Google Smart: 5 Tips for Entry-Level Job Searches
No more entry-level roles requiring 10 years of experience
The Internet has grown so vast. Job opportunities are abundant.
That’s what they say…until you’re on Google browsing an entry-level role requiring 5 years of experience.
Most folks have zero knowledge of search engine optimization (SEO). But it’s one of the most powerful tools in existence when it comes to finding what YOU want online.
You’ll benefit from these job search tips if you want to:
Customize your job search
Enter the field with little experience
Find your first remote entry-level job
Pivot to another career
#1 Become familiar with how entry-level job titles are described in your industry
Today, it’s not hard finding a list of roles (thank SEO). Here are 450 job titles grouped by industry.
Most fields have a general pathway for you based on job level, aka experience. Here are a few quick examples:
Tutor → Afterschool Program Assistant → Teaching Assistant → Instructor
Jr. Engineer → Engineer II → Sr. Engineer → Staff Engineer → Principal Engineer
Job titles are a great start to understanding what’s out there, but it’s not the only factor. Consider the field, as well.
For example, you could be a junior engineer but working in software or architecture. A teaching assistant can work with elementary or college students.
Each company has its own way of describing roles, too. My current manager was a marketing director at his last company but right now, he’s a marketing lead despite having 10+ years of experience. It varies.
#2 Search smart by using operators to filter keywords on Google
Pick any search platform you want. I use Google for the sake of explaining.
Group entry-level keywords to yield more accurate results
Use AND and OR to add keywords like entry-level, college students, or new grad to the search criteria.
"job title here" AND "entry-level" OR "new grad"
Quotation marks mean you want an exact phrase match. If your location is enabled, the search engine result page (SERP) will show you different results.
Try using “entry level” vs. “entry-level” to see how the results differ with no dash.
Describe your preferred working arrangement or career interests
Want a role close to home? Seeking a remote job?
Use AND to specify this requirement in quotation marks:
"job title here" AND "remote" AND "entry-level" OR "new grad"
Here’s a sample query I used to look for marketing based on my own interests. Feel free to plug and chug.
"B2B marketing" AND "digital" OR "email marketing" AND "entry-level" OR "new grad"
Check out the SERP. I immediately discovered relevant roles.
Use action verbs to signify an individual contributor role
New professionals are individual contributors. Action verbs like administer, process, and support may be found in these newbie-level roles.
Again, here’s a search query I used for marketing that includes parenthesis to group keywords:
("B2B marketing" AND "entry-level" OR "new grad") AND "support"
Regardless of title, Monster claims these keywords generally indicate an entry-level position.
Exclude terms found in senior-level or higher positions
A hyphen can be used to exclude words like senior, sr., level II, lead, manager, director, VP, or executive. These are not entry-level.
Again, plug and chug your own role-related terms:
("B2B marketing" AND "entry-level" OR "new grad") -senior
Modify these words to discover more jobs, and try out variations of AND and OR if not yielding good results.
Want a deep dive? ClickMinded has a short guide on operators. Indeed also outlines search tactics here.
Good luck on your job search!