assistant
Job Responsibilities:
General administrative duties (filing, faxing)
Maintain calendars
Handling high volume of phone calls internal and external
Coordinate travel arrangements
Process Travel and Expense reports Qualifications: Strong attention to detail, strong computer skills, 3 years experience, bachelors degree.
Source: http://www.careerbuilder.com

3 years? I think they're just messing with us. They're clever at the wording, but once again, this position is no more than filing, faxing, copying, and scheduling business trips but making sure no one has to pay for them. No one needs 3 years of corporate experience to do this job. I could have done it before college. Hell, I could have done it when I finished my computers class in 8th grade.

So companies want to make sure they have qualified people working their positions. Isn't that what the interview and first few months of employment are for? I seriously question whether anyone who has worked in finance for 3 years (the area that the second job was looking for) would ever take that job. Maybe this whole world works a lot differently than I thought. But every single "entry-level" job requires two to three years experience. And more pertinent to my situation, how the hell do you start out?

Homecoming

Whoever invented the idea of homecoming weekend, and whoever perfected it by adding Chuck's and Faegans to the equation deserves the Congressional Medal of Honor. Nothing takes away from the tedium of unemployment, and plays into the delusion that I have no responsibilities and am just in fact on a long school break that involves resumes than going back to the old stomping grounds and spending time with loved ones. And by loved ones, I mean my girlfriend, friends, and Guy the bartender.


And so I return to my Queens apartment, tired, sick, and...well...in the exact same place I was when I left, except sans a few dollars. Despite the wonderful delusion experienced over the weekend, I still return to the reality that I am still unemployed. I still have nothing to do. Employers still won't answer my calls, or talk to me in any way. And I still don't have the necessary 2-3 years experience required for pretty much any "entry" level position (a future blog to be done on this topic).

Which brings me to my next paragraph and therefore new thought. I am rapidly developing a hatred for a new pet peeve, one that I was subjected to many times this weekend. Many times during a conversation, people will ask what I do with my time. I'll spare you the further intricacies of the conversation, but it usually ends with "dude, you need a job." Yes. I know. Thank you for the heads up. If it was as easy as waking up and saying I want a job, then poof you get one, this blog would be a sports blog. Going up to someone who is actively looking for a job and saying "you need a job" is the equivalent of going up to someone with the clap and saying "you need to get rid of that." No shit Sherlock.

Expect another blog in the next few days, I have no job leads to follow up on, and all the job boards have been relatively quiet, giving me even less to do during the day.