Ready to fall in love… with a new job? The first quarter of 2019 is the perfect time to start (or continue) your search for the perfect entry-level job.

WayUp has thousands of entry-level jobs that are tailored and vetted for our users. However, if you’re looking for inspiration beyond your normal job search, we’ve put together a list of 20 incredible jobs that are sure to merit at least one application from you.

All of these positions have qualities about them—the mission, the compensation, the perks—that can help make you a very happy employee. For example, the very first job on this list (from McDonald’s Corporation) has a starting salary of $65,000. How’s that for inspirational?

1. Restaurant Business Consultant (Leadership Development Program) @ McDonald’s Corporation

2. Junior Marketing Associate @ L’Oréal

3. Data Science Associate @ Nielsen

4. Entry-Level Sales/Recruiting @ Apex

5. Advisory Consultant Program @ EY

6. B2B Sales Representative @ Keyence

7. Global Markets Graduate Programme @ Deutsche Bank

8. Software Engineering Analyst @ BlackRock

9. Digital & Creative Account Manager @ TEKsystems

10. Entry-Level Assurance & Tax Associate @ CohnReznick

11. Entry-Level Teacher (Grades PreK – 12) @ Teach For America

12. Cyber Threat Ops Tech @ Raytheon

13. Avionics System Design Engineer @ Lockheed Martin

14. Entry-Level Technology Program @ Northern Trust

15. Merchandising Development Program @ The TJX Companies

16. Associate Teacher @ Success Academy Charter Schools

17. Sales Development Program @ Thermo Fisher Scientific

18. Management Training Program @ Enterprise Holdings

19. Apparel Designer @ Under Armour

20. Application Developer @ Starbucks

Don’t see your dream job? Explore top companies or search for your perfect match on WayUp.

The post 20 Entry-Level Jobs You’ll Totally Fall In Love With (Bonus: They’re Hiring) appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

Busy professionals often work through their breaks in an attempt to optimize their minutes in the workplace, but are they actually shortchanging themselves?

According to Right Management, the answer is yes.

Their 2012 study found that only one in five workers take a real lunch break, while two in five workers report taking their lunch break at their desk. 28% say they rarely take a lunch break at all.

When swamped with a full load at the office, employees may feel guilty or unable to walk away from their work, even for a short time. Pushing through breaks may seem like a way to increase productivity when, in reality, it can diminish efficiency and quality.

On a basic level, the body and brain require fuel for optimal performance, so remember to keep that blood sugar level stable. No one does prize work on an empty stomach.

But merely nourishing the body is not always enough. Trying to multitask between the job and eating ultimately leads to an inefficient use of both work time and break time. It’s better to stand up, step away from the screen and change up the view.

It doesn’t have to be all about food, though. Just going for a quick walk outside or even through the building helps unclog the mind and free up space for more creativity and problem solving. Just like a phone battery drains throughout the day, so does one’s physical and mental energy. A quick break to grab a snack, get the blood flowing and experience a change of scenery can be enough to recharge one’s mental state when its battery is running low.

Can’t commit to taking an hour-long lunch break everyday? Cut it down to thirty minutes or even twenty if necessary, and make that time enjoyable. Listen to music, chat with coworkers about non-work related topics, or watch a YouTube video or two. When you get back to work, you’ll be happy you did.

The post Are Lunch Breaks a Thing of the Past? Here’s What You Need to Know appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

The holidays are a special time of year for a lot of people. It is a time of year when many families get together and celebrate. It is also a time of year when many people reflect back on the year that just passed and create lists for the year to come. Many articles also surface around this time of year and discuss strategies to create resolution lists for the upcoming year.

This is not one of those articles.

Our lives are full of lists. Grocery lists that organize what we buy at the supermarket. Bucket lists that we cross out with each achievement. Lists of the best places to visit, the world’s richest people and even lists of multilevel marketing schemes exist in a website dedicated to lists¹. With a plethora of lists and things to see and do, our lives can become unbalanced. While lists created using SMART goals² or SWOT analysis³ can be helpful in enabling you to achieve your career goals, sometimes you have to take a step back and look at your work-life balance.

The question is: What is work-life balance and what can I do about it?

Work-life balance involves balancing your work life with your life outside of work⁴, such as leisure and family time. 16 percent of employees in the United States report that they have a hard time balancing their lives between work and their families⁵. Additionally, while technology can increase our productivity at work, it can adversely affect our life at home⁶.

