DISCLAIMER: GoldInvestors.news is not a registered investment, legal or tax advisor or broker/dealer. All investment/financial opinions expressed by GoldInvestors.news are from the personal research and experience of the owner of the site and are intended as educational material. Although best efforts are made to ensure that all information is accurate and up to date, occasionally unintended errors and misprints may occur.

Rachel Grandis entered the job market with five years of experience spanning content creation for Elon University’s athletic department, social media management for its business school, marketing internships, restaurant work and summer camps. After graduating in May with a strategic communications degree, the 22 year old still could not secure a full time offer.

“Entry-level to these companies is somebody who’s coming from three years of experience in the workforce,” Grandis tells CNBC Make It. “It’s hard when they want all this experience, but no job is willing to give you that first experience to have on your resume.”

Grandis wonders whether applicant tracking systems assisted by AI see that she is a 2026 graduate and remove her from consideration. She believes discussing her college experience directly with someone might improve her chances of receiving another interview.

Her frustration reflects a broader complaint among recent graduates. A Cengage employability report found that 77% believe businesses demand too much experience for entry level positions, while 75% say there are too few genuine entry level opportunities.

The report draws on surveys conducted from April through August 2026. Respondents included 931 full time hiring managers, 759 postsecondary instructors and 1,100 recent graduates holding four year degrees, two year degrees, credentials or certificates across the United States.

Cengage CEO Michael Hansen said employers have raised their expectations for junior workers. Companies increasingly want applicants to arrive with critical thinking and decision making abilities, particularly as businesses invest in AI and need employees capable of managing changing technology.

Employers also report that some graduates lack interpersonal abilities such as rallying a team, organizing a project or solving a problem. Hansen said hiring managers expect students to develop those skills through classrooms, clubs and internships, but do not always see them in new workers.

At the same time, 72% of employers said rapid workforce changes have made it difficult for colleges and universities to keep readiness programs current. Even so, Hansen said many business leaders expect young employees to produce results immediately and have less patience for basic training than five or 10 years ago.

Doubts about the value of higher education are growing alongside those expectations. Only 37% of graduates said their education was worth the cost, a sharp decline from the 68% who expressed that view in 2022.

The market itself remains tight. Handshake postings from July 2025 through June 2026 rose only 1% from the comparable 2024 to 2025 period, following three consecutive years of declines.

Employers posted nearly twice as many full time positions for the Class of 2022 as they did for the Class of 2026. As of August, entry level hiring and the national hiring rate were both down roughly 6.5% from August 2025, according to LinkedIn data.

The contraction was even steeper in several industries that regularly employ entry level talent. Hiring across financial services, technology, information and media, and professional services was down between 33% and 43% from June 2021, according to LinkedIn.

Graduates are responding by ruling themselves out of opportunities. Some 53% said they avoided applying for certain entry level jobs in their fields because they felt underqualified, compared with 48% in 2025, continuing an increase that began in 2023.

Most respondents placed the primary responsibility for workforce preparation on students, while also assigning a role to teachers and academic programs. Just 17% of students, 11% of instructors and 19% of employers said businesses carry the least responsibility for preparing graduates.

Hansen argued that employers should work more closely with schools to provide classroom instruction, internships, apprenticeships and other training tied to needed skills. “Employers can’t just say, ‘Here, I put the bar higher,’ and then [complain when] they don’t find enough entry-level people,” Hansen says.

About 1 in 3 graduates said insufficient prior work experience removes them from consideration for jobs. They ranked experience as the leading factor in securing employment at 24%, compared with 14% who identified having a degree.

Grandis remains hopeful that volunteer or part time opportunities will connect her with people who can help her land a full time marketing position. She has documented her search on TikTok, where some videos about the entry level market went viral and prompted other users to share similar struggles.

“I think a lot of people don’t realize just how many people are in the same boat and how many recent grads are really struggling to find jobs,” Grandis says. Her experience captures a market where credentials and college work increasingly fail to satisfy employers demanding more.

DISCLAIMER: GoldInvestors.news is not a registered investment, legal or tax advisor or broker/dealer. All investment/financial opinions expressed by GoldInvestors.news are from the personal research and experience of the owner of the site and are intended as educational material. Although best efforts are made to ensure that all information is accurate and up to date, occasionally unintended errors and misprints may occur.