I’m 23, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in IT in 2024, have my Security+ certification, and recently finished an 8-month contract as an IT Field Technician doing desktop support, break/fix, deployments, troubleshooting, ticketing, device setups, etc. I’ve been applying heavily to entry level type roles like help desk, desktop specialist , IT support specialist, etc. The market has honestly been much tougher than I expected. A lot of ghosting, rejections after interviews, and “entry-level” jobs asking for 3–5 years experience.
Some silver lining is that I recently got an offer for a desktop support role paying around $45k/year. Im mostly likely going to accept this offer as this is my only lead i have and nothing else lined up as in interviews or offers. Part of me feels grateful because I know the market is rough, but another part of me feels disappointed because I thought having a Bachelor’s degree, Security +, and some real hands-on IT experience would put me in a better spot financially.
My question is:
Based on my current experience level, should i feel grateful for taking on this opportunity of $45k/year and is this actually normal/reasonable in today’s entry-level IT market? Or am I underselling myself? If i jump on this position, how long do you think i should stay here for to eventually level up?