A lot of people don’t know where to begin when it comes to determining their career path. You could spend years going to school only to land a job that you hate just a few years into your career.
To help with the search, we turned to the company review site Glassdoor for insight into which jobs currently have a combination of the best job satisfaction, most job openings and highest median base salaries. With all this in mind, here are the best jobs in America this year.
Let’s just say, tech jobs are where it’s at.
10. Product Manager
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Median base salary: $125,317
Job satisfaction: 4.0/5
Job openings: 17,725
Note: Data comes from Glassdoor's 2022 Best Jobs in America report.
Job Description: Product Manager
Product managers are known in the tech world as overseeing the development of new products from start to finish and then updating them as needed. This process starts with industry research to find out what products customers need and then aligns those the company’s goals.
From there, they initiate the devolopment of the product by coordinating the expertise from various teams.
9. Java Developer
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Median base salary: $107,099
Job satisfaction: 4.1/5
Job openings: 10,201
Job Description: Java Developer
Java developers specialize in the Java programming language, creating Java-based applications for businesses.
In some cases, Java developers can land jobs simply by taking specialized courses in the language, but most companies still require a bachelor’s degree in computer science.
8. Software Engineer
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Median base salary: $116,638
Job satisfaction: 3.9/5
Job openings: 64,155
Job Description: Software Engineer
Jobs for software engineers (sometimes referred to as software developers) are the most prevalent on this list, with more than 60,000 openings at any given moment. They’re known for designing, developing and maintaining various types of software, including operating systems, web applications and even games.
They also need to be able to find issues in their own software and repair them before any problems occur.
7. Data Engineer
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Median base salary: $113,960
Job satisfaction: 4.0/5
Job openings: 11,821
Job Description: Data Engineer
In today’s data-driven world, it’s safe to say that data is big business. Therefore, data engineers have become pivotal in guiding a business’ decisions.
These engineers have coding backgrounds and are responsible for designing, building, testing and maintaining data-management systems.
6. Machine Learning Engineer
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Median base salary: $130,489
Job satisfaction: 4.3/5
Job openings: 6,801
Job Description: Machine Learning Engineer
Machine learning engineers have a strong knowledge of data science and statistics.
They’re expected to use their excellent programming skills to design and develop machine learning (ML) systems, implement ML algorithms and conduct experiments.
5. Strategy Manager
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Median base salary: $140,000
Job satisfaction: 4.2/5
Job openings: 6,977
Job Description: Strategy Manager
The strategy manager (or strategic manager) tends to work directly with senior management to keep a business safe and profitable.
They’re responsible for creating business objectives that align with upcoming opportunities as well as guiding a company to have a competitive advantage.
4. Devops Engineer
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Median base salary: $120,095
Job satisfaction: 4.2/5
Job openings: 8,548
Job Description: Devops Engineer
The devops engineer primarily focuses on an organization’s enterprise applications, which are designed to integrate computer systems that run a company’s entire operations.
A key part of the job involves installing, maintaining and testing the computer systems for errors and security issues as well as any required updates.
3. Data Scientist
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Median base salary: $20,000
Job satisfaction: 4.`/5
Job openings: 10,071
Job Description: Data Scientist
Data scientists are very much in demand right now. After all, they’re responsible for aggregating a company’s data and creating algorithms that help analyze that data to determine a company’s business strategy.
These highly technical workers also need to be skilled communicators since they’re required to present this data to non-technical colleagues and other stakeholders.
2. Full Stack Engineer
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Median base salary: $101,794
Job satisfaction: 4.3/5
Job openings: 11,252
Job Description: Full Stack Engineer
The full stack engineer is an expert software engineer with experience in both frontend and backend development.
They’re typically in charge of creating software, applications and scalable web solutions, while also managing a team of coders.
1. Enterprise Architect
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Median base salary: $144,997
Job satisfaction: 4.1/5
Job openings: 14,021
Job Description: Enterprise Architect
An enterprise architect plays a key role in IT strategy, as they are the person who develops and coordinates a company’s IT networks. Before developers start on a new project, the enterprise architect gathers all the functional requirements for the software and develops project specifications so the new system works with the existing software and hardware.
They are also responsible for leading the development team, answering client questions and managing vendors.