Everyone wants a career that pays well. But finding a high paying entry level job can be difficult in most markets. Yet, this is not the case for the tech industry. Even outside of Silicon Valley, there are tons of high paying entry level tech jobs.
People get into technical professions for all sorts of reasons. Some people choose IT jobs because they like the appreciation they get from their friends and family.
Others become technical workers so they can tackle tough and challenging issues. They seek work that forces them to continually improve their skills and become better, more adept employees. And some people become tech workers to develop their ideas and create a business.
The main attraction of tech jobs, however, will probably always be high salaries and excellent career mobility. People who work with computer systems can find a job almost anywhere. From technical support to software engineering, entry level positions are everywhere.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics makes it clear that full-time technology positions are growing fast. If you know how to code, you’ll probably be able to find technical positions at various companies. That doesn’t mean your phone will be filled with job alerts on day one. But in most cases, the prospects are very good.
You may be wondering how much an entry level IT job pays. Tech careers are unique, because they allow both college graduates and non-graduates to make six figures quickly. When you start your tech career, you expect to make a decent living. But which entry level tech jobs offer the highest starting salaries?
We’ve developed this guide to answer that question. We’ll show you which tech jobs will net you an excellent salary even if you have little or no experience. We’ve examined Glassdoor’s salary charts and have the facts and figures to point you in the right direction.
The 4 Best Entry Level Tech Jobs for 2020
Four of the best entry level IT jobs include:
- Web Designer
- Social Media Manager
- Web Developer
- Data Analyst
Now, let’s take a deeper look at each of these lucrative careers.
1. Web Designer
You might be intimidated by the thought of designing websites if you don’t have any prior experience. But you’d be surprised at how easy it is to get started in the field. If you have a good eye for aesthetics and a solid grasp of end-user behavior and expectations, you’ll be able to find a good web designer job that offers a fine starting salary.
Web design has a bit of an apprentice-journeyman-master training aspect to it. So you can easily find a junior web designer gig that lets you learn at the feet of a seasoned pro.
Web developers create websites, enhance user experience, and update systems to help companies manage their online presence. Communication skills are a must in this position, as all software developers must communicate effectively with the whole engineering team.
Junior web designers make about $50,000 a year when they start out. But your pay will rapidly increase as you accrue design experience. You’ll need to train yourself before taking a web design position—a bootcamp will give you the skills you need. You can also pick up the training on your own by learning how to use the Adobe Creative Suite as well as HTML and CSS.
2. Social Media Manager
This position, like many others in the tech industry, didn’t exist until recently. Social media has been the up-and-coming leader in new business technology lately, and there’s a serious lack of people who know how to take advantage of it.
People who can effectively shape a company’s social media profile and message are like gold to modern businesses, and you can get in on the ground floor of this business revolution as a social media manager. Social media managers aren’t simply customer service–they help establish a brand presence online, which is essential today.
Because the social media field is so new, you don’t need a ton of experience to find a good gig. You’ll need to be adept at accessing any reports and data you might need to support or guide your messaging, and you should be comfortable working with social calendars as well.
Be familiar with growth strategy patterns, and make sure you have solid writing and scheduling tool chops, too. You’ll make about $50,000 a year as a social media manager, although your experience will dictate your pay to some degree.
3. Web Developer
Problem solvers and visually-oriented people often flourish in a web development position. If you’re interested in design, you might also be suited to a career as a web developer. Unlike a web designer, a web developer works with the nuts and bolts that go into building a website. As a web developer, you’ll become familiar with what goes into building a website, from soup to nuts.
Junior web developers usually work directly under senior developers to help them learn the skills and processes needed to create modern websites. As a new web developer, you’ll make an annual salary of about $55,000, although that will change in a hurry as you add knowledge and experience.
You’ll need to have a fair amount of knowledge going into this job and should bone up on coding languages such as CSS, JavaScript, PHP, Python, and Ruby on Rails, to name a few. To acquire that knowledge, you can opt to study on your own or attend a coding bootcamp.
4. Data Analyst
In today’s business environment, data is king. The more information a company has about its customers, their preferences, and their buying habits, the more flexible and responsive it can be in responding to changing needs.
Data analysts are key to the data acquisition cycle—they identify the data to be collected and ensure that they are correctly analyzed, compiled, and interpreted so they can be used to improve company performance.
As a new data analyst, you’ll start with a solid annual salary of about $61,000, and you can expect that to shoot way up as you gain more experience. Data analysts often have strong organizational skills.
Learn XML and JavaScript and get familiar with segmentation and data mining, too. It doesn’t hurt to have healthy design skills along with your data knowledge, as you will need to present your findings in an appealing and user-friendly way.
A Final Word on Entry Level Tech Jobs
Tech careers are known to pay well, but it’s hard to find one that will get you a good paycheck right out of the gate. But now you know which tech jobs will net you a good salary as an entry level worker. Before long, you’ll be using your tech skills and earning a higher salary.
What’s your opinion of high-paying entry level tech jobs? Let us know your thoughts in our comments section below.
