Best Jobs for Recent College Grads

It’s never too early to start looking for your first job after college. Although it’s only January, it will be May before you know it and you don’t want to be caught off guard when graduation sneaks up on you.

To help prepare graduates for this transition, Laurence Shatkin, Ph.D., and career expert Michael Farr wrote “200 Best Jobs for Recent Graduates, Fourth Edition. The book identifies 200 of the most rewarding jobs for graduates, including such pertinent information as annual earnings, beginning wages, job growth and more.

“These jobs have higher percentages of recent college graduates and may present more opportunities for initial entry or upward mobility,” Shatkin says.

Here’s a short list of the best overall jobs with a high percentage of college graduates between 20- and 24-year-olds, according to Farr and Shatkin.

• Network systems and data communications analysts

Beginning wage: $40,100

Percent growth: 53.4 percent

Annual opening: 35,086

• Sales agents, financial services

Beginning wage: $30,890

Percent growth: 24.8 percent

Annual opening: 47,750

• Sales agents, securities and commodities

Beginning wage: $30,890

Percent growth: 24.8 percent

Annual opening: 47,750

• Market research analysts

Beginning wage: $33,310

Percent growth: 20.1 percent

Annual opening: 45,015

• Public relations specialist

Beginning wage: $29,580

Percent growth: 17.6 percent

Annual opening: 51,216

• Cost estimators

Beginning wage: $32,470

Percent growth: 18.5 percent

Annual opening: 38,379

• Educational, vocational and school counselors

Beginning wage: $28,430

Percent growth: 12.6 percent

Annual opening: 54,025

• Actuaries

Beginning wage: $48,750

Percent growth: 23.7 percent

Annual opening: 3,245

• Paralegals and legal assistants

Beginning wage: $28,360

Percent growth: 22.2 percent

Annual opening: 22,756

• Computer support specialists

Beginning wage: $25,950

Percent growth: 12.9 percent

Annual opening: 97,334

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My dream job (Part Three)

Over the last few days, our CBcampus Ambassadors have been sharing some fun ideas about what they’d do for a living if they could build and shape their “dream job.”

Molly, our Ambassador in Michigan, is sharing her idea about what she’d like to do if she could build her own dream job.

Like many of us, Molly’s dream was shaped during her childhood. But she’s recently found a new source of inspiration.

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My dream job (Part Two)

We’ve been talking to our CBcampus Ambassadors and asking them what their ideal job would be. We have to face a lot of reality when all of us are searching for a job, so we wanted to make it fun and hear about what new workers entering the workforce would do for their dream gig.

Ryan, our Ambassador from Indiana, has a dream job – and it involves beer.

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My dream job (Part One)

We asked our CBCampus Ambassadors to tell us what they’d do if they could create or land any job in the world.

First up: Kristina, our Ambassador from Wisconsin. Kristina’s a communications major, and she’s got a unique idea about a certain set of footsteps she’d love to follow in.

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COMPETE, COMPETE, COMPETE

COMPETE.

That’s the message of a recent article in the Harvard Business Review by noted business expert Marshall Goldsmith.

Goldsmith makes a number of really important observations that every recent graduate and graduate-to-be needs to hear.

Among Goldsmith’s comments:

• It is tough out there, and it’s only going to get tougher.
• It’s crucial to think like an entrepreneur. 
• Students are competing in a global market. Goldsmith defines an important aspect of global competition: students at top engineering and science programs across the world speak English as fluently as you do – and it’s their second language.

Goldsmith’s mantra: compete, compete, compete.

• Develop skills and talents that will make you globally competitive.
• Keep upgrading and changing your skills and talents to fit the marketplace. 
• Know more and work harder.
• Keep refining and enhancing your education – never stop learning. 

To see the entire article, click here.

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Advice from the experts

On Wednesday, we featured a post from our CBcampus Ambassador Molly, who had experienced a less-than-stellar beginning to her job search.

We asked several experts and career center counselors across the country to take a look at Molly’s story and see if they had any suggestions for her to help her maximize her efforts to find a job.

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Twists and turns in your career path

It’s a challenging time to be searching for a job, especially that elusive first job.

Our CBcampus Ambassador Molly is planning for her post-graduation job, too. We’d love to tell you it was a mouseclick away, but Molly has hit several road bumps along her career path.

Here’s Molly story in her own words.

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