Careers after Graduation [Updated Nov 2023]

Graduation plays a critical role in shaping one’s professional career. After completing graduation, you are supposed to have superior knowledge in a particular stream of education. This article outlines key careers after graduation. The statistics and facts are updated on Nov 1, 2023.

Graduation also provides a base that you can utilize to realize your dreams.

While some students find the right way to fulfill their dreams, a majority of them struggle to choose the right career option after graduation. The confusion in choosing right career option is natural. You have numerous career options after graduation like management, hospitality, computer science, Information Technology etc. Many of them didn’t even exist a few years ago. Therefore, you may need to seek guidance and support from experienced counselors in choosing the best career after graduation.

If you are not liking your subject, job or stream of education and want a change – Don’t get frustrated. Feel happy about the fact that you have realized your potential and looking to improve your life. Feel confident and read what all options exist after graduation. If you need expert assistance in deciding right career option for you, Please post your queries here.

Career After Graduation in 2024

Before you choose the best career after graduation, you need to know growth prospects, competition, availability of jobs, work requirements, etc. of that field. Remember that all salary brackets given here are mainly for freshers. The figures are approximate, and the actual salary depends on several factors. If you are good in English Language or Mathematics, you may tend to get better salaries than the rest as communication skills make a remarkable difference in overall career development irrespective of nature of work. Additionally, if you are good in basic calculations and Mathematics, it will help in arriving at right decisions.

Here is a list of options that will give a good start.

Sales and Business Development

Sales and Business development is an evergreen career. It will never go out of fashion. In the era of high competition, the demand for business development professionals will only increase. Every company, irrespective of its size and strength, requires sales professionals. Business Development Roles in FMCG/IT/Manufacturing companies are one the most sought after profiles in top B-Schools. Many companies hire graduates for entry level sales profiles. If you are good at interacting with people, you will love this job. Business development profile is also a mini entrepreneurial role. You can control your salary, incentive and career progression. No office politics can stop you from growing to the pinnacle of your career if you get business for the company. If you ever dream of becoming an entrepreneur and starting your own business, this kind of role will give a huge boost.

Startups, eCommerce, and smaller IT firms hire fresh graduates for business development executive and pre-sales roles. The earnings of entry level sales professionals can start with INR 10,000 per month and can go up to 30,000 per month depending on personality and fluency in the language.

Marketing/Advertising/Communication

If you are one of those who believe sales and marketing are the same things, please do some research before applying for next marketing executive role. Marketing positions are mainly office jobs. You do research, analysis, conceptualize and implement marketing campaigns, develop strategies, etc. Again this job is most sought after in B-Schools placements. Since this role requires strategic thinking, companies prefer to hire MBAs. However, if you have graduated from a reputed college, you may get an opportunity. Smaller companies who can’t afford MBAs hire fresh graduates and train them for their specific roles. You must have excellent communication and analytical skills to excel in this field.  Limited number of marketing roles in an Organization makes this area intensely competitive. Depending on your college, and employer, fresh graduates get a salary in the range of INR 15,000-30,000 per month.

Management

Everyone is doing MBA so it must be good. Right? Wrong! MBA is no more a lucrative career option if you have done it from a 2nd or 3rd tier college. People do MBA for better campus placements. Placement records of two and three tier colleges have been pathetic in last few years. Most of the MBA graduates are unemployable. The worst thing comes when you pay INR 10lakh+ to do MBA and remain unemployed after completing the course.

So does that mean one one should not do MBA? No, this is an extreme conclusion. You must prepare well for MBA entrance exams like CAT/FMA/IIFT/SNAP/XAT/MAT etc. and get into a decent college. If unluckily you can’t get into a decent college then work hard on your communication skills, aptitude and get practical exposure while doing MBA. If done well from a reputed college, you may be eligible to do almost any non-technical job available in the economy. You can work in sales & marketing, HR, Banking, Financial services, FMCG, Operations, IT, Manufacturing and any other business functions or sectors. On an average MBA graduates get a salary in the range of INR 25,000 to INR 1,00,000.

CS/CA/CFA/CWA:

If you have done your graduation in commerce stream then you will naturally go for any of these: Company Secretary (CS), Chartered Accountant (CA), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), or Costs and Works professional (CWA). Demand for these professionals is always high in any economy. Before choosing a particular course, you must know the difference between these disciplines and what kind of jobs you will be doing after completing them successfully.  If you are a commerce graduate, you can also go for MBA in Finance to develop a career opportunity in Corporate Finance and Mergers and Acquisitions. The salary depends on the discipline and communications skills of applicants. However, salaries of most of the professionals in these fields start at INR 40,000 per month.

