10 Entry-Level Roles You Didn’t Realize You’re Qualified For
When searching for your first job, it’s easy to default to the familiar and only apply to roles you’ve heard of before. But in a tight job market, expanding your search and discovering new role types can make all the difference when it comes to finding the place you want to start your career. That said, you might be unsure of what roles you actually have the skills and qualifications to pursue. To aid in your search, we’ve rounded up a set of roles that you might not have realized you’re qualified for. Many of these roles call for soft skills such as communication, determination, leadership, and willingness to learn, rather than technical or industry expertise. That makes these positions a great option for students coming from adaptable academic backgrounds like liberal arts, humanities, social sciences, or general business. Read on to learn about these different kinds of roles, as well as some examples of companies that hire for them.
Business Development Representative
Business Development Representatives (BDR), also called Sales Development Representatives, are responsible for finding new customers for a company. This role involves contacting people you have never spoken to before and conveying how the company’s product will solve a client’s problem. If you are a natural communicator, love building relationships, and enjoy finding a solution to what seemed to be an unsolvable problem, being a Business Development Representative might be for you. You might also have relevant work experience without even realizing it – things like reaching out to organizations for sponsorships as a campus club leader or selling to customers as a retail associate are both examples of relevant experiences that will help you land this job. This is a role you can find at many companies, from tech startups to worldwide industry leaders, meaning there are always jobs (and internships!) available. Another great reason to consider this career – most companies see hiring a BDR as an investment, and have structured career paths and development opportunities available for entry-level hires or interns.
Companies who hire for this role type on RippleMatch:
ALKU is a highly specialized consulting services firm focused on deploying highly skilled consulting resources in the areas of ERP, HCIT, Life Sciences, Government Programs, and Information Security. Learn more about ALKU here.
Gallagher is one of the world's largest insurance brokerage, risk management services and human capital consulting firms. Learn more about Gallagher here.
Armstrong World Industries, Inc. (AWI) is a leader in the design and manufacture of innovative commercial and residential ceiling, wall and suspension system solutions in the Americas. Learn more about Armstrong World Industries here.
At Qualtrics, the mission is to close the experience gap. Qualtrics Experience Management (XM) is the only software platform that helps brands continually assess the quality of their four core experiences—customers, employees, products, and brands. With Qualtrics XM, organizations can be at every meaningful touchpoint, for every experience, and predict which changes will resonate most with stakeholders. Learn more about Qualtrics and view their open Sales Development Representative roles here.
Customer Success Associate
A Customer (or Client) Success Associate (CSA) is responsible for building and nourishing the company’s relationship with the customer. A CSA is the client’s first point of contact at the company, and needs to be available to answer any questions or concerns the client might have about the product or service they have been sold. CSAs usually take over an account after a sale has been closed and must keep the customer happy. These roles are a huge part of technology companies that sell directly to consumers. If you are looking to get into tech but don’t have the computer skills, becoming a CSA is a great choice. This is also a great role for grads who have a strong communications background, enjoy connecting with new people, and find satisfaction from helping others and problem solving.
Teacher at a Charter School
If you’re looking for a future career where you can make a difference in people’s lives and enjoy swift professional growth and career progression in an uncertain time, teaching at a charter school is a great opportunity. Unlike public schools, not all public charter schools require that their teachers have a teaching certification. Instead, charter schools provide the necessary training and support to graduates who pursue a career in teaching or education. That means students from all academic backgrounds – from STEM to Liberal Arts – can be qualified for this role if they have a passion for education, are empathetic and collaborative, and have great communication and public speaking skills. With teaching taking place online or in-person, teachers are tasked with preparing lesson plans, communicating concepts to students, facilitating discussions, and working one-on-one or in small groups with students.
Companies who hire for this role type on RippleMatch:
Success Academy is the highest performing charter school network in New York State, with a network of 47 public charter schools serving 20,000 K-12 students in some of New York City’s most underserved neighborhoods. Success Academy seeks out graduates across academic backgrounds for their entry-level teaching positions, and provides the support and training necessary to succeed as a teacher. In addition to an immersive summer training experience and daily one-on-one coaching and feedback, they provide weekly training throughout the year to help teachers become masters at their craft and build skills in areas like project management, public speaking, and data analysis. Learn more about Success Academy, RSVP to info sessions, and apply for available roles here.
Communications Coordinator
A Communications Coordinator provides support to an organization’s marketing and communications department. Depending on the specific role, Communications Coordinators may manage social media for an organization, be responsible for drafting press releases, or manage newsletter content. The variation in the role makes it a great choice for those who want a career in communications but are not sure what their speciality should be. Regardless of your day-to-day tasks, “Communications Coordinator” is excellent to have on your resume to move onto many other communications roles. Additionally, this is a great role for those who have strong writing skills, making it excellent for college newspaper grads, or those who led marketing efforts for on-campus events. Communications Coordinators are needed at both traditional companies and non-profit organizations, making it an excellent career choice for someone who wants to work in the charity sector but also utilize their communications skills.
