Entry-Level Sales Jobs — Sales Managers and Marketing Managers
In your first year as a sales or marketing manager you can earn a good $80,000. With this job, you help companies find ways to sell products and services to the public or to other businesses for the best profit. In general, you're going to have to have a marketing or finance degree, although you can get these online in your spare time so that you don't have to quit your current job. This job does require that you like to meet people and that you like to travel.
Entry-Level Medical Jobs — Staff Registered Nurses
Registered nurses earn over $60,000 a year in their first year. In addition, they're likely to be in demand for at least another 10 years. You can get your registered nursing degree in two years, but a bachelor's degree will give you better wages. Because of that, it's best to attend nursing school and get your bachelor of science in nursing; alternatively, you can take your RN degree and transform it into a bachelor of science in nursing degree at a four-year school.
Entry-Level Healthcare Jobs — Physical Therapist
There are entry-level health-related jobs besides the previously mentioned registered nursing position. Getting a degree as a physical therapist will earn you over $60,000 in your first year. For this, of course, you're going to have to attend a physical therapy program at an accredited college or university, and you have to meet your state's licensing requirements.
Entry-Level Sports Jobs — Professional Athletes
Although most of us can't get these jobs, those hired with professional sports teams can expect to make in the hundreds of thousands of dollars in their first year. If they continue their careers, assuming injury does not shorten those careers, they can expect to make millions of dollars by the time they retire.
Entry-Level Traveling Jobs
There are a number of entry-level traveling jobs that require you to travel extensively. Salespeople must travel quite extensively for their work if they have accounts throughout a particular territory. If you work for an airline, either as a pilot or in another position, you may travel extensively flying to and from different airports, providing service to customers, and so on.
Flight Attendant
The flight attendant makes sure that passengers are safe and that all safety protocol is followed by passengers during the flight. Airline attendants generally fly 60 to 90 hours a month, and spend another 45 to 50 hours a month doing flight-related work on the ground, such as writing reports on completed flights and getting airplanes ready for the next flight. These are also among entry-level traveling jobs, since the nature of the job itself requires that flight attendants have to be away from home at least a third of the time.
To be a flight attendant, you must at least have graduated from high school, although many employers now prefer that flight attendants have a college degree that focuses on people skills, such as tourism and travel, psychology, nursing, or education. In addition to your own education, you must also complete the training provided to you by the airline that hires you. You'll learn safety procedures, including keeping passengers safe and dealing with disruptive passengers. To stay employed, you must continually be recertified by the FAA to be sure that you continue to meet its standards.
You'll also need to meet certain minimum physical requirements, such as height restrictions (so that you can reach overhead bins) and age restrictions (you must be at least 18 to 21 years old, depending on the airline). You must also have correctable vision to a minimum of 20/30, with uncorrected vision no worse than 20/200.
Entry-level traveling jobs, like that of the airline attendant, make only about $16,000 a year, but this is somewhat offset by the perks of the job, including free to reduced travel, accommodations away from home, and meal allowances while traveling away from home in relation to work.
Other Top Entry-Level Jobs
Below are a number of entry-level jobs that can be found in various other sectors.
High School Teacher
On average, beginning high school teachers can make $31,000 a year, and more than that if you work in a tony school district. You'll need to have a teaching degree from an accredited college to work in a public school, and will have to also pass your state's certification requirements for teachers.
Computer Software Engineer
Computer software engineers enjoy a career that's in a fast-growing sector of the economy. Talented computer software engineers can make close to $60,000 a year their first year. Of course, for this, you'll usually need a computer science or computer programming degree.
Web Designer
If you are already versed in graphic arts, take an online graphics course to teach yourself the basics of web graphics. More schools are offering graphic web design degrees, too. Expect to earn about $50,000 year your first year out.
Financial Analyst
If you've got a good solid background in accounting, finance, or economics, you can specialize as a financial analyst for businesses or the government. You may need to earn an additional degree in finance, depending on who you work for, but starting salaries for financial analysts are about $85,000 a year.
Restaurant Manager
It might surprise you but, yes, restaurant managers earn pretty decent money. If you take some coursework in restaurant management or learn on the job, you can eventually earned $53,000 a year or better once you're running your own establishment. You'll do better, usually, if you are on salary at a major chain or hotel than you will with a small, privately-owned restaurant or eatery.
