Job prospects for recent college graduates are not as grim as they were in the midst of the 2009 recession, but they are far from great. With wages stagnating, rent exploding, and expensive, urban cities becoming popular landing spots for Millennials, snagging a high(ish) paying and stable entry-level job can make the turbulent transition infinitely smoother.
In an effort to help identify some of the best entry-level positions, we’ve looked to WalletHub’s 2015’s Best & Worst Entry-Level Jobs List. WalletHub examined over 109 different types of entry-level jobs and weighed them according to immediate opportunity (starting salary, number of job openings and unemployment rate), growth prospects (projected job growth by 2022, income growth potential, training, annual salary, tenure, and occupation viability), and hardship (number of fatalities and people working over 40 hours). The result is a well-balanced list of some of the best entry-level jobs. We’ve pulled the top 15.
The first entry on the list is database administrator.
Median annual salary: $77,080 (according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, unless otherwise noted)
Immediate Opportunity Rank (starting salary, number of job openings and unemployment rate): 19
Growth Potential Rank (projected job growth by 2022, income growth potential, training, annual salary, tenure, and occupation viability): 17
Hardship Rank (number of fatalities and people working over 40 hours): 60
A database administrator is the person responsible for databases in an organization. Installing them, configuring them, maintaining them – the database administrator essentially dreams about databases. Complex solving and communication skills are a definite requirement. Most employers would be looking for candidates with a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in a field related to database administration, like computer science or information technology.
The position received good ranks for immediate opportunity and growth potential, which means that starting salary, chances at finding a job, and future salary are all high. The hardship is not as good. The low score on hardship is likely due to a high number of employees working over 40 hours a week. Database administrator is likely the perfect job for someone that doesn’t mind putting in the occasional overtime to make sure everything is running smoothly.
