You could say IT is on fire, but that doesn’t truly capture the scope of what’s going on in markets throughout the world. The field of information technology is erupting like a volcano, and there simply aren’t enough IT professionals to go around. When demand is high and supply is low, someone usually stands to make a lot of money.
With the right training, that someone can be you. Technology jobs take up 14 of the slots in Glassdoor’s 25 Highest Paying Jobs in Demand report, and get this – the lowest average base salary among them is $90,899. Things only get better from there, so let’s have a look at some of the jobs that can have you pulling in six figures (or close it) in no time.
Sales Engineer
- Average Base Salary: $90,899
- Number of Job Openings: 5,508
If you have a personality that’s suited for sales and the mind of an engineer, you could make a great sales engineer. The job, as you may have guessed, is a hybrid of sales and engineering. If you have a degree in a scientific or technical field you can put your knowledge into the sale of highly complex products and services.
The average base salary may be the lowest on the list, but you’d do well to keep in mind that this number doesn’t include commission for a job well done. When you’re a sales engineer, success pays serious dividends.
Software Engineer
- Average Base Salary: $96,392
- Number of Job Openings: 99,055
That’s not a typo – Glassdoor reports that there are 99,055 job openings for software engineers. Granted, the title “software engineer” encompasses workers in every realm of software development, but that’s still a lot of jobs. Coding is more a way of thinking than it is learning the language, so programmers often pick up a few (or more) over the course of their careers.
Web developers make up more than a few of those openings, and the education requirements are some of the easiest to complete of any in this list. Courses like “Introduction to Web Development with Visual Studio” are a great way to start. They’ll give you an introduction to creating, configuring and deploying web applications using one of the most widely used development tools around.
UX Designer
- Average Base Salary: $96,855
- Number of Job Openings: 2,010
The perfect job for creative types with a knack for tech, UX design – a shortened term for user experience design – is the art of connecting humans to computers in ways that are intuitive, effective and aesthetically pleasing. When you interact with a computer program, you’re doing so through a user interface that was almost probably created by a UX designer.
Employers hire UX designers from all sorts of educational backgrounds. Whether it’s information architecture, industrial design, cognitive psychology or even anthropology, earning a degree in your area of interest will help. It wouldn’t hurt to learn a thing or two about web development, too.
Database Administrator
- Average Base Salary: $97,258
- Number of Job Openings: 9,041
Databases make the computing world go ‘round. They hold customer and transaction information for banks, reservation and scheduling information for airlines and student information for universities. They help businesses manage everything from supply chains to employee records, and these are just a few examples. Put simply, the world’s information is held in a world of databases.
Database administrators hold the keys to these kingdoms, and with “big data” getting bigger, there’s never been a better time to start on the road to becoming one. Climbing the Microsoft SQL Server Certification path is a sure fire way to a lucrative career in IT (source).
Computer Hardware Engineer
- Average Base Salary: $101,154
- Number of Job Openings: $1,264
The device you’re using to read this very text originated in the minds of computer hardware engineers. They work at the leading edge of computing technology, researching, designing, developing and testing the machines that run our world. Computer hardware engineers are to thank for keyboards, motherboards and everything between.
If dreams of circuits and silicon keep you up at night, a degree in computer or electrical engineering will set you up for a career in this exciting field. For work in the most advanced areas of the largest companies, going on to earn your masters is highly recommended.
Security Engineer
- Average Base Salary: $105,395
- Number of Job Openings: 2,060
Malicious cyber attacks are making the news on a regular basis, and these are just the ones we see. Governments and businesses must be vigilant in their protection of the sensitive information they hold, and security professionals are up to the job. If you want to stand on the front lines of the invisible war against those who wish to turn our technologies against us, security engineer s the job for you.
To become an IT security professional you’ll not only want to pursue a computer-related educational path, but also obtain credentials related to computer and network security as well as represent yourself on your job interview. You need to impress your employers by doing something that will make you unique and memorable and making a PowerPoint presentation is surely one way to do it. In case you’re not sure how to make an appealing presentation in which you’ll present your qualification, ideas and why they should hire you, you can always ask a professional company for help with your Power Point presentation. Earning such highly sought-after certifications like CISSP, CCNA, CCSA, and JNCIE will provide you with the training you need to rise through the ranks of this rewarding field.
Movin’ on Up
The IT jobs with the highest average base salaries are all earned by advancing in the IT field. A beginning software engineer can someday hope to earn promotions leading up to the title of software architect, which comes with an average base salary of $130,891, and a database administrator can move up to IT manager to earn an average base salary of $115,725.
Fortunately, the path to the top of many IT career paths is a clear one. Advanced levels of education and certification command higher salaries and promotions to areas of greater responsibility. If you’re committed to becoming the best you can be and are consistent in your training, you’ll see your job title on this list for many years to come.
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