To illustrate this, let us imagine for a moment that you are a newly hired intern at a company. You and your boss were working on a power point presentation for the meeting on Monday morning and you managed to finish the presentation right before the weekend. You go home to your family. On Sunday afternoon, you are about to leave to dinner when your boss sends you a text message with the power point presentation as an attachment. Your boss wants you to add some multimedia to “spruce up” the power point. Do you cancel plans with your family to work on the presentation?

This holiday season, while you are spending time with your family, friends or loved ones, take a moment to enjoy their presence. As you prepare your list for the New Year, take a step back and reflect. Perhaps, instead of thinking about lists and assessing your career goals, put that pen and paper down. That can wait for another day. Go back to your friends, family and loved ones. Work-life balance is about taking the time to enjoy life. Otherwise, you may wake up twenty years later with a nice car and house, but no cherished memories to fill your life with substance.

References

­1. Currie, J., & Eveline, J. (2011). E-technology and work/life balance for academics with young children. Higher Education, 62(4), 533-550.

2. Franco, G. (2014). How to use S.M.A.R.T. goals to achieve success. Retrieved from

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­3. Franco, G. (2015). Using SWOT analysis to build your career. Retrieved from

4. Gora, G. (2015). 10 shocking facts about multilevel marketing schemes. Retrieved from

5. Guest, D. E. (2002). Perspectives on the study of work-life balance. Social Science Information, 41(2), 255-279.

6. Alterman, T; Luckhaupt, SE; Dahlhamer, JM; Ward, BW; Calvert, GM (June 2013). Job insecurity, work-family imbalance, and hostile work environment: Prevalence data from the 2010 National Health Interview Survey. Am J Ind Med 56 (6): 660–669. doi:10.1002/ajim.22123

Author: Gilbert Franco

Image Credit: Muhammed Shamil

Image URL:

The post Balancing Your Work and Life: Sometimes You Have to Set Limits appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

Legs aching, I lean over the stacks of boxes, dreading my life, and wondering why am I here. Inventory time is one of the most horrible experiences ever. In college terms; it’s the equivalent of finals stress times infinity. Fair to say, I was ‘hopped up on Mountain Dew’ to meticulously account for every item ranging from $400 to $54,000 (Rubs hands and utters “Perfect”).

One Week Later…

I received a phone call from a great friend. I’m listening in the stock room with mounds of bags surrounding me, and I immediately burst into laughter. “You’ve got to be kidding,” I say. But no, he was serious; so serious in fact, he said, “when we were creating this position, we thought of you.”  My mouth gaped, but I wasn’t too hasty. I asked for the details, asap.

After the phone call, life became a blur…setting the ideal time to tell my boss, finding living arrangements, and enjoying the emotional farewell party. Transitioning is one of the hardest obstacles we can face. It’s a part of life, but preparation is obsolete if you haven’t personally experienced the process.

Over the course of four weeks, I prepared myself for a complete industry switch and for absolute responsibility in a major role. My goodness, it was an exhilarating time. I felt ready to lead and command. In the early weeks however, it seemed as though my soul was in a grieving stage. I reminisced on how I advanced and on the special bonds I’ve made. It deeply saddened me. Leaving an amazing company with so many extreme personalities can alter your outlook on normality.  Despite this, the unknown excites me. During the third week, I latched to the individuals who made a difference in my character. I literally soaked in every minute to never forget what we shared. And mostly, I took in their words of wisdom. Now, simultaneously packing and dabbing happy tears, I realize I must experience irregularity to improve my life. This is a process that truly dictates success.

It’s unwise to subdue emotions of sadness, minor anxiety, and excitement. The next step in a twenty-something year old’s life is to foster these emotions and understand how to handle reality. I dared to simply feel. Osho the author of courage states, “Life begins where fear ends”. Express your sentiments wholeheartedly for this is the emotion that unlocks fear.

I leave you in the exact spirit I encompass for myself. Take along your teachings and the wonderful friendships to cultivate your future. You’ve completed your task for this journey to consciously create another. I AM HERE, THE COMMANDER OF MY FUTURE, THE OWNER OF MY EMOTIONS, AND THE CONQUEROR OF MY TRANSITION.

