Why Do Companies Ask For Years of Experience (YoE)?

Many of you reading this article must be freshers looking for entry-level jobs in the company that pleases you. Then why are you reading this article? Maybe because you faced a situation similar to this: “You were looking for jobs in a job portal, and you found a data scientist role in a company of your dreams. As soon as you started to view the description, the first thing you saw is a detailed description of the company, its goals & vision, and then you see roles and responsibilities. You kind of become overjoyed and almost immediately you see a read more option. Intrigued to apply you tap on it, and then you see something that wakes you up from your sleep, required Years of Experience (YoE)”. Now, let’s get back to the article!
Many graduates, post-graduates and doctorates alike, get startled on seeing the kind of seniority they need for a mere entry-level job. This is also the case for internships and student partner programs in highly reputed companies as well. In this article, we will get to know why YoE is important for employers, and then you can decide as to what you can do to cover their specific requirements.

1. Too Many Applicants – Let’s Filter Out! To understand this even better let’s say you are a human resources manager and would like to hire employees for the role – “Front-End Developer”. For simplicity let’s say the number of applicants is 40, and you need 10. The number of ways in which you may shortlist 10 resumes would be 40C10. Now, let’s multiply the scale, and now you need to pick 100 from 40,000.

You would definitely not want to refer to those many resumes. You would definitely want to make your work simpler by hiring the most eligible candidates and that is why you will set a rule that all candidates must have Master’s Degrees in Computer Science. Now, the number is going to drop dramatically to around 10,000 which is still a big number. Next, you’ll set a cut-off on their GPA and the number would drop further.

Finally, the Years of Experience (YoE) is the only criteria left. And as soon as you include that too, only several hundred (let’s say 400) are going to be eligible. So, what was easy 40000C100 or 400C100?

1. Cover Expenses Companies do need human resources to successfully fulfill their day-to-day objectives. But, the catch is that they must be able to afford them. Remember, that with each employee the amount the company has to spend increases. The employees may be subject to receive special incentives, leaves of absence, allowances, promotions, insurance, etc. The tax to pay to the Government is also a concern. Let’s understand this with an ideal situation we may assume and dive into practicality.

The budget is 10 crores, and you need to hire 50 people. The total number of applicants for the role is 100. Now, the task appears to be very simple as all you need to do is conduct a test and pick about 70 out of a hundred by setting a cut-off of your choice. Then you may interview them to pick 50 out of 70. Finally, you may spend 20 lakh on each candidate and successfully complete your task. However, this is an ideal situation.

In the real world, there are other things to consider as well, such as years of experience, marital status, and previously offered salary. Such factors give applicants the right to negotiate a more competitive salary. In this case, the amount you spend on each candidate would definitely not be the same, will it? The cost of training each employee is also another concern. So, once again you must consider omitting a few in-experienced candidates to cover those expenses.

1. Quality over Quantity As discussed previously, the HR department must hire employees within a stipulated budget. On that note, the cost of training is also a concern. Such concerns can be resolved to a great extent by hiring experienced personnel. Experienced employees can not only optimize the workflow in an organization but can also help out fellow employees by guiding them in the right direction. This helps to produce quality projects in shorter times and generates greater revenue, which is what any company would want.

So, now you know why many roles in reputed companies demand YoE. We may not be able to cover that experience being freshers, but there are other things we can do instead. With that being said, now let’s see two best possible solutions to cover for those years of experience:

1. Working on Projects Not all employers would want YoE. If you are already employed then meeting YoE shouldn’t be a tough task for you. However, if you are not and are a student, then you can cover up by contributing to a major project in your educational institute and make sure your role in it covers the requirements of the company.

You can carefully read the description to identify key areas for this. You can also check for websites offering such training and providing a hands-on experience as well.

As students, open-source development programs like Google Summer of Code, The Linux Foundation, Hacktober by Digital Ocean, Alibaba Summer of Code are really helpful to gain development experience during the tenure of your bachelor’s or master’s program. Once done, you may preserve your project in a drive or even upload it on GitHub.

1. Student Development Programs Major Student Development programs include online contests, hackathons, campus ambassador programs, and online certifications. All of these programs are intended to help students improve their knowledge in various fields. While hackathons and online contests help you learn the building blocks of a project and gain experience – student ambassador programs provide the management skills which are also asked in many job posts.

Now that’s all about YoE and what we can do to cover for it, as freshers. You may also explore many other possibilities to ensure that your resume is shortlisted irrespective of YoE. You can also get it evaluated to get expert feedback on what you should and shouldn’t add. Finally, we wrap up the article. If you want to know more about what are the attributes in your resume that improve your chances of getting shortlisted you can refer to 7 Ways to Add Value to Your Resume