IT Degree/Courses: MCA/Animation/Web Design

IT courses are not restricted to just science graduates. Anyone can learn a programming language or can work in IT after doing a professional certificate course or a degree course like MCA. If you have done your graduation in non-mathematics stream (like BA etc.), then you may need to do a short introductory course to be eligible to get into MCA. For example, if you have done Bachelor of Arts and want to pursue MCA from IGNOU, then you need to pass a six-month certification program known as CIC.

We are living in a technology era so a certificate or degree course in IT will open up a vast career opportunities. You may work as a computer operator, software professional, site developer, web designer, animator, logo designer, software developer and more. You can even start your own business and earn a decent revenue from month one. You can get a starting salary of INR 10,000 to INR 50,000 depending on your skill set, college, communication skills and technical expertise.

Mass Communication and Journalism:

Digital media has opened up a lot of career opportunities for mass communication professionals. With experience, you may become correspondent, reporter, anchor, columnist, editor and radio jockey. You can even start your publishing website and monetize it. You can easily earn Rs 15,000 to Rs 50,000 per month either by working as independent media professional or joining a media company.

Hotel Management:

Hotel Management provides an excellent opportunity to work with well-known brands in various roles. Post graduation in Hotel Management will help you getting a decent job through campus placement. After graduating in Hotel management, you can also work in catering services, Food technology startups, restaurants, Railways, shipping, corporate organizations, clubs, etc. You can expect a starting salary of INR 10,000 to INR 35,000.

Travel and Tourism:

If traveling the world excites you, you can join this industry. You will get an opportunity to discover the world and interact with several cultures. There are plenty of job opportunities in this area. After doing a professional certificate or degree course in Tours and Travel, you can also start your own business. You can expect a salary of INR 15000 to INR 30,000 per month at the beginning of your career.

Civil Aviation: Air Hostess/Commercial Pilot:

Commercial pilots and air hostess are dream job profile for many. However, due to the limited requirement of such roles, you will find intense competition in this field. Commercial pilots get a starting salary of INR 1,50,000+ per month while Air Hostesses get INR 50,000+ per month.

Social Sector

If your happiness is directly related to the happiness of needy people around you, social sector is a good career option. The best part is today we have highly professional NGOs who not only deliver their services as efficiently as their corporate counterparts but also have a well-planned career progression for its employees. You can expect a relatively lower salary than corporate world however the feeling of making others smile because of your efforts is priceless.  You can even start your own NGO in a particular field to help others.

Law

The law is a highly competitive and evergreen field. You need to do LLB/LLM to become a practicing lawyer. After completing your LLB/LLM, you may also prepare for judicial services exams or join corporate legal firms. Graduates from top institutes also prefer to join LPOs (Legal Process Outsourcing) as it provides a lucrative career opportunity, high compensation, and faster growth. The compensation for fresh law graduates falls in the range of INR 10,000 – 40,000 per month.

Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance

BFSI sector (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance) has employed millions of Indians. The industry is witnessing an unprecedented growth and expected to grow in the same fashion in future. If you want to work in Public sector banks, you need to pass entrance tests like SSC and Bank PO exams. ICICI Bank also conducts entrance exams for recruitment of probationary officers.

Sales people constitute 80 percent of the employees in insurance companies. They hire a large number of fresh graduates as entry level sales executives. You may find it difficult to handle sales pressure initially. However, it becomes a stable and regular job in 2-3 years down the time. With experience, you will also learn how to deal with such pressures.

In the banking sector, you can expect an initial salary of INR 15,000 to INR 35,000 per month, where as in insurance and financial services industries the salary range could be INR 10,000 – 25,000 per month.

Library Science

Library Science is a multidisciplinary field that includes practices and tools of management, information technology, education and several other areas. You need to have a relevant degree in Library science to be employed in school or college libraries, public and private libraries, and museums, etc. The salary ranges from INR 15,000 to 30,000 per month.

Teaching/Education

In India, education is considered to be a noble and prestigious profession. While education sector attracts everyone equally, females seem to be more inclined towards this profession. To develop a formal career in teaching in schools, you need to complete B.Ed./Teachers’ Training program. For teaching in Colleges and universities or equivalent, you should have a post graduate degree and clear NET. In many cases, graduates join private colleges as guest faculty or on contract and pursue their post graduation and prepare for NET along with their contractual jobs.

