If you’re looking for a new career, you’ll want somewhere to start. There are so many new jobs in the modern world that it can be hard to keep up with all of the developments and changes.
So here’s a look at 50 high income skills that make up the backbone of the 21st-century workplace.
What Sort of High Income Skills Jobs Pay Well?
The internet has brought many new careers to the forefront, and the hotter your skills, the hotter your salary will be going forward. If there is one thing that binds these 50 jobs together, it is that you must look forward to the future and keep your skills fresh.
Today’s professionals are always learning new skills and keeping abreast of the latest trends.
Some of the jobs we’ve discovered are remote jobs you can do on your own, from anywhere. Many of them can be found in want ads and job listing sites. Others, though, are perfect for gig-workers who want to work as independent contractors.
We can roughly divide today’s top-paying and most in-demand jobs into four categories.
- Tech Jobs
- General Business Jobs and Skills
- Creative Jobs
- Finance Careers
And before we go any further, what exactly is “high income,” anyway? Some define it by a specific amount of money per month, while others state that it’s in the top percentile of earners.
For this article, though, assume that these jobs pay far more than minimum wage and that they are plentiful enough that you can make good money soon after beginning work.
Salary data that you find online is extremely suspect from the beginning. It’s hard to believe some of the numbers, and for some jobs, the numbers defy logic. Pay transparency is more or less non-existent amongst freelancers.
Corporate management jobs are better, with real-world data that is easy to find. Still, most numbers you find are averaged over different geographic regions and different amounts of work experience and quality.
In-Demand and High-Paying Tech Jobs
It should come as no surprise that many of the best-paying and highest-growth jobs are in the tech industry. Anything in tech is huge right now, especially if it applies to burgeoning technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, or augmented reality.
Those are just a few examples of growing fields in an industry that is full of new possibilities.
1. Software Engineer/Developer
If you think that software developers must make the world go around these days, you aren’t far from the truth. In today’s world, everything’s done by app, and the hottest business startups are app-based. Think about things like Uber or Instacart–these are entire industries that have sprung up thanks to cleaver app and software design.
2. UX Design
UX, or user experience, is an element of modern functional design that focuses on how software and apps interact with the user as an ecosystem. Specialists must mesh psychology with software function to find new ways to make things easier to use and more fun to use.
3. UI Design
UI, or user interface, is the element of an app or product that the consumer has the most contact with. UI designers work to make apps easier to use and easy to on the eyes. In addition, there is an element of graphic design and visual arts and a heavy dose of programming skills needed.
4. IT Support
Every company on the planet, from huge multinationals to solo entrepreneurs, needs IT support. These new apps and hardware items need support personnel to work with clients to solve problems and keep everything working smoothly.
5. IT Automation
Many of the simple tasks that IT professionals perform can be automated, and doing so is the job of the IT automation specialist. These folks can make IT departments run more efficiently and quickly in no time.
6. Network Systems Administrator
The network administrator works in the IT department at major companies to integrate all of its IT needs. They keep the bits and bytes flowing and oversee infrastructure planning and upgrades.
7. Cyber Security Specialists
Ransomware attacks have been all over the news lately, and it’s the cybersecurity specialists of the world that are studying those attacks and working to make your company’s computers and networks as safe as possible. Outside of corporate IT departments, entire cybersecurity companies are developing solutions to answer these new threats.
8. AI and Machine Learning Development
The next big breakthrough in technology is likely to come from the field of machine learning and artificial intelligence. These are critical components in headline-making programs like driverless vehicle design.
9. Coding
While the management and design jobs are flashy, some actual coders will have to make all of these apps and programs on the backend.
10. WordPress Programer
A vast majority of websites run off of the open-source WordPress platform. As a result, there will always be plenty of work available to experts who can create sites from scratch and code on WordPress.
High-Earning General Business Skills and Jobs
Often maligned and ignored, management jobs and careers in the middle levels of big business should never be ignored. Climbing the corporate ladder is a very real thing.
But looking ahead, many corporate offices are cutting full-time workers and hiring independent contractors more and more. Of course, this trend has been happening for decades, but the remote working revolution of the last few years has enabled many experienced businesspeople to consult with companies across the globe.
