
Top Entry-Level Jobs for 18-Year-Olds with No Experience
Entry-level jobs vary depending on the industry you’re interested in, but they help you develop skills and experience. Typically, these jobs don’t require prior education or experience, making them ideal for 18-year-olds since they provide on-the-job training.
These positions across several industries are ideal whether you want part-time work during your studies or prefer to enter the job market and start growing your career immediately.
1. Entry-Level Jobs For 18-Year-Olds
There are several jobs for people with no skills. Many companies offer entry-level positions to 18-year-olds, allowing them to get their first workplace experience, often even without a high school diploma.
Here are some popular entry-level jobs for 18-year-olds:
Human Resources Assistant
With an average salary of $46,580 annually and no previous experience, you can seek a position as a human resource assistant.
Your primary duties will include administrative tasks, appointment scheduling, screening applications, answering calls, and checking in visitors. You form part of the HR team, and your duties support higher-level HR professionals by facilitating performance reviews, salary payments, employee benefits, and hiring processes.
Research Assistant
If you like to research and work with data, seeking a research assistant position is a great entry-level position with an average annual salary of $46,713. As a research assistant, you must read scientific research literature, prepare literature reviews, and run data analysis. Your supervisor will tell you which tasks they expect of you, often including cleaning laboratories, writing progress reports, responding to emails, and attending meetings. However, you may even get the exciting opportunity to help present research at presentations and conferences.
Junior Graphic Designer
If you are creative, junior graphic design is among the nicest entry-level jobs for 18-year-olds without experience. The national average salary is $47,850 per year for entry-level positions.
The primary duties of a junior graphic designer are to help senior graphic designers. The duties you are expected to perform include design brainstorming, pitching new ideas, and implementation of projects. However, you can also expect to do administrative work like scheduling, billing, and emailing clients. The exciting part of working as a junior graphic designer is that you also learn new design techniques and may be encouraged by your manager to take on projects, helping you grow your experience.
2. Top Job Opportunities For 18-Year-Olds
When looking for entry-level jobs for 18-year-olds without experience, it’s essential to understand what you want to achieve. For some people, it’s to gain experience; for others, it’s skills development, and some look at the minimum salary. Whatever your reasons, here are some of the top job opportunities for 18-year-olds looking for a career with no experience:
Bookkeeper
You don’t need any previous experience to become a bookkeeper as long as you have a working knowledge of spreadsheets and are good at math. The average salary of a bookkeeper is $41,981 annually. Bookkeepers don’t have the same qualifications as accountants, but their work requires creating financial reports based on client financial data, invoicing, and building account spreadsheets.
Most bookkeeping jobs don’t require a college degree but have a high school diploma as a minimum requirement.
Medical Assistant
You can expect to earn about $46,972 annually as a medical assistant. Your job description is to support healthcare workers by doing administrative tasks like scheduling appointments, collecting patient details, taking medical histories, restocking office supplies, and taking phone calls. Medical assistants can work at hospitals, clinics, doctors’ offices, etc. Depending on your employer, you may also sterilize medical equipment, clean patient-receiving areas, and assist during medical examinations. You may also have the responsibility of reviewing doctor instructions with patients.
Administrative Assistant
Working as an administrative assistant means you support people higher up within a company by performing administrative duties. Currently, the average salary is $49,797 per year.
As an administrative assistant, your responsibilities may include answering phones, responding to emails, taking notes, preparing reports, and planning and scheduling meetings. You may also have to organize trips to your boss and keep all their records for them, meaning it’s good to have organizational skills and know how to work filing systems, especially electronic ones.
3. No Experience Needed: Jobs For 18-Year-Olds
It’s common to see entry-level job postings asking for applicants with several years of experience. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply, even with limited experience. You may be an excellent fit even if you don’t meet all the stipulations. However, these three are great jobs for 18-year-olds with no experience:
Camp Counselor
Working as a camp counselor entails guiding children in outdoor activities. The average salary for the position is just over $15 per hour, which is a good income if you enjoy planning and supervising activities. Besides watching the young campers, you may be required to create schedules. Communication skills are needed for the job since you must communicate with the children and their parents. Working as a camp counselor is also ideal if you plan to continue your studies since the work is often seasonal or part of after-school programs.
Delivery Driver
Besides a driver’s license, you don’t need any other skills to work as a delivery driver for a courier company, store, or gig driver. The national average salary for a driver is just over $18 per hour for transporting goods and packages to various destinations. Depending on your job description, you may need to accept payments, and you must complete delivery logs. Some delivery drivers must have their own vehicle, but this also depends on the employer.
Landscape Technician
If you prefer working outdoors, you don’t need to know much about lawns and plants to become a landscape technician. You will learn about their care on the job, including how to treat them for diseases and when to prune and fertilize. Expect to earn about $18 per hour as a landscape technician in exchange for mowing, edging, and pruning plants, designing garden areas, and selling gardening products.
4. Best Gigs For 18-Year-Olds With No Experience
Joining the gig economy offers several work opportunities without prior experience at 18. Here’s a small sample of the best gigs:
Freelance Writer
You can also become a freelance writer without prior experience if you are creative and have good writing skills. You can earn about $20 per hour for entry-level writing jobs, including as a copywriter, blog writer, or writing articles. Some writers work in a niche field, but you can make more money working with more industries.
Tutor
Working as a tutor in the gig economy means that you can either teach one-on-one or in group settings. Tutors earn a national average of $24 per hour. You don’t need formal training to teach others things you already know, whether it’s a language, math, or physics. As a tutor, you must create study plans and explain topics to students to help them achieve their academic goals. You will also need to review homework and help them study based on the subject’s school curriculum.
