It's been a long time since entry level jobs were limited to retail or food service. Now there are opportunities that are technically 'entry-level' that you may not have considered. From janitorial, to sales, to service technicians, there are many opportunities to train on-the-job for a satisfying career that offers upward mobility.

Resources:

• General help roles

Well, let's dive right into it. do just want to

say, and we mentioned it on our last show as well, that we have

We do, April 28. And it's not just for people who

a career fair coming out.

are actively looking for jobs. It's for people who are just

curious what's out there. So don't be shy. It's at the public

library. So you can even just pretend you're going to the

library.

Downtown Cedar Rapids Public Library, three to

6pm, April 28. And there's going to be employers there, there's

going to be a lot of employers there. Yeah. But there's also a

variety,

something for everybody. And that's pretty

much our mantra when it comes to career. Sure.

Yeah. And but yeah, the library has been

really good to partner with. And we're going to also just have

resources as well available to job seekers or people that are

curious, like you say,

yeah, like, if you need help with your resume, you

just want to talk to somebody about career path, or you know,

what, career skill, upscaling resources are out there, we're

gonna have some resources for you there. So it's gonna be a

really great event. And I'm looking forward to it, it's free

to register. And you can do that on the on corridor. careers.com.

Cool. Well, let's dive into our topic for

today. We are in early March 2022. And that means we're just

a couple months away from a big event for a lot of college

graduates, or people graduating or it could be high school. But

graduation is upcoming here, a couple months. And we're going

to have a plethora of new people looking for jobs and or hitting

the job market. So today, we want to talk a little bit about

entry level jobs. So if you look at Corridor Careers right now,

where could I go and find an entry level job?

Yeah, we were just talking about this. So the

variety of things that are considered entry level is really

wide right now. So if you were not, if you've not been in the

work force for some time, or you're just entering the

workforce, it's not just retail positions that are open to you,

there are such a variety of entry level positions that you

could find something that would be interesting for you right

now. And they range from, you know, working in a nonprofit,

where you could try on a lot of different hats, to just

professional settings, like medical settings where you could

set appointments, call reminders, things like that.

There's youth counselor roles, there's financial assistance.

There's quite a variety. And what's really exciting right now

for maybe a college student, or just someone who's reentering

workforce is that, you know, they can take what they've

learned, and how they've adapted over the the pandemic as like a

skill set into these entry level positions. Because we've all had

to grow so much over the last three years, whether we were

working or not, you know, you just had to adapt to so many

different changes that our entire lives were up ended. And,

and here we are, we're still here, hopefully. And so you

learn something, no matter what happens in the last couple of

years. And I would encourage you to use that if you are going to

be talking with an employer about why it might be a good fit

for them. So one careers, we have a job category category

called general health. And that is sometimes a category that's

put on different roles because they're more open to just

general applicants. And I'm seeing on here things like a

cable installer. So oftentimes, many local companies that

install Internet or cable offer really great training programs.

So you could start as an entry level, outside plant technician

or outside, cable installer technician go through their

training programs, and there are always a lot of benefits,

whether it's for media comm or I'm on or some other broadband

companies that are in the area. So that's an interesting role.

Definitely is for someone who doesn't want to sit in an office

all day, you're going to be out in the field troubleshooting,

you're going to be maybe climbing a pole, you're gonna be

doing physical things that are kind of interesting, and you get

to be that person that's hooking someone up to the internet.

That's a really important job,

Everybody's best friend when they show up right?

I've had many relationship, you know, many

relationships over the past few years with our cable installer.

So dispatchers, there are you know a lot of transportation

roles that aren't just drivers, their dispatcher roles, there

are scheduler roles, coordinator roles. And so if you're

interested in kind of the movement of things, and this

whole supply chain that is a growing field, and so maybe you

even got your degree in supply chain Technology or something

like that those are critical roles that are needing to be

filled in our, our location, or in this area. And there are

quite a few transportation companies in the greater

corridor. So there's a lot of opportunity there. And then

everything's like receptionist, um, front desk, manager. And

then janitor, janitorial services, there's a lot of

janitorial services that are needing more help, because they

are expanding their services with businesses that have

reopened and then rehiring a lot of people to work and clean

those facilities. So those are options as well. And then sales

sales is a really great entry level position, especially for a

college student who wants to get their feet wet and understand

how businesses work. Sales is such a great skill set to have

-wouldn't you say, Dan?

