10 highest paying IT careers for 2013
According to recent reports, IT job growth is up 43 percent since 2012. Find out what jobs are commanding the highest pay within the ever-competitive IT job market.
IT Jobs on the Rise
June was a good month for the IT job market. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the U.S. added more than 18,200 jobs. That’s good news for IT pros looking to make a change.
So what roles are paying the most in 2013? Mondo, an IT staffing firm, reports that it has seen steady growth year-over-year and that’s equating to six figure salaries for the roles outlined here. IT salaries are, says Mondo founder and CEO Michael Kirven, “trending upward across the board. Each guide shows the previous year’s data over the current year and whether trending upward or flat. Very little has trended down in the technology space.”
This data was compiled based on Mondo’s 1,500 placements nationwide over the last year.
CIO – Chief Information Officer
Salary: $195,000-230,000
Remember the days proclaiming “the death of the CIO role?” Those days are long gone. CIOs and CTOs are again viewed as not only necessary, but highly desired as a strategic partner within the C Suite, according to experts. Technology is a major competitive differentiator and having a seasoned, forward-thinking CTO or CIO is a game changer.
“The CIO is more of a business strategist and technology visionary, a talent manager and change agent. They tend to focus on information, insight and innovation, influence along with a few traditional ‘I’s such as: integration, infrastructure, interface., etc.,” says Kirven.
CTO – Chief Technology Officer
Salary: $145,000-208,000
The CTO position is commonly responsible for technology strategy. The technology in any given industry changes at a dizzying pace and CTOs need to pay keen attention to the technological trends shaping their industry in order to make good choices on which platforms and systems to invest in. The CTO must determine what new technologies to leverage in order to enhance a company’s products and/or services.
CSO – Chief Security Officer
Salary: $145,000-208,000
Security is more important than any time in history. The CSO also needs to put compliance in place to protect the landscape. High-profile breaches in security can hammer a stock price so CEOs see security as a real threat, and they continue to invest. “Technology dramatically increases in complexity every year, and it is critical that the CSO understands the complexity involved and fights for the necessary internal budgets,” says Kirven.
Vice President of Information Technology
Salary: $130,000-215,000
According to Kirven, the vice president of technology tends to be more technology driven; however, understanding the business is important because it relates to oversight of enterprise architecture, improving end-user experience and managing IT via effective governing.
IT Security Manager: (With 10 or More Years of Experience)
Salary: $145,000-177,000
IT security managers saw a huge spike in salaries year-over-year, jumping from 90,000 to 120,000. According to Kirven, increased exposure to data online, security breaches and a higher demand for CISSP certified professionals have driven up not only demand but also what companies are willing to pay for the skilled security roles.
Software Architect
Salary: $144,000-170,000
“High demand for their skills lets software architects demand hefty paychecks, and they are some of the highest paid IT professionals,” says Kirven.
They have the perfect combination of understanding the business value of a solution as well as the technology complexities it involves. They can toggle seamlessly between the business and technology worlds, which makes them highly desirable.
Application Architect (With 10 or More Years of Experience)
Salary: $136,000-185,000
The application architect helps to reduce costs and shorten development times. In many scenarios, they are responsible for the actual architecture of software and applications. Within the product lifecycle, once the basic requirements are formalized — but before developers begin their work — application architects do their work of creating high-level tasks.
“Application architects are important to an organization because they set the vision for future Web applications and demonstrate this vision with proof-of-concept applications. They typically work with development teams on the first few implementations of a roll out,” says Kirven.
Network Architect
Salary: $132,000-154,000
These IT pros are responsible for a company’s vast computer and telecommunications networks. These can include WANs, LANs, extranets and intranets. Network architecture has advanced more over the past eight years than in the previous 20, according to Kirven. “There is a huge push to build private clouds or a hybrid between public and private clouds. This has put a lot of pressure on networking departments to address the challenges that the cloud has placed on the enterprise.”
Android Developer
Salary: $130,000-170,000
Tablets and smartphones are everywhere and prices have dropped to the point where many tech consumers have more than one and, according to Mondo, Android is winning, at least within the developer job market. “Android’s market share continues to outshine Apple because the leading innovators prefer the ‘open’ nature of Android over the closed structure of Apple. This is driving up prices for Android developers,” says Kirven.
Data Warehouse Engineer
Salary: $129,000-145,000
Big data experts are in high demand, but most companies do not understand just how competitive the job market is or how expensive and complex big data can be. The engineers who specialize within this area of IT are highly sought after and driving up rates, according to Mondo’s data.
“Everyone is talking about big data and how to drive top line revenue by investing heavily. Also for the first time, CMOs are building their own big data departments independent of the CIO and that is also driving up salary rates,” says Kirven.
Additional Significant Salary Growth Within IT
According to Mondo’s research, the following IT positions have also experienced significant salary growth from 2012-2013.
• Data Analysts base salaries increased 18.3 percent from $60,000 to $71,000
• Help Desk Senior Staffers (with 7-10 years’ experience) salaries increased 15.4% from $65,000 to $75,000
• Technical Writer base salaries went up 14.3 percent from $70,000 to $80,000
• HTML5 Developers with salaries predicted to range from $97,000 to 135,000
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