8 Best First Jobs To Find at the New Year
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Jordan Rosenfeld
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Molly Sullivan
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While every new year brings workplace and industry changes, 2025 may be especially unique, according to Maria DeLorenzis Reyes, a workplace expert and career coach, due to a new presidential administration, recent economic hardships for many Americans and other issues.
For younger people looking to step into first jobs in the new year, Reyes recommended industries that are not only poised to grow, but often hiring at the new year.
Here are eight best first jobs to seek at the new year.
Technology and Digital Skills
It’s probably a given that people with tech skills, or a willingness to learn them, will have a better shot than others, Reyes said. “So there’s going to be lots of demand for technology and digital skills,” she said.
To be more specific, she said areas like artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity and data science are expected to grow significantly. “Companies are investing in automation, data security, the need is there.”
Blockchain and Cloud Computing Jobs
Other fields like blockchain and cloud computing will also have plenty of opportunities for people with technical expertise, Reyes said.
She said people should look to “all the notable companies that you would expect, such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia. These and other companies “are going to continue to grow in those areas because we have an increasing reliance on AI, increasing need for better cybersecurity and data management,” she said. “There’s the high demand for that digital transformation across all sectors really.”
Sustainability and Green Energy Jobs
Other growth areas are jobs in sustainability and green energy, Reyes said.
“Regardless of what happens with the administration coming in, green construction has been around for a long time, so there have to be jobs that support that and that continue to push for sustainability, renewable energy sources and the carbon neutral goals regardless of policy,” she explained.
Even if the President-elect Donald Trump’s administration reverses sustainability policies or regulations, she believes there are plenty of companies that have committed themselves to these policies who won’t be in a hurry to reverse them.
Healthcare Jobs
Healthcare is always going to be an important human need, and there are many jobs within healthcare that don’t require becoming a nurse or doctor.
“The aging population drives demand for healthcare innovation,” she said, pointing to telemedicine as one such switch. Innovation like this creates jobs such as IT (information technology) specialists, telehealth coordinators, revenue cycle analysts, and so on.
“Those are growing demands and job titles that’ll grow in some of the big companies that drive that economic sector.”
Content Creation and Digital Marketing
Many young workers have already figured out how to monetize things like content creation and digital marketing, such as SEO optimization, Reyes said, but these skills will remain in demand.
She feels that Gen Z already has a leg up in “this new digital age where we are trying to meet the demand for different types of content” because they’ve kind of grown up not only exposed to it but making it.
“I think that definitely lends itself to more entry-level [jobs] and lots of growth opportunities as well as technology,” she said.
AI-Enabled Jobs
Since Gen Zers are also growing up in an age of exploding uses for AI, she feels that “Gen Z is really poised to figure out how to use AI for work, not to have it replace creativity, but use it as a tool.”
Freelance Gigs
We now live pretty solidly in a gig economy, Reyes said, and “freelance work is thriving for better or worse. It’s giving great opportunities for job seekers to have the flexibility they desire,” she said.
While she acknowledged more freelancers can contribute to companies having difficulty finding good talent, there’s an almost endless supply of work for freelance developers, digital marketers, online consultants, content writers and other jobs that support the growth of freelance platforms like Upwork, Fiverr and TaskRabbit.
In general, she said she sees an increasing preference for project-based work across all industries.
Training and Education Jobs
Another place where workers can take these skills they’re learning and turn it into a job is offering training and education to others. “There’s a demand for digital learning platforms and re-skilling and upskilling,” Reyes said.
Many companies don’t invest in these opportunities for their employees, so people look to hire others to retrain them so they can find better jobs or side hustles.
Gain as Many Skills as You Can
In general, Reyes left off with one piece of advice for any job seeker: “Gain as many skills as you can, learn new things and take responsibility for that.”
However, if you have to work on one main skill, she urged, “Be adaptable. It is the key skill that will make you successful, not only in your job search, but at any company because adaptability is a necessary kind of bottom line skill.”
Things change so quickly in business, she said. “So the people who thrive are the ones that are able to pivot quickly to embrace change, to not get thrown when things are not like they were yesterday.”
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