The good jobs are not all in “plastics” as Walter Brooke famously told Dustin Hoffman’s character in the film classic, “The Graduate.” Today, it’s all about technology. This is, after all, the era of technology, the computer revolution, the cyber age and the dawn of the ultra-future.
In more practical terms, the technology sector is the place to be for college grads and there are very good reasons for that. Here are the top five.
1] There are Plenty of Good, Interesting Jobs Available
No matter what part of the business you want to work in, there are lots of openings. One interesting statistic from 2017 employment data revealed that the number one sector sought out by accounting majors was IT.
This is the amazing thing about the field: even non-techies, like CPAs, new attorneys and management specialists want to be there. The segment is growing so fast that there are reams of job openings for people in virtually every specialty. Remember, even tech companies need accountants, HR departments, lawyers and in-house medical staff.
2] You Can Work Towards Paying Off Student Loans
Many of the top firms in the industry have begun student loan repayment programs as an incentive to attract and retain high-quality candidates.
Of course, one aspect of this ploy by the big firms is to snag all those indebted MIT and Princeton graduates who have massive student loans. But the programs work for anyone who gets hired and have already, according to self-reported industry data, paid off more than $300 million of student indebtedness.
And what if your new employer doesn’t have a payback plan of their own? In that case, you can get your student loans refinanced and end up with lower monthly payments, a more favorable interest rate, and additional time to pay off the balance. Refinancing your student loans makes sense and is easy to do.
In most cases, new hires need not stay longer than three years to obtain at payback benefits. Each company has its own arrangement but graduates are savvy about who has what at any given moment and tend to shop for the best “deals.”
3] The Corporate Culture is Inclusive and Fun
IT firms do things differently. They’re big on culture, fitness and being inclusive. Perhaps because many of their founders learned the hard way that dealing with computers all day can stress the mind, IT corporations are famous for offering employee perks like free fitness memberships, in-house movie nights, every kind of sports team you can think of, office discussion groups and weekend sports outings. It’s no secret why so many college grads gravitate to IT.
4] Office Politics are Minimal
Most corporate structures in the IT field are based more on meritocracy than any other industry is. If you do good work and apply yourself, you will succeed. It doesn’t matter who you know but what you know. New grads also tend to stay with tech firms longer than with any other industry that hires college graduates.
5] The Money is More Than Adequate
Salaries for entry-level IT workers are higher than in any other sector. That applies to all jobs, from entry-level programmers and accountants to engineers and statistical modelers. The tech sector has been among the highest-paying new job fields for college grads for more than two decades, and the trend shows no signs of abating.
