RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – OK, graduates or soon-to-be, here’s some advice about jobs as you begin to transition from classwork to work. Take heart, too. Employers are stepping up plans to hire new graduates.
WalletHub has released its report on 2022’s Best & Worst Entry-Level jobs, with a focus on positions for the graduating class of 2022. And many of the roles in the “best” list match the kinds of roles that are currently available in the Triangle, signaling the opportunities in our area for new graduates.
The top 10 “best” roles included eight engineering roles, like Software Engineer (No. 1) and Electronics Engineer (No. 2), and other tech roles like Operations Research Analyst (No. 7) and Web Applications Engineer (No. 9).
Technology and engineering talent demand continues to grow across the Triangle, and WRAL TechWire has been tracking the trends this year. Demand for tech talent in this area is still going strong, and WRAL TechWire recently reported that of North Carolina’s top IT occupations were represented on Glassdoor’s new report about best jobs for 2022.
Point of emphasis: Work in the Triangle, a Wake County Economic Development program, regularly shares new openings through its Twitter feed, @WorkTriangleNC. The program recently launched a job board on its website, with 11,185 active openings as of Sunday afternoon. Of those, 9,018 are technology jobs, 1,242 are advanced manufacturing positions, 325 are in cleantech and 600 are in life sciences.
The report from WalletHub focused on enty-level roles for new college graduates. The report cited a National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) study, which found that employers plan to hire over 26% more graduates from the Class of 2022 than they did from the Class of 2021.
Triangle employers looking to fill as many as 50,000 jobs, data shows
According to a recent Indeed search, there are over 250 full-time, entry-level engineering roles available in the Research Triangle Park area alone.
A search for other tech roles on the “best” list shows dozens of current opportunities across the Triangle and across industries, like full-time, entry-level Operations Research Analyst roles at LexisNexis, Duke University, and Tempus, or full-time, entry-level Web Applications Engineer roles at Red Hat, Credit Suisse, and North Carolina State University.
The “best” jobs have immediate opportunities and growth potential
To create the list, WalletHub compared 108 entry-level occupations across three key dimensions: Immediate Opportunity,Growth Potential, and Job Hazards.
Engineering and tech roles dominated the “best” list, while roles in legal dominated the highest-paid category and roles in accounting and finance dominated the highest-demand categories.
The “worst” jobs have more job hazards, lower pay
Jobs on the “worst” list often had more job hazards. Two of the top 10 “worst” roles, Emergency Dispatcher (No. 106 out of 108) and Welder I (No. 103), also received the highest possible score for Job Hazards (100/100).
Other metrics included average starting salary, projected job growth by 2030, and median tenure with an employer.
Evaluating talent opportunities for the class of 2022
David Earnhardt, Associate Director for Employer Relations at the University of North Carolina Asheville’s Career Center, was quoted in the WalletHub report, offering advice to graduates who are evaluating job postings.
“If a position is promising advancement or increases in compensation within a short period, I see an organization trying to sell an opportunity rather than offer it, and I see red flags,” wrote Earnhardt.
