One of the key factors of a satisfying job is the ability to advance in your career, but identifying whether a potential job comes with this important component can be tricky. To find the jobs with the most career opportunities, Glassdoor analyzed millions of employee reviews on its site and found the 25 jobs that are most likely to allow you to climb the career ladder — and some of them might surprise you.
Last updated: Feb. 18, 2020
Software Development Engineer
- Median base salary: $117,250
Almost half of the jobs on Glassdoor’s list are in tech, but software engineers had the lowest career opportunities rating of the ones that made the cut — 3.6 on a scale of one to five, with one being the weakest and five being the strongest. On the plus side, it has one of the highest median base salaries and some of the most job openings, with nearly 10,000 software development engineer jobs listed on Glassdoor as of July 2019.
QA Manager
- Median base salary: $91,660
QA managers — short for quality assurance managers — are responsible for ensuring that products work effectively and efficiently. This job scored a 3.7 career opportunities rating, and there were more than 2,000 open positions for this role on Glassdoor as of July 2019.
Solutions Architect
- Median base salary: $130,595
Solutions architect has the third-highest median base salary of the jobs included in this ranking. People in this role have both technical and business skills, and they are responsible for designing applications or services within an organization.
Nursing Manager
- Median base salary: $85,181
As with tech, healthcare is a sector with strong career opportunities. This indicates a growing demand for top healthcare talent, according to Glassdoor’s analysis.
Nursing manager is the position with the highest number of open jobs in the ranking, with nearly 15,000 open roles in the U.S. as of July 2019.
Compliance Manager
- Median base salary: $96,580
Compliance managers make sure that a company’s policies and procedures meet regulatory and ethical standards. This position scored a 3.7 career opportunities rating, and there were 3,030 open jobs for this role listed on Glassdoor as of July 2019.
Product Manager
- Median base salary: $117,113
After nursing manager, this job had the second-highest amount of open positions listed on Glassdoor, with nearly 13,000 as of July 2019. Product managers help develop products based on market research, and they also assist in marketing the products they generate.
Physician Assistant
- Median base salary: $107,356
A physician assistant is another healthcare job that made the list with a 3.7 career opportunities rating. The job also boasts a six-figure base salary, and there were more than 10,000 physician assistant jobs across the U.S. posted on Glassdoor as of July 2019.
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Dentist
- Median base salary: $140,298
Of the healthcare jobs on this list, dentist has the highest career opportunities rating with a 3.8 — and it also has the highest salary. It has the second-highest salary overall compared to the other jobs on this list.
Scrum Master
- Median base salary: $97,771
A scrum master works within the Agile/Scrum framework to guide a team. Their responsibilities include freeing their team from obstacles and addressing any internal issues the team may have. There were 2,580 open scrum master positions on Glassdoor as of July 2019.
Data Engineer
- Median base salary: $101,527
Data engineer is another tech job with lots of opportunity for career growth and a high base salary. People in this role develop, maintain and test infrastructure for transforming data into a format that can be analyzed.
Accounting Manager
- Median base salary: $86,562
For those looking to get into the finance field, accounting manager is one of the best jobs to have in terms of career opportunities. The job, which entails tracking, monitoring and evaluating the day-to-day accounting tasks of a business, received a 3.8 career opportunities ranking.
Communications Manager
- Median base salary: $80,188
Communication managers oversee an organization’s internal and external messaging. For those with experience and/or degrees in communications, public relations or marketing, it’s a good job choice if you want to grow in your career.
Devops Engineer
- Median base salary: $107,619
A devops engineer works with developers and IT staffers to oversee releases of new codes, including the testing and the actual deployment. This tech job scored a 3.8 career opportunities rating, and there were more than 5,000 job openings on Glassdoor for this position as of July 2019.
Mobile Developer
- Median base salary: $94,555
Of the tech roles on this list, the mobile developer has one of the highest career opportunities ratings with a 3.8. These software developers specialize in mobile technology, such as smartphone apps.
