10 Top Jobs for New College Graduates

Jobs

Published: May 18, 2017 1:45 pm

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 11:52 am

An estimated 1.8 million students will be getting bachelor’s degrees this year, and most of those newly minted scholars will be looking for a job, if for no other reason than to begin paying off the student loan debts they’ve accumulated over the past four (or more) years.

The U.S. economy has been adding around 185,000 jobs a month for the past 16 months. By one estimate, the U.S. job market needs to add about 150,000 jobs a month just to maintain a steady unemployment rate. In order to keep up with U.S. population growth alone, the nation’s economy needs to create about 205,000 jobs every month.

That latter number should give you a hint at why it’s still challenging to get a job in the United States.

Researchers at employment website Glassdoor have combed through tens of thousands of resumes and identified the most common jobs college graduates get and which major fields of study are most associated with those jobs.

Here are the 10 top jobs for new college grads along with the median base pay and the top college majors associated with each job.

Sales Associate: median base pay of $38,000; Business, English, Political Science
Research Assistant: $28,885; Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Teaching Assistant: $20,000; Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Intern: $30,000; Psychology, Finance, Economics
Administrative Assistant: $40,000; Business, Psychology, Communications
Account Manager: $50,000; Business, Marketing, Communications
Social Media Manager: $44,000; Communications, English, Public Relations
Software Engineer: $90,000; Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Information Technology
Case Manager: $37,000; Psychology, Nursing, Criminal Justice
Data Analyst: $60,000; Mathematics, Information Technology, Economics

Visit the Glassdoor website for a look at the next 10 most popular jobs for new graduates and other tips for getting that first job.

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