When it comes to being satisfied at work, having the ability to advance your career is a key component. From previous research, we know that having access to career momentum opportunities in the workplace is one of the three strongest predictors of employee satisfaction based on millions of reviews left on Glassdoor. Which roles provide the best career opportunities?
We analyzed millions of employee reviews on Glassdoor to identify 25 jobs with the best career opportunities in the U.S., especially given the arrival of back-to-school season, when students across the country are deciding on which education tracks will best prepare them for the workforce. This list of jobs with great career opportunities is not limited to tech; we see several finance, healthcare and marketing roles with strong career paths as well. Job seekers can use this unique list of jobs to identify roles that have been rated by actual employees on Glassdoor as (1) fostering strong career opportunities at their companies, (2) paying well above the U.S. median base salary and (3) being in demand in today’s labor market.
Key Findings:
- Tax manager has the strongest career opportunities rating according to employees in this position. Several finance roles, including audit manager and accounting manager, boast strong career opportunity ratings as well, along with competitive salaries and numerous open jobs. This demonstrates the bright future for those looking to grow their career in the accounting field.
- Dentist, physician assistant and nursing manager are all healthcare roles that boast strong career opportunities, highlighting the growing demand for top healthcare talent.
- Almost half of these jobs with bright futures are tech positions. Tech roles like Salesforce developer and data scientist are in high demand not only at tech companies but across almost all industries, demonstrating that employers are willing to pay top dollar as they need tech workers that can organize and analyze data and build software.
Jobs with the Best Career Opportunities
Our study highlights 25 roles with the strongest career opportunities. These jobs were compiled using the following criteria:
- Career Opportunities Rating: The 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 (7/1/18-6/30/19).
- Salary: The median base salary reported on Glassdoor over the past year (7/1/18-6/30/19) is $80,000 or higher.
- Job Openings: The number of U.S.-based open job openings on Glassdoor as of 7/5/19 is at least 2,000.
The career opportunities rating left by employees in these roles on Glassdoor demonstrates that they have experienced great career growth and see a bright future in their current roles to keep progressing their careers. All of these roles that pay over $80,000 median base salary are well above June 2019 U.S. median pay of $53,411. Additionally, there are plenty of open jobs available for these roles, demonstrating a need at companies across industries.
The table below shows the top 25 roles with the strongest career opportunities. Tax manager has the strongest career opportunities rating (4.1) and a median base salary of $112,021. The average career opportunities rating on Glassdoor is a 3.0, so the career opportunities rating for tax managers is significantly higher than this average. Tax manager roles are available in many industries, not limited to traditional finance and consulting sectors, so employees with these specialized skills have the ability to hone their skills in a wide variety of employers, including in tech and manufacturing. Plus, with the infiltration of technology within the finance industry, there is an increased emphasis for tax managers to build closer client relationships in order to provide more customized financial advice.
Other finance roles such as audit manager and accounting manager have very strong career opportunities. These roles often have clear barriers to entry and career paths that enable these employees to grow into higher-level positions.
Salesforce developer has the second strongest career opportunities rating (4.1). As companies across industries continue to amass data in today’s age of technology, the demand for professionals able to wrangle and analyze big data has increased. In particular, Salesforce developers can help create scalable data solutions for Salesforce workflows customized to their employers’ unique needs.
Almost half of these roles are tech roles, with product designer, data scientist, java developer and mobile developer all having career opportunities ratings of at least 3.8. Nursing manager boasts the highest number of open jobs of any role on this list with almost 15,000 open roles in the U.S. as of July 5, 2019. Dentist and physician assistant are two additional healthcare roles with strong career opportunities, both paying over $100,000 in addition to having at least a 3.7 career opportunities rating.
Strategy manager is the highest paid role among the top 25, with a median base salary of $142,328 — nearly three times what the average American earns. This role helps identify an organization’s strengths and weaknesses, helping to establish long-term direction and often working closely with senior leadership. As such, this high-impact role requires a deep understanding of the business as well as a highly-analytical mindset, making this job both very high paying and designed to foster strong career growth opportunities.
25 Jobs with the Best Career Opportunities in the U.S.
| Rank | Job Title | Career Opportunities Rating | Median Base Salary | Job Openings on Glassdoor |
| 1 | Tax Manager | 4.1 | $112,021 | 4,803 |
| 2 | Salesforce Developer | 4.1 | $81,721 | 3,193 |
| 3 | Product Designer | 4.1 | $102,054 | 2,045 |
| 4 | Strategy Manager | 4.0 | $142,328 | 3,131 |
| 5 | HR Manager | 4.0 | $84,700 | 4,351 |
| 6 | Audit Manager | 4.0 | $102,521 | 3,050 |
| 7 | Data Scientist | 3.9 | $110,160 | 6,789 |
| 8 | Business Development Manager | 3.9 | $80,341 | 6,982 |
| 9 | Java Developer | 3.9 | $82,087 | 9,367 |
| 10 | Marketing Manager | 3.9 | $83,513 | 8,194 |
| 11 | Product Marketing Manager | 3.9 | $121,780 | 2,319 |
| 12 | Mobile Developer | 3.8 | $94,555 | 2,097 |
| 13 | Devops Engineer | 3.8 | $107,619 | 5,505 |
| 14 | Communications Manager | 3.8 | $80,188 | 2,434 |
| 15 | Accounting Manager | 3.8 | $86,562 | 3,784 |
| 16 | Data Engineer | 3.8 | $101,527 | 5,489 |
| 17 | Scrum Master | 3.8 | $97,771 | 2,580 |
| 18 | Dentist | 3.8 | $140,298 | 3,339 |
| 19 | Physician Assistant | 3.7 | $107,356 | 10,061 |
| 20 | Product Manager | 3.7 | $117,113 | 12,865 |
| 21 | Compliance Manager | 3.7 | $96,580 | 3,030 |
| 22 | Nursing Manager | 3.7 | $85,181 | 14,755 |
| 23 | Solutions Architect | 3.7 | $130,595 | 7,850 |
| 24 | QA Manager | 3.7 | $91,660 | 2,010 |
| 25 | Software Development Engineer | 3.6 | $117,250 | 9,659 |
Conclusion
In today’s job market, job seekers are in the driver’s seat when it comes to deciding where to work, while employers are in tight competition for especially hard to fill roles. This list can help job seekers identify jobs that, according to employees on Glassdoor, will foster top-notch career momentum while also paying well above the median base salary in the U.S. and offering plenty of job openings.
Career opportunities are one of the three most important factors when it comes to overall employee satisfaction, in addition to culture and values and quality senior leadership, according to Glassdoor Economic Research. When career-conscious job seekers search for and apply to their next roles, this report demonstrates what jobs employees themselves view as having the greatest career opportunities on Glassdoor today.
Methodology
Glassdoor’s Jobs with the Best Career Opportunities report identifies jobs with the highest career opportunities rating, as submitted by employees in those roles on Glassdoor, that have at least 2,000 open positions and a median base salary of $80,000. For a job title to be considered, it must receive at least 75 salary reports and at least 75 job career opportunity ratings shared by U.S.-based employees over the past year (7/1/18-6/30/19). Career opportunities ratings are limited to one decimal place for reporting simplicity, though they extend beyond the thousandth place, determining the final rank order. The number of job openings per job title represents active job listings on Glassdoor as of 7/5/19. This report takes into account job title normalization that groups similar job titles. C-suite and intern level jobs were excluded from this report.