Product Marketing Manager
- Median base salary: $121,780
Product marketing manager has both a high base salary and a high career opportunities rating with a 3.9. Employees in this role have a complete understanding of a company’s products and develop marketing strategies to promote these products.
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Marketing Manager
- Median base salary: $83,513
This marketing role ties with product marketing manager in terms of career opportunities with a 3.9 rating. Although the median base salary is lower, there were more job openings for marketing managers than product marketing managers — 8,194 versus 2,319, respectively — as of July 2019.
Java Developer
- Median base salary: $82,087
This tech job has a 3.9 career opportunities rating, and there were more than 9,000 job openings on Glassdoor for this position as of July 2019.
Unfortunately for coffee lovers, this job has nothing to do with lattes and everything to do with the Java programming language. These developers create, implement and maintain Java-based components and interfaces.
Business Development Manager
- Median base salary: $80,341
Business development managers generate new sales leads and clients for their organizations. There’s lots of room for growth with this job, which earned a 3.9 career opportunities rating. There were nearly 7,000 business development manager job postings on Glassdoor as of July 2019.
Data Scientist
- Median base salary: $110,160
Data scientist is a tech role, but it’s in high demand across all industries, according to Glassdoor. These professionals collect and analyze data to meet a company’s needs. There were nearly 7,000 job openings for this position on Glassdoor as of July 2019.
Audit Manager
- Median base salary: $102,521
Audit manager is one of three financial roles that made Glassdoor’s list. It offers a competitive starting salary, and there were more than 3,000 job openings for the role on Glassdoor as of July 2019. These employees are responsible for overseeing internal operating policies and controls to assure that they are up-to-date, functional and meet legal and company standards.
Human Resources Manager
- Median base salary: $84,700
If you love working with people, HR manager is a great job to choose to ensure upward mobility — this position scored a 4.0 as its career opportunities rating. There were more than 4,000 job openings for human resources managers on Glassdoor as of July 2019.
Strategy Manager
- Median base salary: $142,328
Not only is strategy manager a great job for career opportunities — it received a 4.0 — but it also boasts the highest median base salary of all the jobs on this list. In fact, it’s nearly three times what the average American makes.
These managers review the way a company functions and determine strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for improvement. Getting the gig requires a deep understanding of business as well as an analytical way of thinking.
Product Designer
- Median base salary: $102,054
Product designer is tied with other roles for the highest career opportunities rating on this list with a score of 4.1. This technical role also requires creative ability, but if you have the skills, you’ll get paid handsomely with a six-figure base salary.
Salesforce Developer
- Median base salary: $81,721
Salesforce is used by numerous companies across a variety of fields, so this developer role is one of the most in-demand jobs. Salesforce developers create data solutions for employers based on their unique needs. There were more than 3,000 job openings for this position on Glassdoor as of July 2019.
Tax Manager
- Median base salary: $112,021
You might be surprised to see that the top job for the best career opportunities is not in tech or healthcare. That’s because the role of tax manager — like many of the other roles with the best career opportunities — is one that’s needed across a variety of industries. That means that employees with these skills have numerous career choices and can work for a wide variety of employers, including those in the tech space.
In addition to being a great job for growth, tax manager is also one of the best-paying jobs.
More From GOBankingRates
Methodology: GOBankingRates sourced all data from Glassdoor’s study on 25 jobs with the best career opportunities in the United States. Glassdoor based its rankings on the following factors: (1) career opportunities rating (on a scale of 1.0=weak to 5.0=strong) reported by actual employees working in these roles on Glassdoor over the past year (July 1, 2018-June 20, 2019); (2) median base salary reported on Glassdoor over the past year (July 1, 2018-June 20, 2019) is $80,000 or higher; (3) number of U.S.-based open job openings on Glassdoor as of July 5, 2019, is at least 2,000.
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 25 Surprising Jobs That Will Be the Best for Your Career
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