The following jobs are general business skills that are always in demand. They may seem a little vague because you can transfer these skills to nearly any industry. These jobs, like management, are focused more on soft people skills than on the technical side of technology or engineering jobs.
11. Sales
If there’s one skill that never goes out of style, it’s that of the polished salesman. There are many ways to close the deal and make the sale, but put simply, some people have it, and some people don’t.
If you’re blessed with the ability to close any deal, you’ll want to turn your attention towards big-ticket items with high commissions. The highest-earning sales jobs are in real estate or luxury goods like cars, yachts, or planes.
12. Professional Negotiator
Businesses aren’t messing around, and they hire professional negotiators to handle their big deals. So if you can bargain the wool off a sheep in December, think about honing your skills with a professional negotiation team.
13. Affiliate Marketer
Affiliate marketing is a crucial component of many web-based business plans. This type of social networking is powerful and valuable in a wide variety of industries.
14. Technical and Business Writing
While video and graphic work get all the attention, so much communication today is written. Writers are employed in all sorts of capacities, but inside businesses, writers are needed to produce technical manuals and documents. They’re also needed for marketing and general tasks like grant writing or patent application work.
15. Translation
If you’re proficient in a second or third language, you can turn that skill into cash. Translators work for major firms on a daily basis, or they can work for themselves and take on temporary projects.
16. Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the most effective sales tools, and companies are always looking for experts who can turn their list of leads into sales.
17. Sales Funnel Creation
A sales funnel is a system of sources that pushes leads towards your company to make a purchase. This systemic approach produces high conversion rates and is used by most prominent businesses and websites. As a result, sales funnel experts are always in demand, and it’s a skill that you can apply to virtually any industry.
18. Transcription
Transcription isn’t a hard job, but it’s a specialized and in-demand skill. Most workers listen to audio or watch a video and type out the printed dialog.
19. Public Speaker
Public speaking is a gift, and if you’ve got it, it’s easy to turn it into a career. Public speakers are everywhere. Famous examples include many politicians and actors. But business needs public speakers too, for seminars, marketing, public relations, and media appearances.
20. Entrepreneur Expert
So many jobs can be done online, and being an expert in entrepreneurship means that you’re good at making it happen. But being an expert in it means that you can also help others do it.
Many people are great at their skill set, but starting a business might not be one of those skills.
21. Virtual Assistant
As many offices focus on remote workers, they’ve come to realize that they can hire virtual assistants to do many of their day-to-day operations tasks. Jobs range from making calls or simple data entry to travel scheduling and meeting planning.
22. Legal Services
This is a broad category, and it’s mostly reserved for legal professionals who have years of training in the field. But there is always a demand in business for lawyers and paralegals.
23. Communications or Public Relations
All companies have some element of PR, whether it’s a formal department full of professionals or just the small business owner talking with their clients. If you are good with people and can communicate big ideas easily, PR is a great field to work in.
24. Specialized or Technical Skills
This is another broad category that catches many different types of careers. If you combine a technical skill that few other people have with the skills of an entrepreneur, you can make pretty much any business idea work.
25. Project Managment
Project managers plan out big programs to ensure that they will be done in the allotted time and budget. There are many spreadsheets involved, along with a lot of multitasking. But project managers are some of the most influential people at companies around the world. They are, quite simply, the ones that get stuff done.
26. Data Analyst/Business Analysis
An enormous part of business management comes down to number crunching and comparing your results with your plans and goals. That’s the job of the analyst, and it’s a career path that you can pursue in any industry in any part of the world.
27. Cloud Computing Expert
Much of today’s business is done “in the cloud.” No, we aren’t talking about flying cars–much is done on someone else’s computer. As a result, many businesses hire IT specialists who can work with cloud computing services to integrate offerings and work with cloud databases.
28. Web Developer
Web developers implement their company’s websites. It’s a management-level job that involves graphic web design and the IT management of the network, and the coding skills of talented programmers.
29. SEO Professional
Search engine optimization is the ability to pull data for analytics websites and apply its principles to your site. This allows you to control how well your site will appear on web searches, giving you a competitive advantage over other sites.
Online Jobs for Creative People
The connected world is seemingly made for the creative individual. For those who write, illustrate, or create video or audio, the internet, and mobile apps provide a plethora of ways to share their work. And the businesses that create these services are in constant need of creative people to make new and fresh content.
