Why is it so hard to get an entry-level job?

If you are starting out and getting nowhere, the problem is not only you. The first rung of the career ladder has been getting narrower for several years, and the figures show it.

What the data shows

From our 2026 labour market study:

• Recent graduates’ unemployment was about 5.6% in March 2026, against about 4.1% for the workforce as a whole.
• Junior postings fell faster and recovered more slowly than senior ones across technology, media, marketing and consulting after interest rates rose in 2022.
• Many graduates are in jobs that do not need their degree. Survey-based estimates run at roughly 30 to 40%, and higher for those who graduated between 2020 and 2023.
• Applicant numbers are highest at the bottom. Entry-level and remote roles draw the largest piles, on platforms where the average is already about 300 applications per hire.

The study’s conclusion is careful: young people are mostly employed, so this is not a jobs crisis. It is a ladder crisis. The roles that used to turn a graduate into an experienced hire are fewer.

Three reasons it got harder

“Entry level” stopped meaning entry level

Postings labelled entry level now often ask for prior experience, specific tools and a portfolio. When employers can choose from hundreds of applicants, they raise the bar because they can. Screening software then enforces it: a knockout question on years of experience removes you before a person reads anything. See Does an ATS reject resumes automatically?

Employers train less

Firms have moved from developing people to buying ready-made skills. A junior hire is an investment that takes time to pay back, and fewer employers are making it.

AI took the first tasks

Drafting, data cleaning, routine code and basic research were how juniors learned the job. Those are the tasks AI tools do first. Our study calls this the most serious long-run risk: if nobody does junior work, nobody becomes senior.

What works

• Show the work. A project, a portfolio, a public repository, writing samples. Proof you can do the job beats a claim that you could learn it.
• Count all your experience. Internships, part-time jobs, freelance work, volunteering and substantial university projects are experience. Describe them with the same care as a job.
• Apply to “1 to 2 years” roles. Requirements are often a wish list. If you meet most of them, apply, unless a screening question rules you out.
• Apply early. With the largest applicant piles in the market, the first days of a posting matter most.
• Aim where the crowd is not. Smaller companies, less fashionable industries and roles outside the biggest cities get fewer applicants.
• Write to people. A short note to a recruiter or a team lead, with a link to your work, gets read when an application may not. See How to follow up on a job application.
• Use AI as a skill, not a shortcut. Directing these tools well is a skill in its own right. Say how you have used them to do real work.

Where Glide helps

A first search is the one with the least information: you do not yet know which roles fit, which companies answer people like you or what the work should pay. Glide scores each role against your profile, researches the company behind it, tailors your resume to the posting, finds the right person to write to and shows the market pay for the role. It will not invent experience you do not have. It makes sure what you do have is seen.

Common questions

How do I get a job with no experience?

Redefine experience. Internships, projects, part-time and volunteer work all count if you describe what you did and what came of it. Then add proof: something a hiring manager can look at.

Why do entry-level jobs require experience?

Because employers with hundreds of applicants can ask for it, and because fewer are willing to train. The requirement is often softer than it reads; many hires do not meet every line.

Is AI taking entry-level jobs?

It is taking entry-level tasks, which reduces how many juniors a team needs. Overall employment is at a record, so the effect so far is on the career ladder rather than on the unemployment rate.

How many jobs should a new graduate apply to?

Enough to keep several processes moving at once, chosen for fit. Dozens of generic applications to crowded roles return less than a handful of targeted ones with a portfolio and a follow-up.