"The more things change the more they stay the same."

You've heard that saying and when it comes to people graduating from college, it holds true. When I graduated from college I was more than just a bit pre-occupied with the thought, "now what?"

Recent and soon-to-be college graduates have been asking that question forever. The lucky ones have a job lined up the moment that diploma goes up on mom and dad's living room wall. The rest wade into a job market that hasn't been particularly kind to new graduates.

Zippia.com a career advice website has made an effort to help grads narrow their search for that "first" job. No, it doesn't mean this will be your job for a lifetime. However, it might help you find something, anything, that could assist with those school loans which will be coming due, the minute you move your futon out of the dorm!

Zippia's criteria and how they came up with it? Firstly, they asked a lot of recent grads what their requirements for a first job were. Their responses in order of importance were:

  1. A job. (Any job)
  2. Location (Preferably a place they wanted to live and work)
  3. Pay (Yes please! And if possible, enough to live on, save some and recreate now & then)
  4. Potential for growth (Otherwise, what's the point?)
  5. Work-life balance (I wish them luck on this one, because quite often your first job, at least in the beginning, is your life!)

Zippia took these responses, and got busy crunching numbers, limiting the results to entry-level jobs in South Dakota which require at least a bachelor's degree and they came up with nine.

Here they are along with the approximate entry level wage offered:

  1. Sales Reps, wholesale & manufacturing, technical & scientific products: $43,970
  2. Insurance Sales Agents: $32,550
  3. Network and Computer systems Administrators: $43,120
  4. Residential Advisors: $20,320
  5. Management Analysts; $42,820
  6. Social & Human service Assistants; $19,370
  7. Human Resources Specialists; $34,730
  8. Coaches and Scouts; $25,470
  9. Clergy: $28,990

Good luck graduates!

Source: Zippia.com


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