Stay Intrigued and Keep Believing

The post Conquer Your Career Transition appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

“For every complex problem, there is a simple solution that is elegant, easy to understand, and wrong.” H.L. Mencken

Well-developed critical thinking skills will go a long way in impressing a potential employer.  A survey done in 2012 by the American Management Association polled 768 managers and executives, and found that critical thinking skills of their employees are considered crucial for the future success of their organizations, but 49% of those surveys reported that their employees’ critical thinking skills were either average or below average (www.amanet.org).  To put it short, employers want people whose skills are above average. The report states: “Today’s employee’s need to think critically, solve problems, innovate, collaborate, and communicate more effectively…They must excel at the ‘four Cs’: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.”

We all know communications skills are essentials, and the skills needed to communicate well have been given a lot of attention. We also all know that we need to have team spirit, to work well with others, and to “think outside of the box”. Because of this, pretty much everyone preps to go into an interview ready to demonstrate these skills. But, most people fail to acknowledge the importance of demonstrating their critical thinking skills.

It’s become trendy in our culture however for judgmental criticism to be considered thoughtful analysis. Critical thinking is not faultfinding, derogatory, disparaging, or judgmental. But  often times, in the employment world, it’s commonly seen in a proposal meant to show that someone has found the weakness in something, and as a result, is worthy of a raise, promotion, or some other form of personal gain. The solution might sound elegant and might work in the short term, but because it lacks genuine analysis, it is usually wrong and won’t work in the long term. You would get noticed for this, but not necessarily in the way you want to be noticed.

Working well together – collaboration – is a proven way to test ideas. Employers want to promote people whose contributions add value to the organization. People who are collaborators and work well with others can build on people’s ideas and encourage a higher level of innovation,which takes on a much higher level of critical thinking than simply pointing out the faults in other’s work. Therefore, critical thinking is not only fair-minded and analytical, but also judicious, diagnostic, and decisive.

This is how you DO want to be noticed: If you can lead the group to make a solid decision that can be backed up with a well-considered evaluation, you will impress your supervisor in a good way. To lead however does not mean to dominate; it means making sure ideas are free flowing and everyone’s voice is heard. Critical thinking encompasses the ability to gather relevant information, interpret the information’s significance, clarify its meaning, examining it from different perspectives (this means asking questions and looking at the big picture not just the immediate situation), and then evaluating what you’ve learned and considering multiple options, all before arriving at your final conclusion. If that sounds like a lot of work that’s because it is. Just remember that critical thinking is elastic, it’s a process which allows for unexpected variables. In other words, it’s open to changes in the plan to ensure successful outcomes.

Potential employers want to know if you have the thinking skills that will give them a competitive edge. You may be wondering how you should get the message across that you have honed your critical thinking skills and that you are exactly the type of person who can help the organization reach its goals. Well, you know those common interview questions, like tell me about yourself, tell me about your strengths, what was your biggest accomplishment, why do you want this job, what challenges and problems have you faced in a job and how did you handle them? All of those questions give you golden opportunities to provide proof of your critical thinking skills.

You know where else you can make your critical thinking skills shine? Networking. You may have heard the advice to follow-up with professionals who have agreed to network with you by sending them articles of interest to help foster a working relationship. Instead of simply forwarding an article of interest to your contract, write two or three lines that show you’ve given the article analytical thought and have drawn meaningful conclusions. If you meet a professional for coffee or lunch, when you discuss a topic of interest don’t just “pick their brains”, show them how well your own brain works. The people who are impressed with your critical thinking skills will refer you for interviews, tell you about openings they know, and may even hire you themselves.

Nowadays, some colleges and universities offer full courses in critical thinking. This would be a perfect way to get started on building your skills, or asking a professor or advisor what courses might be beneficial for you to take. It takes time to develop critical thinking skills, and no one expects a recent graduate starting a career to have the level of expertise that can swiftly provide an elegant, yet efficient solution. But if you take the time to careful examine the problem, you can arrive at a solution that is both easy to understand, and, most importantly, correct.

The post How Critical Thinking Skills Can Help Improve Your Future appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

This is a guest post by Kalyn Yang  for Student Stories. 

According to beanactuary.org, an actuary is “part super-hero, part fortune-teller, part trusted advisor.” But really, professionals in this top-ranked job use their high analytical skills to manage risks and organize plans to prevent losses.

I started looking into this profession in my sophomore year of college and successfully found an actuarial internship in my junior year summer. After working in San Francisco like a big girl for 3 months, I received a return offer and will be working full-time at the same company fresh off graduation!

The Search

When it comes to looking for an internship, utilize the job-searching service provided by your university! I applied directly through the Career Center at UC Berkeley, and proceeded with on-campus and then on-site interviews.

