17 Well-Paying Career Paths That Start With Entry-Level Positions And Require Minimal Experience

“The job I always recommend to folks when I’m asked how I got to six figures is data entry/data operations. I’ve been able to be hired for a variety of jobs dealing in finance, education, HR, security, and telecom. Once you understand how to manipulate data, it doesn’t matter what it is or where it’s from, all it is is numbers and text. Have a strong base in Excel, learn SQL, and learn to understand database structure, and you have a career that’s going to last you years, even with leaps to AI. Companies are cheap and aren’t going to invest AI in every part of their business for years to come, so maybe their app uses AI, but not their internal billing software they’ve had in place since 1998.

You don’t need a college degree, and if you do, know it can be in anything. I have an English and film degree, so you don’t need to be a math genius. Being logical, organized, and understanding the order of operations will get you far. I recommend having strong ethics, too, because there have been times I have been asked to manipulate data for evil, and telling important people no is my early barometer to getting out and moving onto better, higher-paying jobs.”

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