30. Digital Marketer/Social Media Marketing Manager
Social media marketing is maybe the most in-demand creative and business skill of modern times. Social media sites dominate people’s lives to the extent that marketers can create personal connections with hyper-targeted leads and potential clients.
31. Copywriting
Copywriters produce written content for a variety of uses, from websites to magazine articles.
32. App or Game Designer
While many aspects of game or app development are technical skills, plenty of it comes from creative people. Indeed, the companies that successfully develop these apps and games often employ both. Moreover, the leaders of the companies are often successful because they appreciate the importance of both to the final product.
33. Content Creation/Content Marketing
Content is flooding the internet, and if you’re good at creating it, there are plenty of opportunities that pay well.
34. Online Course Creation
One hot trend in online content is the use of interactive courses. Courses are great because they are themselves a product that can be sold, but they also generate sales leads for other goods and services.
35. Online Teacher or Coach
Teaching and mentoring opportunities abound on the modern internet. Whatever your skillset is, be it sales funnels or graphic design, there are people out there who want to learn it.
Additionally, there are opportunities for teachers in a more traditional sense. For example, companies are now basing their training curriculums on the internet. Professional educators and institutional designers have a leg up in this industry.
36. Graphic Designer
Graphic design as a career has been oven 100 years. But on the modern web, the options are endless. Designers help companies create their brand image, logo, and identity. But they also create illustrations, product packaging, and website design and layout.
37. Web Designer
A specialized part of graphic design, the web designers work with programmers to create the websites of client’s dreams.
38. Podcaster Producer
Podcasts have become a favorite form of content marketing. Personalities and entertainers use them to share their work, while others are used as a sales channel. Either way, strong audio engineering experience goes a long way to producing a more professional podcast.
39. YouTube Creator
More than 75 percent of Americans use YouTube. It’s by far one of the most popular video sites in the world, crushing all of the others, including big names like Netflix or Disney. Many YouTube channels are pulling six figures, and their content ranges from video game vlogs to professionally produced video storytelling.
40. Blogger
Bloggers write online in a personal way. While blogs have given way more and more to vlogs on YouTube or social media posting, blogging is still an essential part of website design and management.
41. Audio Producer
You might not have a video or podcast channel of your own, but the most prominent names on those platforms need help producing their content. They hire professionals, and if you’ve got a knack for getting audio perfect, there’s a job in it for you.
42. Video Producer
The same goes for video producers–many people want to run vlogs or YouTube channels but lack the skills or the time to sit down and adequately edit the videos.
43. Animator
Animators make moving digital illustrations. But before you apply for work on The Simpsons, pause for a moment and consider the other animations you see online every day. There are dozens of them in advertisements and grabbing your attention on random websites.
44. Digital Illustrator
The same goes for digital illustration. The modern programming world is intensely visual, and producing original and eye-catching digital artwork is a hot skill to have.
45. Photographer
Likewise, talented photographers seldom want for work in the “Instagram Age.”
Careers in Finance and Investing
Finally, there are jobs in finance and investing. These jobs traditionally pay well, but the real power of these careers comes from the learned ability to make money from money. If playing the odds and numbers are your game, learning to invest and play the markets is one of the best things you can do for your financial future.
46. Financial Planner
A financial planner works with an individual, family, or company to create investment strategies.
47. Financial Analyst
Analysts look for trends in data and identify opportunities and risks for organizations.
48. Investment Manager
Investment managers organize their client’s portfolios for them to handle their financial needs. They’re experts at identifying risk in the markets and matching clients with appropriate investments. Some work with individuals, while others work with corporations or investment funds.
49. Blockchain Specialist
Blockchain is the programming miracle that allows the cryptocurrency world to go around. So if it’s in your skillset, you’re all set.
50. Sports Arbitrage
If legal in your area, sports arbitrage is a form of sports gaming that enables you to play with minimal risk.
Final Thoughts
While all of these jobs require some high income skills, remember that there are plenty more not listed. More importantly, finding the right skill for you is more complex than picking one off the list.
Everyone has an existing skillset and things that they are good at doing and enjoy doing. Not everyone can sell, and not everyone can program an app. The trick to success is finding the skill that pays well and that you love doing.
