The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.
You have worked hard up until now. If you’ve been in college, the last 4 years of your life have been sleepless, filled with endless hours studying, trying to have a seemingly normal social life, while trying to work at a job to pay your rent and afford food. All while thinking about the fact that when you graduate, you are going to be in so much debt, you have no idea how many years it is going to take you to pay it all back.
You don’t worry though. You know you’ll get a great paying job and pay it all back in a year or so. You have so much to offer. You studied psychology, history, philosophy, business, sociology, or another liberal arts or social science degree. You know you have so much to offer the job market and any company would be lucky to have you.
Well, the truth is. You’re right about that. Any company would be lucky to have you. But what do you really have to offer? The last 4 years of your life have been studying a broad range of topics you hope that you can find a job in or you have hope to establish a career in. You’ve obviously grown up in those 4 years, learned a lot about yourself, developed a well-rounded personality that can handle a lot of stress and dealing with a lot all at once. You even have the paper to prove it.
Maybe you worked a part time or full time job while you were in school, but you hated it. You realized it was a dead-end job and wanted to aim for something much higher, especially with much more pay. The very look on your co-workers faces and your own face, when they opened their paychecks, made you motivated enough to not cry and work towards a better life.
Depending on what you studied in college, you may need to further educate yourself and receive an even more advanced degree to obtain a career in your field. Getting a job is not only based on your experience or your education level, but your personality as well. You may know how to talk to or handle people in certain situations. You may put yourself out there and be lucky enough to land a great job on your first try. Or it may take you several jobs and years after college to really find something you love.
If you really want to get a great job right out of college, than there are several things you should learn before or in college, if you haven’t already. Here are 10 guidelines to help you through your transition from pre-college life to post-college life.
Learn to be open-minded.
Learn to be friendly and make friends.
Learn to enjoy yourself.
Learn to handle stress.
Learn to study something you would love to do for the rest of your life.
Learn to figure out how to turn that thing you love to do into something profitable.
Learn to accept that everything is always changing and nothing stays the same.
Learn to accept that you must continue learning and growing because when you stop is when you die.
Learn to accept rejection when it comes your way.
Learn to open your eyes and see opportunity everywhere.
While not included above as a part of those guidelines, but will further increase your understanding and knowledge, I highly recommend that if given the chance, travel around the world to different places. Carefully plan your trips and be safe, but be open to meeting new people. In the process, you will meet a wide-range of people who will teach you more than you could ever learn in any school.
Here is an infographic covering some of the top-earning entry-level jobs that might steer you in the right direction right from the start to of what you may want to consider studying in college so you can land a high-income job or career soon after you graduate college.
Click to Open / Right-click for save options
Text-Friendly Version
Top-Earning Entry-Level Jobs
Many people would like to have great salaries right after they finish their studies – or even during them. Instead of working many years for a better job position or a better salary, some people choose to go after degrees which land them with high incomes right from the start. Here are some of the top-earning entry-level jobs and the best-paid working fields to go into.
Top-Paying Jobs
Petroleum Engineers $119,140 They extract natural gases and crude oil from the earth. They have a background in mathematics, geophysics, petroleum geology, and extraction techniques.
Computer Hardware Engineers $97,570 They research, design, develop, test, manage, and upgrade computer hardware. They also have to stay up-to-date with the changes in a rapidly evolving field.
Electrical Engineers $85,830 They design, test, improve and repair electronics. They can develop a wide range of products such as robots, cars, wiring systems, or medical equipment.
Investment Bankers $85,580 They make links between businesses and investors by offering them advisory services.
Economists $83,590 They study the distribution of resources for the production of goods and services. They analyze data and trends in order to predict financial and social aspects that affect the business world.
Computer Programmers $73,470 They repair, update, and modify existing programs with programming languages such as C++ and Python.
Management Analysts $73,360 They research and make strategic plans for businesses in order to better them. They solve problems and advice managers.
Database Administrators $72,900 They collect, store, and organize data by utilizing special software. They also analyze user needs and create databases which they test for security and integrity.
Registered Nurses $68,160 They treat, educate, and support patients. They also administer treatment and analyze test results.
Landscape Architects $64,000 They plan and design the sites of buildings, roads, and plant life in order to obtain harmony. They prepare models, estimate costs, and supervise the construction process.
Top-Paying Fields
Engineering: $53,400 Construction, Trades, and Labor: $51,100 Energy, Oil, and Gas: $50,900 Information Technology and Telecommunications: $46,000 Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals: $43,900 Manufacturing: $42,700 Insurance: $40,800 Government, Military, and Civil Service: $40,300 Business and Finance: $40,200 Warehouse and Logistics: $39,600
![Top Earning Entry Level Jobs [Infographic]](https://cdn.confessionsoftheprofessions.com/infographics/top-earning-entry-level-jobs-infographic.jpg)
