Do you remember what your first job was or are you just starting your first work experience? Just over half of Ecuadorians – 51% – had their first job in a field other than their studies, and 49% were able to work for the first time in a job related to their career. This is revealed by Multitrabajos’ report on “The First Job”, made through a survey in which 11,878 talents from the countries of the region participated, of which about 5,000 were from Ecuador.

The study reveals that the three sectors where Ecuadorian talents often work for the first time are administration, accounting and finance, with 11%; Commercial, sales and business with 9%; and Manufacturing and processing industry with 8%. On the other hand, the three least visited fields in first work experience were nursing, sociology/social work and art.

Unemployment in Ecuador is 4% as of April 2023

However, the sectors in which the largest number of Ecuadorians start working differ by gender: women had their first job mainly in commercial, sales and business areas; and administration, accounting and finance.

While the majority of men worked for the first time in the fields of commercial, sales and operations, followed by production and manufacturing and customer service, telemarketing, call center.

For Jeff Morales, Marketing Manager of Multitrabajos, the search for his first job was motivated by the need to work and learn at the same time, as well as the desire to start gaining experience. For this reason, in addition to providing training at universities, they group the entire job offer in the “Junior” hierarchy on the microsite for young professionals.

The report shows that 53% of Ecuadorian talent were studying when they first had the chance to get a job, compared to 47% who were just working.

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A detail in the study highlights the age at which these workers had their first job: 48 percent of those surveyed started their working life between the ages of 18 and 20. 25% between 21 and 25, 6% between 26 and 30, 1% between 31 and 35, another 1% after 40 and 19% under 18.

In other countries of the region, the trend is similar: in Argentina, 46% of talents started working between the ages of 18 and 25. In Panama 57%, in Peru 40% and in Chile 39%.

For what reasons did the Ecuadorian talents start working?

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And what was the Ecuadorian’s first job? 77% of them were engaged in a dependent relationship, 18% informally, and 5% actually freelancer. In addition, 35% of talent in Ecuador worked more than 30 hours per week in their first work experience, 38% less than 10 hours per week, 20% between 10 and 20 hours and 7% between 20 and 30 hours.

In what way did the first job mark the talent’s professional career? 54% of Ecuadorians say it helped them connect with the world of work, 23% changed their perspective on work; for 12% find your true calling; 8% claim that the career they started is their calling in life, and 3% have realized what they do not want to devote themselves to.

38% of respondents emphasized the experience gained at their first job, 32% stated that it enabled them to open a path in the world of work, 19% that it helped them become financially independent, 6% highlighted their co-workers, and 5% that business contacts which you managed to establish.