Future-Proof Your Career: 11 AI-Resistant Entry-Level Jobs Paying Up To $94,000+

Jobs that involve problem-solving in real-time are less susceptible to automation

Everywhere we see headlines that say "AI is taking away entry-level jobs."

While there certainly is a strong degree of truth to that, there's also another side to the story.

It's important not to allow this statistic to deter you as a graduate or new career starter. You can still gain experience and work your way up, even with AI automating jobs.

While many roles are being replaced (as many as 93 million jobs according to the World Economic Forum), there is a wave of new roles that are being created, and existing roles whose job descriptions are being updated—both of which are becoming more valuable in today's job market because they require uniquely human skills and capabilities that a robot simply cannot replace.

The World Economic Forum also notes that 39% of the core skills workers possess today will need to change by 2030.

So what this means is that roles that require skill sets which are human-led and human-focused, will be in strong demand. These are going to be the entry-level jobs where humans still have the advantage.

In this article, you're going to learn what these entry-level AI-proof jobs are, and even more than this, while future-proofing your career, you can even earn more than the median entry-level salary in the U.S. ($33,000 according to ZipRecruiter and $68,000 according to Bankrate when considering college grads) with some of these roles.

What's The Future Of Entry-Level Jobs?

Rather than totally eliminating entry-level jobs altogether, what AI is doing is reshaping them. This is because, since AI tools and agents can take over the work of an assistant or junior-level role (much of which is repetitive and predictable tasks), entry-level jobs are fair game.

Therefore, to stand out in the job market and effectively progress in your career as a grad, you need to have a combination of basic technical knowhow and higher-level thinking, like:

• Critical thinking skills
• Leadership skills
• Strategic, big-picture thinking
• AI literacy beyond basic gen AI fluency (think how to integrate AI into workflows and use it to cut costs or boost revenue)

That combination of characteristics is what the entry-level jobs of the future will be made of.

ResumeNow recently uncovered a list of entry-level jobs that they consider to be resilient and not easily replaceable by artificial intelligence. Their analysts compared data from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook and O*NET data and were able to identify entry-level jobs that ticked all the below boxes:

• Education: Roles that can be entered with a high-school diploma, postsecondary certificate, associate degree, or bachelor's degree but do not require extensive prior experience
• Salary: Median annual pay of roughly $50,000 or more
• Job growth: Projected to grow faster than average (5% or more) or much faster than average (7% or more) through 2034
• AI risk: Tasks involving manual labor, real-time problem-solving, or interpersonal skills that make them low or moderate risk for automation

11 High-Paying Entry-Level Jobs That Can't Be Replaced By AI

1. Dental hygienists—average salary $94,260
2. Diagnostic medical sonographers—average salary $89,340
3. Respiratory therapists—average salary $80,450
4. Radiologic and MRI technologists—average salary $78,980
5. Occupational therapy assistants—average salary $66,050
6. Wind turbine technicians—average salary $62,580
7. Surgical assistants and technologists—average salary $62,480
8. Electricians—average salary $62,350
9. Physical therapist assistants—average salary $60,050
10. Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics—average salary $59,810
11. Solar photovoltaic installers—average salary $51,860

These roles pay well and are most likely to thrive in the AI era because AI still hasn't figured out yet how to perform manual work that requires deep expertise and reasoning, like these roles do. And right here is precisely where you gain an advantage.

Jobs that involve problem-solving in real-time are less susceptible to automation

Focus on building your EQ, critical thinking and reasoning, and judgement and decision-making skills. Developing your AI skills (learning about AI applications for your work and industry as well as building "soft" or power skills to complement AI) could literally save your career from elimination and increase your hireability.

If you want to know what skills you should prioritize learning for 2026, I've compiled a list here in this Forbes article.