McMaster-Carr’s Development and Design Program
You might think you need a four-year degree in Computer Science or extensive internship experience in order to land a software engineering role after graduation – but that’s not necessarily the case. One of RippleMatch’s employer partners has a unique program that teaches new grads with a knack for learning and a passion for problem-solving how to code.
McMaster-Carr specifically seeks out problem solvers from all academic backgrounds – not just Computer Science majors – to join their Systems department, providing immersive training and a culture of development to help entry-level employees begin a rewarding and challenging career in tech. Through this Development and Design track, McMaster-Carr has hired new grads with majors ranging from Economics to Philosophy to Astronomy to International & Human Rights. While new grads entering this program come from different academic backgrounds and have varying levels of programming experience, all share a curiosity for how things work – and all are provided with the necessary training and support to succeed in a technical role. You can learn more about Development and Design at McMaster-Carr by reading this article, featuring employees who began their careers at McMaster-Carr in Development and Design.
Data Analyst
All industries – from retail to medical to non-profit to finance – leverage data in order to drive business outcomes. That means you have a good shot at finding a fulfilling role as a data analyst in the industry of your choice if you have strong attention to detail, confidence working with numbers, and feel comfortable learning and leveraging data-centric software like Excel and Tableau and languages like SQL. The exact title and technical expectations of this role will vary across companies, but this type of role is a great fit for students with a background in STEM, or for students with a strong interest and some experience in all things analytics.
Paralegal/legal assistant
If you’re interested in the legal system a great way to involve yourself is by working as a paralegal or legal assistant. You would be able to have a hands-on role in a legal office by assisting with organizing files, creating documents, and assisting with important investigative research. This kind of position lends itself well to majors like history, literature, and communications as there would be a lot of reading, writing, and researching involved. This position also lets you get an inside look on how a law office runs, so if you’re interested in potentially getting a law degree in the future it’s one way to explore the industry.
Companies who hire for this role type on RippleMatch:
Gunderson Dettmer is the only business law firm of its kind—singularly focused on the global venture capital and emerging technology marketplace. With 270+ attorneys in nine offices Gunderson Dettmer represents 2,500+ high-growth companies and 450+ venture capital and growth equity firms. Gunderson Dettmer combines deep market knowledge and strong industry relationships with a unique practice experience to provide practical, business-oriented counsel designed for the needs of the emerging-growth company marketplace. Learn more about Gunderson Dettmer here.
Recruitment Coordinator
Recruitment coordinators are tasked with finding viable candidates to fill open roles at a company. Recruitment coordinators usually work for a recruitment agency or internally for a company, and find candidates for specific clients. This is a very popular entry level role, as recruitment consultants need to be energetic, results-driven, and tech-savvy, which many recent grads are. Most Recruitment Consultants make use of their LinkedIn Premium, and are tasked with cold-emailing and cold-calling potential candidates. This is a great role for people with great communication skills and enjoy building rapport with new people. However, unlike a sales role, with the ultimate goal being selling a product, the goal is to match individuals and companies to ensure a great fit. Recruitment Consultants can find satisfaction from knowing their work is helping not only the companies they are sourcing for, but the people they are helping find new jobs.
Leadership Development and Rotational Programs
Starting your career in a leadership development or rotational program is one of the best ways to set yourself up for success. Lasting one to three years, you will be put in different positions within multiple business functions of the company, allowing you (and the company) to see where you best fit. Doing a leadership and rotational program is an excellent idea if you are interested in a career in business, but are unsure what aspect of business you wish to pursue. These programs are at companies across many industries, including tech, consumer products, finance, healthcare, and communications. Companies recruit for leadership and rotational programs with the end goal of hiring new leaders for the business. These programs can be quite competitive, and are a great fit if you’ve proven your skills with on-campus leadership roles, and a stellar GPA. However, if you work hard and are driven, you can leave the program steps ahead on a very successful career path.
Want to learn more about Leadership Development Programs and what they entail? Watch our info session on these programs featuring Lenovo, McMaster-Carr, Herc Rentals, and Venture For America, four companies that hire through RippleMatch that offer Leadership Development and Rotational Programs.
Business Support Coordinator
A Business Support Coordinator is tasked with providing administrative support to the business functions of the company. Like many other coordinator roles, it is largely a logistical one, and requires great attention to detail, as it is an essential part of the business’s supply chain. If you’re exceptionally organized and can effectively track a budget, you already have some of the essential skills needed for this job. Because this role requires quite a bit of multi-tasking as well, this is a great job for grads who have proven that they can juggle multiple extracurriculars and school work successfully. Business Support Coordinators exist across nearly every industry, also making it a great role to get your foot in the door at a company you find especially interesting.
These are just a few of the roles out there that you might not have realized you had the skills to excel in. Want more career ideas? Check out the following articles:
What To Do If You Don’t Know What Career Path to Choose
10 Career Ideas for Liberal Arts Majors
10 Career Ideas for Psychology Majors
10 Career Ideas for Business Majors
10 Career Ideas for Finance Majors
10 Career Ideas for Economics Majors
10 Career Ideas for Political Science Majors
10 Career Ideas for Computer Science Majors
