JOBS w/ Mike Dunn & Katie Mills, SHRM-SCP – What Jobs Are Hot, and What Jobs are Not for High School and College Grads in 2025?

Are you wondering what jobs are in demand in 2025—and which ones to avoid? Whether you’re a high school graduate entering the job market or a college student considering a major, understanding where the jobs are can save you time, frustration, and wasted effort.

Why This Data Matters

• Applying for jobs and hearing nothing back? You’re not alone. Choosing a career path with strong demand increases your odds of landing a job faster—and getting better offers.
• Companies usually hire people because they expect you to generate more value than they pay you. If you’re not contributing to the bottom line, you likely won’t last long.
• The more in-demand your skill set is, the more power you have in negotiations—and the more likely you are to receive raises and opportunities for advancement.

I highly recommend downloading the full, easy-to-read set of job charts (link at the bottom). It’s free and updated regularly.

Two Rules of Employment That Still Hold True

1. Companies hire people to make money.
2. Raises are usually given to keep you from leaving.

If you internalize these, you’ll better understand how to get hired—and stay hired. Your #1 focus should be bringing value to the organization.

Where Are the Jobs in 2025?

Based on real job posting data from CareerBuilder (as of May 3, 2025), here are the most in-demand job categories out of 55 ranked:

🔥Top 5 Most Posted Job Categories

1. Customer Service – 10.51% of all job postings
2. Health Care – 8.69%
3. Management – 7.61%
4. Sales – 6.01%
5. Insurance – 5.96%

These categories represent strong opportunities for job seekers, with employers actively hiring and struggling to fill roles.

🧊Bottom 5 Least Posted Job Categories

55. Biotech – 0.03%
56. Telecommunications – 0.08%
57. Skilled Labor – 0.09%
58. Non-Profits – 0.13%
59. Real Estate – 0.15%

These industries are seeing the fewest job postings right now. That doesn’t mean no one is hiring—but it does mean more competition and fewer open roles.

Which Job Categories Are Growing Fastest?

Measured by growth in posted jobs between February 3, 2025 and May 3, 2025:

🚀Top 5 Fastest Growing Categories

1. Customer Service – +4.1 million jobs
2. Health Care – +3.7 million jobs
3. Management – +3.05 million jobs
4. Insurance – +2.58 million jobs
5. Sales – +2.39 million jobs

These aren’t just big—they’re growing fast, which signals long-term demand.

🐢Bottom 5 Slowest Growing Categories

1. Biotech – +8,000 jobs
2. Telecommunications – +28,000
3. Skilled Labor – +34,000
4. Non-Profits – +49,000
5. Real Estate – +58,000

Low growth means fewer new opportunities opening up. Tread carefully if you’re entering these fields without strong connections or a unique edge.

Free Download: Full 2025 Job Rankings

Since 2012, I’ve been collecting and organizing job posting data from major job boards into readable, actionable charts for high school grads, college students, and job changers.

👉 Visit www.jobsforhighschoolgrads.com to download the full list and charts for free.

Meet the Authors:

Mike Dunn

Mike spent 24 years as a Major Accounts Manager for a Fortune 50 IT company before launching three businesses that focus on job creation, workforce development, and customer service:

GameChangingBusinessSkills.com: “A good job solves a lot of problems.” Get the free list of 170 job titles ranked “first to worst” in chart form as of 5/3/25. These charts help non-college grads, recently downsized workers, single parents, seniors, and real estate professionals land jobs and grow in their careers. The goal? Help people land a median-paying CSR 1 job (~$40,230 as of 5/22/25 -salary.com) and teach insider tips to get
promoted fast. The value proposition is: “IF” this focused video training, certificate, and 6 months of job leads help you get a CSR 1 job at this median salary.com posted rate, the “payback is less than the four full days on the job.” Less than one week. Want the ranked job list from first to worst? (free for now). Click the category for the appropriate free download:

• Jobs for High Grads (FYI, the median Salary is $38,075 as of 5/20/25 per Salary.com < 1-year exp. & HS diploma)
• Parents of HS grads page to provide 5/3/25 job ranking charts 170 most posted job titles from first to worst to start the conversation with current data to help with decision making
• Jobs for Single Moms
• Jobs for Downsized Workers
• Jobs for Seniors
• Backup job for struggling Jobs for RE Brokers.

(*) Disclaimer – The “Customer Service Representative Certificate” online video course with six months of job leads for six months is the best & most effective entry-level jobs course on the market. However, legally, we can guarantee you will get a job at the median salary.com US rate or even get a job.

SUTATaxSavings.com: “B2B” Specializes in helping downsizing companies reduce their (SUTA) State Unemployment Tax liabilities. If companies don’t save more than our fee, we refund the difference. The value proposition: huge upside for the company and former employees with a zero financial risk guarantee.

NearshoreElite.com: “B2B” Operates a secure, bilingual inbound contact center in a prime location in Mexico. The value proposition: we deliver a 50% to 100% ROI for clients through top-tier 24/7 customer service with a far lower costly average turnover rate, improving the benefits of better customer retention and customer satisfaction.

Katie Mills, SHRM–SCP

Katie is a passionate HR professional with deep involvement at both the local and national levels of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). She brings real-time insight into hiring trends, workplace culture, and the evolving expectations of employers in today’s labor market.

CONNECT TO ALL JOBS ARTICLES