These Will Be the 10 Hottest Jobs in 2016

Hey, young folks and potential career changers, CareerBuilder has a little seasonal present for you.

The job ads site recently teamed up with Economic Modeling Specialists Intl. (EMSI) to comb through a trove of data and discover which jobs will be most in demand in the coming year. The research combined information from CareerBuilder’s platform, such as the number of new job openings a month versus the number of positions filled, with EMSI data on job growth and average hourly salary.

The resulting list claims to rank the hottest gigs for the coming year and amounts to a little early holiday gift for those in search of a stable career. Here’s the top 10:

1. Registered nurses: 199,082 more jobs posted than people hired
2. App developers: 83,649 more  jobs posted than people hired
3. Marketing managers: 83,183 more jobs posted than people hired
4. Sales managers: 52,808 more jobs posted than people hired
5. Medical and health services managers: 51,833 more jobs posted than people hired
6. Network administrators: 51,068 more jobs posted than people hired
7. Industrial engineers: 47,279 more jobs posted than people hired
8. Computer systems analysts: 46,852 more jobs posted than people hired
9. Web developers: 45,790 more jobs posted than people hired
10. Financial managers: 39,906 more jobs posted than people hired

Trends in the data

It’s not too hard to spot some of the trends here (nor will they likely cause anyone to keel over in shock). Health care and tech continue to be the strongest sectors if you’re looking for a well-paid career with lots of opportunities, though CareerBuilder CEO Matt Ferguson notes “there are also plenty of opportunities in areas such as marketing, sales, and transportation.” (Truck drivers were apparently the most in-demand workers of all, but were left off the list because the average hourly pay rate of $19 was deemed too low.)

However, there may be other, subtler takeaways for hiring managers and job seekers in these most sought-after fields as well. For bosses who are looking to hire, the message may be: Get creative or get less picky.

“The availability of jobs across industries underscores the need for companies to evaluate where their talent deficits are and become more strategic about how they fill these needs, whether that means reskilling their current workers, offering higher salaries to attract workers, or using data analytics to target talent with the right skills,” Ferguson comments.

For would-be employees, the apparent lesson is to get a little bolder in your ambitions. In the current climate, you have a better shot at that “reach” gig than you might have had in the past.

“Job seekers often feel discouraged from applying to a job if they do not meet 100 percent of the qualifications listed in the ad. However, our research shows that more employers are willing to hire candidates who do not meet every single qualification and train them on the job,” CareerBuilder’s corporate communications manager Mary Lorenz told Fast Company.