Three of the best jobs to have are in the computing science field and two illustrate how valuable data is becoming to the enterprise and how integrated data skills are now needed by IT teams.
The software engineer role is in second place, behind the job of physician assistant, on the list of 25 Best Jobs in America, published by Glassdoor. Database administrator and data scientist took seventh and ninth spots, respectively.
The ranking was compiled using a system that weighed elements of each position, such as earning potential, job openings and career opportunities.
Not only are there plenty of job openings for software engineers, given currently over 104,000 job ads, the role offers an average base salary of about $98,074, according to Glassdoor, a careers website.
Essentially, software engineers are computer programmers. They are trained to speak the common tongues of computers so that they can write new programs or modify existing software with updates and security patches.
For Phil Sant, Omnifone chief engineer, developing software is an art and engineers should only take on projects that will set them apart, he says. He advises other software engineers to write the least amount of code possible, a basic tenet of programming that promotes efficiency and minimizes space for bugs. Omnifone is a cloud-based music streaming provider.
"The most successful developers will be those that leverage the most interesting APIs and can envisage the most interesting amalgamation of features into a cohesive single user experience," says Sant. "You should only write the software that differentiates you."
For those interested in the database environment, there are about 9,800 database administration positions available and the base pay is about $97,800. For those who'd rather interpret data, there are somewhere around 3,450 data scientists jobs open with the average base pay hitting $104,500.
Those looking to move into the three top IT roles should look deeper than job opportunities and salary, advises Glassdoor, and make sure they dig in on the employer and the culture of the company.
"Don't forget that when thinking about a new job, you also want to consider other aspects that can make it enjoyable -- this includes reading company reviews to see what a company culture is like, reading up on the benefits offered and getting more details into compensation, i.e., bonuses, equity, commission [and so on]," says Glassdoor.
