Why data scientist is the 'best job in America' for 2019
Despite a rocky 2018, the tech industry is still an attractive gig for millions of talented workers. Look no further than Glassdoor’s “50 Best Jobs in America for 2019” for proof of that.
Of the 50 jobs on this year’s list, tech jobs constitute 19 of them, with the role of Data Scientist taking the top spot for the fourth year in a row, followed closely by Product Manager (#5), Devops Engineer (#6), Data Engineer (#8) and Software Engineer (#10). Glassdoor does not officially define the data scientist role, however these specialized workers essentially use their coding and analytical skills to organize large chunks of data.
Glassdoor’s annual “50 Best Jobs in America” report lists the top 50 jobs with the highest “Glassdoor Job Score.” The score is calculated by weighing three factors, including the job’s median annual base salary, the overall job satisfaction rating, and the number of postings for that role.
On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal published an investigation suggesting that some companies might enlist their own employees to boost their ratings.
‘Use every part of your brain’
According to Glassdoor, the data scientist role currently commands a median annual salary of $110,000 with a 4.3 out of 5 job satisfaction score on Glassdoor. Companies including Apple (AAPL), Lyft, Microsoft (MSFT), Caterpillar (CAT), Walmart (WMT) are just a few of the companies that have posted 6,500-plus job openings on the site.
“Data scientists aren’t only needed at tech companies but companies across industries, including healthcare and retail,” says Glassdoor Economic Research Analyst Amanda Stansell. “Data scientists are needed to compile and analyze data that inform business decisions, especially as companies across industries continue to collect more data.”
Harvard Business Review, meanwhile, once called the job the “sexiest job of the 21st century.” Those are sensational words, to be sure, but Michael Roytman, Chief Data Scientist at the San Francisco-based startup Kenna Security, contends data scientists are vital to companies’ strategies, whether they’re an agile 15-person startup or a long-established publicly traded company.
“The job itself is niche and at the same time incredibly useful to the industry, and involves a broad skills applicable anywhere across the world: statistics, machine learning, visualization, productization, internal metrics, database development,” Roytman explains. “The output can be a new product, a way to scale an expert’s knowledge, or insight about the customers that can’t be derived without data at scale. The most exciting part about being a data scientist is the ability to both analyze and use that insight to create. From insight to product: you get to be both creative and methodical and scientist, use every part of your brain.”
One tech job that debuted for the first time on Glassdoor’s Best Jobs list? Security engineer (#17), a specialized field of engineering that focuses on shoring up security-related aspects in a company’s design system. Given companies have made numerous headlines in recent years for hacks and data breaches, it’s not surprising organization are looking to beef up all aspects of their security teams.
Here are the top 19 tech jobs which made Glassdoor’s “50 Best Jobs in America for 2019”:
Data Scientist (#1)
Job Score: 4.7
Job Satisfaction Rating: 4.3
Number of Job Openings: 6,510
Median Base Salary: $108,000
Product Manager (#5)
Job Score: 4.5
Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.8
Number of Job Openings: 11,884
Median Base Salary: $115,000
Devops Engineer (#6)
Job Score: 4.5
Job Satisfaction Rating: 4.1
Number of Job Openings: 4,657
Median Base Salary: $106,000
Data Engineer (#8)
Job Score: 4.4
Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.9
Number of Job Openings: 4,739
Median Base Salary: $100,000
Software Engineer (#10)
Job Score: 4.4
Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.6
Number of Job Openings: 49,007
Median Base Salary: $104,000
Security Engineer (#17)
Job Score: 4.3
Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.8
Number of Job Openings: 4,683
Median Base Salary: $102,000
Product Designer (#21)
Job Score: 4.2
Job Satisfaction Rating: 4.5
Number of Job Openings: 2,158
Median Base Salary: $100,000
Java Developer (#22)
Job Score: 4.2
Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.7
Number of Job Openings: 6,636
Median Base Salary: $85,000
Electrical Engineer (#24)
Job Score: 4.2
Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.7
Number of Job Openings: 7,191
Median Base Salary: $77,000
Solutions Architect (#27)
Job Score: 4.2
Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.6
Number of Job Openings: 6,969
Median Base Salary: $127,000
Data Analyst (#31)
Job Score: 4.1
Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.9
Number of Job Openings: 5,456
Median Base Salary: $60,000
Applications Engineer (#33)
Job Score: 4.1
Job Satisfaction Rating: 4.0
Number of Job Openings: 2,591
Median Base Salary: $77,000
QA Manager (#34)
Job Score: 4.1
Job Satisfaction Rating: 4.1
Number of Job Openings: 1,923
Median Base Salary: $91,250
Systems Engineer (#39)
Job Score: 4.1
Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.5
Number of Job Openings: 16,793
Median Base Salary: $90,000
Software Engineering Manager (#43)
Job Score: 4.0
Job Satisfaction Rating: 4.0
Number of Job Openings: 1,445
Median Base Salary: $153,000
Software Developer (#44)
Job Score: 4.0
Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.5
Number of Job Openings: 11,833
Median Base Salary: $80,000
UX Designer (#46)
Job Score: 4.0
Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.7
Number of Job Openings: 3,333
Median Base Salary: $89,000
Software Development Manager (#49)
Job Score: 4.0
Job Satisfaction Rating: 4.2
Number of Job Openings: 1,178
Median Base Salary: $140,000
Systems Administrator (#50)
Job Score: 4.0
Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.6
Number of Job Openings: 8,278
Median Base Salary: $68,000
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