Yesterday, the U.S. News and World Report published its annual list of 100 best jobs of 2019 and the software developer role topped the list. Software developer job was also ranked #1 in its other lists like Best STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) Jobs and Best Technology Jobs in 2019.
Source: U.S. News and World Report
While opting for a job role depends on your interests and qualification, there are some common career qualities that everyone looks for in a job. For compiling this list, the U.S. News and World Report looked for the jobs with the highest number of openings from 2016 to 2026, as determined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Then they considered seven of the career qualities, which were median salary, employment rate, 10-year growth percentage, future job prospects, stress level, and a good work-life balance.
Talking about the salary aspect, on an average Software Developers made $101,790 in 2017, while the 25% best-paid made $128,960 that year and the lowest-paid 25% made $77,710. The role was rated average in opportunities for advancements and salary and stress level. In terms of work-life balance and working schedule, it was surprisingly rated above average. Rebecca Koening, who works as a careers reporter at U.S. News and World Report told USA Today, “Unlike some other jobs that do pretty well on the list, which are very demanding, software developer tends not to be a really stressful profession.”
Looking at advancements in the tech industry and its adoption in our day to day life it is not a surprise that software developers will have good future job prospects. They are employed not only in tech companies but in a range of industries like banking, manufacturing, and finance. According to The Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will be a 30.7 percent growth in employment for software developers during the period 2016 to 2026 and an estimated 255,400 jobs will open up.
The other top jobs in the list were Statistician, Physician Assistant, Dentist, Nurse Anesthetist, Orthodontist, Nurse Practitioner, Pediatrician, Obstetrician and Gynecologist, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon. And, if you are curious which was the least favorite job, it was Surgical Technologist.
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