[DigitallyFidget]

I wish these supposed jobs existed when I finished my degree for going into cybersecurity, unfortunately EVERY "entry level" job required 3-5 years experience. It's probably exactly the same today. Now I work in electrical engineering, because the position requested (not required) a background in IT and my hobbyist experience was enough to satisfy the rest of the requirements.

[carlmr]

If 3-5 years is the baseline, you deduct 3-5 years from the experience numbers and apply to those job postings. I.e. 3-5 years entry level? Apply after college. 5-8 years senior position? Apply after 2-3 years.

Job position descriptions are wish lists, if they don't find a candidate they will hire somebody that doesn't fit the bill 100%. Which is usually the people that dared to apply anyway.

[pyuser583]

I was never entry level. First programming job was senior. Like really senior.

No idea why they hired someone brand for senior.

I guess for a while I explained it as “senior” and “junior” not necessarily being descriptive.

Now I think it’s that I had related experience (I had been a teacher, and training/mentoring is a big part of the job.)