“Three years of experience isn’t enough” ... Companies are raising the bar for experienced hires

[Financial News] Companies are demanding increasingly more experience when hiring experienced candidates. Over the past two years, the average minimum experience listed in job postings rose from 4.67 to 5.92 years. Analysts say that as companies’ preference for more experienced candidates becomes more pronounced, workers with relatively little experience are facing greater barriers to changing jobs.
On the 5th, HR tech company Incruit said an analysis of domestic job postings for experienced hires over the past three years, from 2024 through this year, found that the average minimum experience required by companies rose steadily from 4.67 years in the third quarter of 2024 to 5.18 years in the same period last year and 5.92 years this year. That was an increase of 1.25 years in two years.
Changes were also evident in the share of job postings by experience range. The share requiring one to three years of experience fell each year, from 48.0% in the third quarter of 2024 to 40.6% last year and 35.3% this year. That amounts to a decline of 12.7 percentage points in two years.
By contrast, the share of postings requiring at least five years of experience grew from 43.0% to 51.0% and then 58.5% over the same period. After rising 15.5 percentage points in two years, the share this year means that about six out of every 10 postings for experienced hires require at least five years of experience.
This shift reflects companies’ preference for candidates with substantial hands-on experience when hiring experienced workers. As more postings for experienced hires call for a certain level of expertise, the range of job-change options available to less-experienced workers appears to be narrowing.
Some interpret the trend as a sign that barriers to entering the experienced-hire market are rising, particularly as the average minimum experience requirement has approached six years. Since companies are asking for extensive experience from the outset of recruitment, job seekers with less experience are increasingly likely to struggle to get their existing experience recognized when changing jobs.
As a result, analysts say less-experienced candidates may increasingly consider applying for entry-level roles as so-called “experienced new hires,” as well as changing jobs using their existing experience.
An Incruit representative said, “Our analysis of job postings for experienced hires found that, over the past three years, postings have shifted toward candidates with more years of experience.” The representative added, “We believe this trend points to a structural change in the hiring market, with less-experienced candidates considering entry-level recruitment as so-called ‘experienced new hires’ a new option.”
[email protected] Lee Ju-mi Reporter