In 2021, with the pandemic still raging, many young people are trying to find work. Some might be recent high school graduates, while others are thinking about what college courses they should take. They’re all considering one thing, though: what jobs are there going to be in the future?
There are some industries with stagnant job growth, but others are thriving. Let’s take a look at a few niches in the second category.
Commercial Trucking
If you want to be a commercial truck driver, you should know that it’s one of the better jobs you can have if you never graduated from college. Most companies only require a high school diploma, or sometimes even a GED will do. You’ll also need a commercial truck driver’s license.
If you do not mind spending a lot of time behind the wheel, this might be the job for you. Some commercial truck drivers can make upwards of $60K per year.
You also have the open road’s freedom, and you’ll get to stop at all the diners and find the best pie and coffee in every state. Many people prefer this lifestyle over sitting behind a desk.
IT
IT means information technology, and just about every company has an IT department or at least one specialist on staff. You can easily make $50-80K per year as an IT specialist, depending on your skillset and the business entity for which you work.
If you work for a larger company, they might give you some great benefits in addition to your salary. You might get a 401K program, excellent healthcare, stock options, and so forth.
Even if you decide that you don’t want to work for one particular company, you can also be a freelancer. You’ll sell your services to the highest bidder, and although you need to cover things like healthcare yourself, you do have a great deal of freedom. You can often set your own hours and work as much or as little as you’d like.
Social Media Management
Maybe you love social media, and you’re active on every conceivable platform. If so, a social media manager, specialist, or consultant might be the job for you. Twenty years ago, few companies were using social media. Now, all of them are.
You can probably pick and choose from among the companies that you want to work for, assuming you have the social media skills that they need. You can compose their communication via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or any of the others they’re using.
You’ll need to know how to post things that are on-brand. The company will probably have a particular mindset and brand that they’re trying to promote, and if you think you can be the one to do that for them, this is potentially a very lucrative job.
Marketing Management
You might feel like you have the marketing skills that a company needs to dominate its niche. Usually, if you want this job, a business entity will want you to have a marketing BA from an accredited university.
You can easily command six figures doing this job. You might have to come up with a social media strategy. Also, you could spreadhead the company’s website blog, radio spots, TV commercials, podcast appearances, or however else you feel the company should allocate its marketing budget.
This is a high-pressure position since you need to figure out the best market penetration methods. There are specific rubrics that a company will use to determine whether their marketing is working, so you have to deliver, or you won’t last long.
Human Resources
There are more automated positions than ever now, but there will always be flesh-and-blood humans working at certain posts, even if they are doing so remotely. That means companies need HR departments to mediate disputes and also to handle onboarding and other tasks.
You usually need a BA if you’re going to work in human resources. You can generally expect to make upwards of $60K in this position, though smaller companies might try to offer you less.
If you do want this position, you need to have extraordinary people skills. You’ll have to handle all different personality types, and sometimes you may have to interface with people when they’re upset or disgruntled.
Regardless of what you select as your new career, you should certainly think about where the industry is heading. The reality is that some niches are thriving, while others aren’t doing so well.