Entry level postings that want five years of experience

Most job descriptions are not written from scratch. Somebody copies the last one for a similar role, or merges what two people said they wanted, and nobody reconciles the seniority label with the requirements list. The number in the posting is frequently not the number the hiring manager will hold out for.

Telling the real requirements from the wish list

Hard requirements are specific, legal, or binary. A licence. A degree stated as required. A named certification with a version. Work authorisation. If you do not have one of those, applying is usually not a good use of the evening.

Soft requirements are written in ranges and adjectives. Three to five years. Familiarity with. Strong understanding of. Anything marked preferred. Those are opening positions, not gates.

Clear every hard requirement and roughly half the soft ones and you are inside the range where a person actually looks.

What counts as experience when you do not have a job yet

More than you think, if you make it specific. Coursework where you built something. A lab. A project you can describe by what broke and how you fixed it. Work in an unrelated job that used the same underlying skill, described in the posting's language rather than yours.

What does not count is enthusiasm. Every applicant is a fast learner. Nobody has ever been hired for it.

What I do

I read the postings, separate the hard requirements from the wish list, and hand you a short list with the reason each one is on it, including where you are the underdog.

I cannot promise you a job or an interview, and you should be suspicious of anybody who does.