Many recent graduates immediately look to large cities to land their first jobs outside of college. It is often assumed that large cities mean lots of available entry level jobs. Amidst a difficult job market, just getting that first job lifts a heavy burden.
Although this may be true for some people, it turns out that the cities that recent graduates are less likely to think about, are the ones where those who do move to and work in after graduation are happiest.
Careerbliss.com, an online job search engine, has found that it is the places least considered that recent graduates feel most gratified working in. Careerbliss.com came to the conclusion after analyzing responses from people who submitted job reviews for careers that required no more than two years of experience. The website found that St. Louis, Missouri is ranked the happiest city for recent college grads looking for employment.
Those who took the survey answered questions in relation to their overall work environment. Some of these considerations, judged by employees on a five point scale, included the employee's relationship with other employees and their relationships with superiors, salary, and the kind of work they did on a daily basis.
One important factor considered within the study was the cost of living in each city. This helped to account for how the employee wages measured up to their living standards.
St. Louis was the most highly ranked city, scoring a 4.12 out of 5 on the list. The survey also found that recent graduates who resided and worked in St. Louis prior to graduation were most satisfied in comparison to those who resided and worked in comparable cities such as Houston, Texas and Orlando, Florida. Amongst the list of 10 comparable cities, Birmingham, Alabama came in at number 10.
