- Employers plan to increase hiring by 7.3% for the class of 2025.
- Hardware engineers and certified nursing assistants are the top entry-level jobs, per a new report.
- Jobs like welders, auto mechanics, and emergency dispatchers ranked among the most dangerous.
There's a lot of pressure on new graduates to find a career straight out of college, and it doesn't help that the current job market is challenging.
But things are looking up for the class of 2025. Employers are planning to increase hiring by 7.3% compared to the class before, per the National Association of Colleges and Employers' most recent job outlook survey published last year.
Hardware engineers, certified nursing assistants, and safety representatives are among the best entry-level positions, per WalletHub's new ranking. The personal finance firm compiled the list by analyzing over 100 types of jobs and using a combination of three categories — immediate opportunity, growth potential, and job hazard — and further weighed those categories using 12 metrics, such as average starting salary, the probability of a position being replaced by a computer, and the typicality of working more than 40 hours a week.
Jobs that had the lowest unemployment rate and did not require candidates to have prior experience were ranked the highest. For example, engineers without specialization ranked third on the list for having a balanced work week, with the starting pay at nearly $77,000, and having a wider range of job opportunities than other professions.
Jobs like welders, auto mechanics, and emergency dispatchers ranked among the most dangerous. Additionally, data entry positions in finance, like new accounts representatives, tellers, and payroll clerks, were ranked lowest in terms of growth potential because of the likelihood of these positions being replaced by artificial intelligence.
Software engineers ranked fourth for best jobs, although Business Insider has previously reported that open roles for entry-level positions in the tech sector have declined and made it harder for Gen Z workers to break through.
It isn't just Gen Z software engineers who are worried about their jobs, but Americans as a whole. In March, two-thirds of respondents to the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment survey said they anticipated unemployment to go up in the year — a level of anxiety not seen since the Great Recession.
Do you have a story to share about struggling to get hired for an entry-level position? Contact this reporter at [email protected].
