From April 2026, the UK minimum wage rises to £12.71 an hour.
Yet here we are. Entry-level IT roles paying just about that, asking for 3 years of IT experience, a full UK driving licence, industry certifications, weekend flexibility, a tailored cover letter explaining why this opportunity excites you, and a CV.
I’d laugh if I didn’t see this every single week.
80% of entry-level IT roles I reviewed this week included at least one requirement that didn’t match the salary on offer.
The cost nobody is counting
These bloated specs aren’t just lazy. They’re quietly locking people out of tech before they’ve even had a chance to walk through the door.
The career changer who has spent six months teaching themselves to code. The bootcamp graduate who took a different route to university. The person who can’t afford a £3,000 certification. The young person who looks at that list, feels completely unqualified, and closes the tab.
None of them apply. And then hiring managers wonder why they’re not getting great candidates. Why their team keeps looking the same. Why tech still feels like a closed shop to so many people.
I’ve been recruiting in tech since 2016. The phrase I hear more than any other right now is ‘we need someone who can hit the ground running.’ And I understand the pressure behind that. But you can’t attract different people with the same old spec. The companies that stand out are the ones willing to invest , in skills, in mindset, in potential. That’s not a cost. That’s a competitive advantage.
What entry-level actually means
Most entry-level tech roles don’t need three years of experience. They need the right attitude and aptitude, reliability, and a genuine willingness to learn. The rest? It can be taught.
I had a client recently who was struggling to fill an entry-level role. The problem wasn’t the market , it was the mindset. They had a very fixed idea of the background this person needed to come from, and it was quietly ruling out anyone who didn’t fit a fairly narrow picture.
We talked about what they actually needed. Not the background, not the CV , the culture fit, the attitude, and what the company had the capacity to offer in terms of support and development.
I put forward someone who was really driven but didn’t fit the usual profile. They took the chance.
That person got the job. And they’ve since become the benchmark for every hire at that level.
Diversity starts earlier than you think
Diversity in tech generates a lot of policies, pledges, and panel discussions. What gets less attention is the most practical lever any hiring manager has right now: the job ad.
Before you write a single requirement, ask yourself honestly , is this genuinely needed on day one, or is it habit? Is it something we could support the right person to develop? Are we asking for it because the role needs it, or because the last person had it?
When you strip a job ad back to what it actually needs, something shifts. You start hearing from people you’d never have considered. People who are hungry, capable, and bring a perspective your team is missing. People who, six months in, you can’t imagine not having hired.
We all started somewhere
I’m very grateful to the company that took a chance on me at the start of my recruitment career. I was coming from a very different background, I wasn’t the obvious choice. But they took the risk, gave me the training, and backed me to grow into the role.
So when I talk about giving people a chance, I’m not just making a business argument. I know firsthand what it means when someone looks past the CV and backs the person.
If you’re hiring for an entry-level tech role and something about your spec doesn’t feel right, it’s worth a conversation before you post.