Highest Paying Jobs
According to an October 10, 2010 article in Money Magazine,
the following is a listing of
twenty highest paying jobs in 2010.
Number 9 is software engineer
Best Jobs rank: 18
Median pay: $144,000
Top pay: $202,000
Software engineering directors are in charge of creating new products and helping expand what's possible with software products.
"I like that I have very tangible, direct impact on the success or failure of my projects. I feel much less like a cog in a wheel than at other jobs," says Scott W.D. Rankin, VP of technology at Corporate Reimbursement Services in Cambridge, Mass.
"The ability to explain complex technology to non-technical people has been and continues to be the most valuable skill that I learned," he continues. "Most of the people that make the decisions in a corporate environment are non-technical. If you want to stand a chance of determining your own fate, you need to know how to be able to talk to them in their language."
Number 14 is software architect
Best Jobs rank: 1
Median pay: $119,000
Top pay: $162,000
A software architect helped design the software on which you're reading this article right now. In fact, they have a hand in the creation of everyday products from word processors to computer games. High demand for their skills let software architects demand hefty paychecks.
"I love working with customers who have real problems and developers who have ideas for what's possible," says Brian Pinkerton, chief software architect at Lucid Imagination.
"It's in the space between those that real innovation happens: What can we build that will solve our customers' problems and help them with problems they don't know they have yet? Helping real people with real problems is where it's at."
Number 18 is Computer/Information Scientist
Best Jobs rank: 35
Median pay: $115,000
Top pay: $167,000
These techies research computer science issues as either theorists, designers or inventors, creating new products and solving hardware and software problems.
"The technology landscape is always changing -- new devices and platforms, new media and applications. Everything is in continual flux, so it's always interesting," says James Dixon, "chief geek" of Pentaho, an open source business intelligence firm in Orlando, Fla. "Plus I can do my job from my laptop, anywhere."