Virtual Administrative Assistant
If you like being an administrative assistant, the gig economy allows you to work virtually. You perform administrative tasks like answering phone calls, monitoring emails, ordering supplies, etc., with an average annual take-home salary of $46,000.
Virtual assistants handle administrative tasks like ordering supplies, connecting clients, and more for their company, all while working from home.
5. Lucrative job options for inexperienced 18-year-olds
According to Coursera, some entry-level jobs are more well-paid than the annual median take-home salary of a full-time wage of $41,953.
These three jobs for 18-year-olds with no experience can prove quite lucrative:
Claims Adjuster
The insurance industry has many high-paying jobs that require no experience and excellent job growth potential, including claims adjustors. As a claims adjuster, you must review the details of all the paperwork on insurance claims to ensure these are valid. The average salary is just over $62,000 annually, and you need a high school diploma or equivalent to work in this field.
Junior Web Developer
Creating websites and online work applications is another well-paying position. If you want to become a junior web developer, you can find places willing to accept you without prior experience. The average annual salary is almost $70,000, not bad if you are self-taught or learning on the job. You can also study computer science, allowing you to advance to a senior position.
Direct Support Professional
With an average salary of $76,265 per year, working as a direct support professional is a lucrative job that doesn’t require experience. Your primary duties are the care and support of people with disabilities. Your duties may vary according to the individuals you care for, including personal hygiene, cooking, feeding, cleaning, and shopping. Your job is to help these individuals lead a more fulfilling life and gain independence. You are responsible for assisting them to create and follow a schedule to achieve this.
6. Exciting Entry-Level Jobs For 18-Year-Olds
Some people want plenty of excitement in their lives. Some jobs offer plenty of excitement and on-the-job training. Here are some of the most exciting entry-level jobs:
Flight Attendant
If you love to travel, getting a flight attendant job is the best way to see the world. With an average salary of $84,637 annually, a good growth outlook since demand remains strong, and only the high school diploma requirement, you cannot go wrong if you are looking for an exciting entry-level job.
Air travel companies provide a three to six-week training course, and you must also take an exam for your FAA Certificate (renewed annually). Working as a flight attendant requires working irregular hours and standing long hours while serving people on flights. Nonetheless, it remains an exciting opportunity to travel and earn good money.
Lifeguard
Working as a lifeguard is another exciting entry-level career opportunity if you’re a good swimmer. The average lifeguard salary is $27,000 annually to ensure people around bodies of water like beaches, pools, and water parks are safe. It’s essential to remain alert throughout your duty hours to ensure you can intervene when a situation gets unsafe. Still, the job is exciting since you can organize activities like swim camps. There are no formal education requirements but expect on-the-job training.
Real Estate Agent
Working in real estate is an exciting entry-level job if you like working with people. You don’t need prior work experience, and it provides flexible working hours with an average annual salary of $42,500 and up. You get on-the-job training and complete a quick licensing course before you can start helping people buy and sell houses. You will need a car, a professional dress code, and the ability to treat people well to succeed in this exciting entry-level work.
7. Easy-to-Land Jobs For 18-Year-Olds With No Experience
It’s often not too difficult to find a job. These are some of the easy-to-land jobs for 18-year-olds with no experience:
Sales Representative
If you are good with people, landing a job as a sales representative is easy. You learn all the details about the products in a retail store and connect with potential clients to make sales. Some positions may require a minimum of a high school diploma, but rarely will they ask for a college degree. The average salary you could take home annually is $74,342, and you learn everything on the job.
Barista
If you’re looking for easy-to-land jobs for 18-year-olds with no experience, you won’t have trouble finding one working as a barista. Expect to make an average of $14.85 per hour while preparing hot beverages for customers. Depending on your employer, you may also need to make baked goods or sandwiches. You get on-the-job training on making all the things on the menu. You may need to clean and work as a cashier in some shops. Working as a barista requires attention to detail and a friendly demeanor to ensure you always give excellent customer service.
Waiting Tables
Waiting tables is one of the most accessible jobs if you are 18 and have no experience. Expect to make an average of $15.96 per hour for your work. Besides doing the classical duties of greeting, explaining menus, taking orders from, and serving diners, you need excellent time-management skills to ensure positive experiences for your diners.
Read more about jobs that are easy to land for 18-year-olds with no experience on Zippia.
8. High-Paying Jobs for 18-Year-Olds Without Prior Experience
There are several high-paying entry-level jobs without prior experience. In the above categories, we have mentioned some, like real estate agents and direct support professionals. Here are some more to consider:
Construction Worker
You can earn from $19.42 per hour to work in construction. You learn to follow construction plans on the job under the direction of the site supervisor or foreman. Some tasks you will need to perform include building demolitions, scaffolding assemblies, loading supplies, and operating construction machinery.
Apprentice Electrician
Learning an electrician’s trade can earn you about $20.77 per hour. You don’t need any prior experience since you work alongside a licensed electrician. As you learn the trade, you acquire all the knowledge for the basics, including working safely and managing the equipment and materials for each job. You will gradually progress until you can earn your license to perform your installations and repairs.
Toll Operator
With an annual average salary of $80,000, working as a toll operator is a high-paying entry-level job that requires no experience. You collect money from vehicles at toll booths, and you can start working immediately as long as you are good at basic math, have good customer skills, and don’t mind working in a booth in a fast-paced environment, no matter the weather conditions.