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The Best And Worst Entry-Level Jobs

This article is more than 8 years old.

With graduation season approaching, the bottom rung of the careers ladder--and how to grab hold--is on the minds of many first-time job seekers.

As such, personal finance site WalletHub took a look at 109 varying types of entry-level jobs, evaluating them across 11 factors to determine which provide the most and least attractive opportunities to those seeking entry-level work.

Considerations included the availability of immediate opportunities, median starting salary, unemployment numbers, projected job growth, on-the-job training, frequency of fatal injuries and the percentage of people in each job that work upwards of 40 hours per week.

The jobs listed here, while considered entry-level, require different levels of education, training or professional certification.

The top of the list is dominated by IT and engineering roles, including Web Applications Developer, Network Engineer, Software Engineer and Information Security Analyst. Jobs like Software Engineer and Systems Engineer boast the most immediate openings.

Also at the top of the list are positions like Attorney, Environmental Engineer and Financial Analyst. Attorneys earn among the highest starting salaries of any job on this list, bested only by Tax Attorneys and Drilling Engineers.

At the other end of the spectrum, Welders and Boilermakers hold jobs considered among the most dangerous on the list. Sheetmetal mechanics face the fewest number of immediate job openings, while Refinery Operators see the slowest projected job growth by 2022.

Consumer Loan Servicing Clerk, though considered one of the least dangerous jobs, also provides some of the least job openings.

In pictures: The 10 Best And Worst Entry-Level Jobs

To view WalletHub's full list of 2015's Best & Worst Entry-Level Jobs, click here. 

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