Absolutely. I was looking at that right here.

And the I think the, one of the top jobs that showed up on the

general help page on Corridor Careers was a sales job, a car

sales job that day, right? I was like, you know, if you were

interested in cars, and you mentioned like a transportation

job, but what have you, you know, or maybe into business, or

you kind of want to get a little, you want to work with

people and help people and maybe that's through selling cars,

what a what a great, like entry level way to, you know, not only

meet other people at work, but also, you know, make make a

solid income right out of college. And I was just thinking

back to kind of those moments right after I got done with

school. And it was a tough, tough time. The economy was not

doing well, I remember, it was 2008, I took an internship

making $8.50 an hour, because that's fine. I remember, you

know, I tried to ask my uncle who was working at principle,

financial and demand, I was like, Hey, do you guys have any

jobs open over there? And he's like, Yeah, we just laid off,

like, 30% of our people. And we all took a 20% pay cut. So it

was just a rough time in the world right at that moment. But

um, I'm just thinking, like, what a great opportunity for

people coming out right now with the amount of jobs available.

But I would also give one thing of advice. And I'd like to get

your thoughts on this too, when you were coming out of school. I

know that. When, right after you get done with college, you kind

of have this idea like, Oh, this is my dream job. And I want it

now. I want to be there right now. And now that, um, you know,

14 years removed from college. I remember getting frustrated that

I didn't have my dream job, like six months out of college.

Right. And I look back on that now. And I'm like, Wow, if I

just would have maybe, like, not been so impatient, like, right,

in those months of right after college. You know, and not that

I 100%. Enjoy my career right now. But I remember just being

very impatient with what I was trying to accomplish at that

time in my life. Can you relate?

Yeah, well, I think probably my parents could relate

more than me, because I didn't really care about getting a

dream job right out of college, but I'm sure my parents wanted

me to get something that paid the loans back. Um, yeah, there

is sometimes that pushback of like, Oh, these new college

grads, they want everything right away. I think that's

probably an overgeneralization you, then you've just finished

four or five years of intense preparation to try to get into a

career path. So there should be some expectation that, you know,

your efforts will pay off. So I don't, I don't fault anyone for

feeling like they should have something that is rewarding

after all of that effort. But in this, but on the flip side of

that, when we look in hindsight back on a career path, it winds

many different ways. So I think the only wrong move that you can

make is not not saying yes to something that could potentially

lead to an opportunity that you maybe hadn't even considered

because you were so close minded narrowly focused on a particular

dream job that you felt was right for you because honestly,

in three years, there's gonna be job titles that don't exist now.

And, you know, there's just the world is changing so quickly

that it's really just about let's just say yes to something

that fits the criteria. That's right for me, you know, like,

what's gonna, what's your day to day gonna be like, that's

probably more important than whether it's your dream job or

not, because it could turn into your dream job. Maybe in the

future, maybe won't start that way.

Yeah, that's a really good point. I mean,

things, things are changing so fast with, you know, technology.

And I feel like all of our jobs just continually evolve, right?

Like we, our jobs won't be done the same way. In a couple of

years that we're doing right now. And that's, that's the way

of the world and that's exciting. Mm hmm. But I also

think what you want, when you're 22, might not be what you want,

when you're 26. Yep, probably isn't going to be what you want

when you're in your early 30s. So, you know, there's this

evolution. And I think that's, that's fun and exciting.

Yeah. All right, well, we'll just leave it at

that I think we do have, we're gonna throw a couple resources

in the show notes for you. So just different entry level

positions to maybe consider, but also, you know, a skill

evaluator we have a tool that you can use, that is from I

think from I will work that you can use to determine what your

skills are. And that can help you match yourself to a career

path that might be a good fit for you. And then within that

career path, then you can find those entry level positions

within that career path to start at. So some good stuff in the

show notes, so be sure to check those out.

Cool. I love it. Thanks, Liz.

All right, you guys have a great day.