Sell your forte

In order to stay competitive, remember that a strength is not really a strength if EVERYBODY has it. While maintaining a decent GAP and pursuing a degree in Math and Economics may put me in the “smart” category in general, it really doesn’t say too much in the actuarial field because that’s pretty much how everybody is. Since math majors aren’t usually the most social people, I emphasized during my interview the fact that I’m a people person and great at communication. I also set a foot forward by passing two actuarial exams by the time I interviewed, which really showed my interest and ability to become an actuary.

Stay relevant

Do your research and know the key qualities desired by the position. I made sure to emphasize my abilities to interpret complex data into everyday languages, since that’s what’s valued the most at an actuarial consulting firm. While it’s cool to be a certified skydiver, would that skill be useful in this job? (Although do mention it if you really are a certified skydiver though, it makes you look so awesome).

Be yourself

As cliché as it sounds, put yourself in the interviewer’s shoes and think what qualities would you want to see in a potential intern. It all comes down to whether they would want to work with you as a person. So are you likable?

Hard at Work

Do your best. During the internship, grasp every opportunity to grow. I took every project seriously and made sure I understood why things were done the way they were. On one hand you leave your colleagues with a good impression, but more importantly remember you are here to learn. Since actuarial work is highly technical, I always double-checked my work before submitting it to my supervisor for review.

Ask questions, but only the good ones. While my supervisor always told me to ask lots of questions, I never went up to her asking about an Excel formula—that’s something I could search online! Instead, I only brought up concepts-related questions and always put my thoughts into it first. During my internship evaluation, my supervisor said she was impressed by my critical thinking skills because I always had good questions.

Show that you are independent as well as a team player. These two do not contradict and are equally important. Since I interned at a client-facing consulting firm, I worked on many teams with different colleagues. While I demonstrated that I could work on my own, I also made sure that communication ran smoothly by always keeping people in the loop. Again, put yourself in others’ shoes and think how would you like to see the work you are about to hand to your co-worker.

Reflections

Write down what skills you’ve gained and the projects you’ve worked on. Make a concrete list and update your resume and LinkedIn profile! It’s too easy to forget the specific things you’ve learned so do it quickly (which I learned the hard way)!

Keep your options open. Know that this internship, whether it leads to a full-time offer or not, does not necessarily define your career path. Even though I’ll be returning to the same company after graduation, it doesn’t mean I will be set for life. Actuaries can work in multiple industries wherever financial decisions and risks are present. I know the experience and skills I’ve gained during my internship can be brought up again and again in the future.

Did you like what you did? I’m a total math person so I really liked problem solving and dealing with data. Actuaries are the backbone of financial security and I love making that difference. Ask yourself if you liked your experience. It’s never too late to pursue something you love—that’s what internships are for!

The bottom line

Don’t limit yourself! As an undergrad, intern in different fields during summers as well as the semesters. I didn’t quite do that but I wish I did. I have friends who have always wanted to go into banking but discovered their sales talent during internships and proceeded to work in sales after graduation; another friend studied geography in college but found himself to be a natural scout for talent after a couple HR internships thus became a full-time recruiter. Try different things; college is an exciting time to do that. You might surprise yourself! That being said, make friends across different industries and keep in touch with people. Don’t ever underestimate the power of networking!

About the Author: 
My name is Kalyn Yang and I’m a graduating senior at UC Berkeley double majoring in Applied Math and Economics. I’m currently working on becoming a certified actuary woohoo! I love traveling, playing the piano, and salsa dancing! I take my time to make delicious food and would always appreciate a good book. I believe that attitude determines altitude, and that living the moment fosters happiness. Find me on LinkedIn.

The post Actuary in the Making appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.

WayUp is excited to be a voice for SELF Magazine’s 13 Resolutions for a Better 2013, a series of Google Hangouts hosted by experts in everything from eating well, to finding love, to saving money. In this installment, team member Nathan Parcells joins a panel of other speakers to dish about how to jumpstart your career in the new year.

Besides our very own, you’ll be hearing bits of wisdom from Dan Schawbel, best-selling author and personal branding guru; Grant Cardone, sales expert and motivational speaker; Nicole Williams, LinkedIn’s career expert; and Erica Nicole, founder and CEO of YFS Magazine.

Jump in if you’re serious about getting ahead in your career in 2013–we cover topics like how to set short- and long-term goals, personal branding, identifying your strengths, and much more.

The post Google Hangout: Jumpstart Your Career in 2013 appeared first on Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More | WayUp Blog.