🚀First job: applying when you have no experience yet

“Experience required: 2 years minimum.” When you are starting out, that sentence feels like a locked door — and it discourages more applications than it rules out candidates.

The truth is more encouraging: an experience requirement is almost always a preference, not a condition. And in jobs where employers cannot find anyone, that preference drops very fast. Of the 66 jobs Flemmy tracks, 42 are in that situation.

Where to apply when you are starting out

Shortage occupations, ranked by what they pay from the very first job.

Sources: job postings observed on France Travail and Adzuna, ROME framework. Gross annual, first job. These ranges vary by region and company size.

Four things that replace experience

1. What you did elsewhere counts. Summer job, volunteering, club, personal project, short internship: it goes on a CV, and it shows you can keep a commitment. A blank says nothing.
2. Apply even if you don’t tick every box. A posting lists an ideal, not a minimum. If you meet half the criteria and the job is in short supply, you are a credible candidate — not an impostor.
3. Prepare the interview more than the CV. With a beginner, a recruiter tests motivation and the ability to learn, not expertise. That can be prepared — and it is ground where you can beat an experienced candidate who revised nothing.
4. Target companies that hire continuously. They have well-oiled onboarding and accept junior profiles far more easily than those that hire once every two years.

Three tips, job by job