Many professionals prefer to work in the booming coaching industry. Coaching institutes pay better than their school or college counterparts and require no B.Ed. or NET. They also have well-planned career progression in place for people who are seriously looking to build a career in the coaching industry. The salary in the education sector can vary from INR 15,000 to 1,00,000 lakh depending on your education credentials and field.

Public Sector – Defense and Police Jobs/Civil Services/Forest Services/Railway Jobs

You need to appear for entrance exams conducted by various government institutions to get into the Public sector. Exams like Civil Services, NDA, IES, SSC are some of the prominent ones that you need to pass for selection in respective department.

Film and TV: Acting/Direction/Production

If you want to get into Film and television industry, you need to try for some courses in related fields. You can also try your luck for National School of Drama which is the biggest institute for theater training in India. Alternatively, you can start your channel on YouTube to showcase your talent to the online audience. If you are creative and talented, you will see your channel growing with the help of a little digital marketing efforts. Many YouTube stars are doing better than established film and television actors.

Modeling

You don’t need any educational qualification to get into modeling profession. Like other areas, starting early will benefit you in the long run. However, if you intend to do modeling, you should start preparing for it seriously. It is advised that you should continue your education/job while preparing for modeling. Having a stable income and career will help you pass through that struggle period relatively easier. Along with required style, body figure, etc. you must know the art of networking. Talent alone will not help much.  Also while picking up the first assignment, you shouldn’t pay much attention to the fee you are offered.

Beauty care

If you wish to become Hair stylist, beauty therapist, massager, make-up artists, etc. then do the courses for the relevant field. Earning is very high depending upon the quality of work and customer satisfaction.

Medical Transcription

Medical transcription refers to converting voice-recorded reports into text formats. So when a physician consults her patients, it will be recorded and converted into text format for later use. After the short training course, you can work in Medical Transcription. You can start earning anything between INR 10,000 to 30,000.

BPO/KPO

BPO/KPO sector can accommodate fresh graduates from any stream. If you are good in English language, then you can earn a handsome salary in BPOs. However, many feel that the growth opportunities are limited in BPO sector. Also, the shift timings (night shifts) may not be suitable for everyone. If you need a corporate experience and at the same time willing to earn a decent income, you may prefer work in BPO sector. However, if you are serious about your career and have long term perspective avoid this area. KPO Sector is more of knowledge based industry and better than BPO. However, until you are graduated from a top college, you may not be eligible for KPO companies.

Pay Scale – The packages for domestic BPOs start at INR 8,000 per month while the salary for international BPOs ranges from INR 15,000 to 40,000 per month.

Content/Technical writing

The Internet is all about content. From news to social media to youtube videos, there is a writer behind everything you see on net. The content may be written in the form or news, social media post for business pages, video script, blog, website content, product description, brochure, advertising copy, user guides or business agreement. Every article you read on internet would be been either written by a content writer or proofread by an editor. All companies be it small or large need professional writers for their content development requirement. Writers are paid handsomely for their good work. You can write in English, Hindi or any other regional languages you are good in. The salary of full time content writer can be anything from INR 15,000-35,000 per month.

Entrepreneurship

Nothing is better than Entrepreneurship if you have ability to take risks. You will either succeed or learn great lessons that no job or course will teach you. Many people think of first gaining a work experience or doing MBA and then starting a business so that they will have a better understanding of business management. However, lack of knowledge of business functions and overall management will not hold you because whatever is taught in MBA is available on internet. You search on Google “How to start your business from scratch” and you will get many useful articles. Entrepreneurship requires no prerequisite so if you have planned to start your business anytime in future then the right time is now. To be on safer side you can do a technical or certificate course related to your prospective business to gain a theoretical understanding of what you are going to do. Please note that you may not earn anything in you first venture but the learnings will be priceless. Wish you all the best.

Other Options

Here are some other career options which you may consider:

Click this to know more about shining career Digital Marketing
Love Glamour? Click this to know about Event Management Career
Read this to know more about Career in Human Resources
Read this to know how you can excel in Fashion Designing

Career after Engineering Degree

If you have done B.Tech, following links can be useful in determining right career for you:
Career Options after B.Tech.
The Courses you should do after B.Tech.

So how you will decide what you want to do after graduation? It depends on your passion, interest, and aptitude. Alternatively, you can choose any career options and work hard and enjoy your work to be successful. If you can’t get bored of doing anything, then you can succeed in any field. If you can work for 24 hours a day and seven days a week without any expectations in return and feel happy about it, that is the best career option for you.