Developing these seven skills could lead to more job opportunities and a bigger salary.
Every job requires some combination of workplace skills and technical skills, and chances are, you have already built an impressive skill set derived from your education or past work experience.
High-income skills are tools and expertise that employers tend to value highly and may make it easier to change jobs and even industries, according to a 2022 report from McKinsey & Company [1]. These job skills may be rare, and they’re often crucial to running a successful business.
As you aim to advance your career or shift your career focus, you may want to find ways to highlight your high-income skills. Depending on your desired career path, you may be able to leverage these skills to reach your salary goals.
Below, you’ll find seven high-income skills that you can feature on your resume to help stand out to potential employers. To build this list, we looked at reports forecasting the most in-demand skills through 2030 from the World Economic Forum [2], Pearson [3], Future Learn [4], LinkedIn [5], Glassdoor [6], and Coursera [7].
The skills listed here are all transferable across a number of career paths. As you read this list, consider your career goals, past experiences, and the job descriptions of your desired roles, and notice whether any of these skills may naturally facilitate your path.
Analytical thinking and innovation is the top skill forecasted in the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report [2]. As businesses across industries increasingly rely on data to make informed decisions, they require more employees with the ability to collect, interpret, and share data that can solve their business problems.
People skilled in data analysis may use a range of tools including Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, SQL, Tableau, R, or Python.
Here are some careers that use data analysis, along with average base pay in the United States as of December 2022, according to Glassdoor:
Job title | Average base pay |
---|---|
Business analyst | $76,147 |
Data analyst | $67,179 |
Data engineer | $94,327 |
Data scientist | $102,994 |
Learn more about what data analysts do.
Increasingly, industries are turning toward technology to advance their business capabilities, and they need people skilled in developing, maintaining, and improving their technological systems. People who work in DevOps or software engineering build, monitor, and control an organization’s technology.
People skilled in DevOps or software engineering may use tools like Git, Docker, Jenkins, or Kubernetes, and may know coding languages like Python, Java, or C++.
Here are some careers that use software development, along with average base pay in the United States as of December 2022, according to Glassdoor:
Job title | Average base pay |
---|---|
Applications engineer | $81,008 |
Systems developer | $90,943 |
Software engineer | $90,390 |
DevOps engineer | $104,148 |
Hand in hand with technological development comes user experience (UX), which has to do with the way a consumer interacts with a product. People working in UX figure out the best way to present a product to consumers. They may conduct research, design, or help market a product.
Although they still involve some data, UX roles are grounded in design and tend to offer room for creativity, and they require a high level of social perceptiveness—three skills that come up in multiple skill reports [2, 3, 4].
Here are some careers utilizing user experience skills, along with average base pay in the United States as of December 2022, according to Glassdoor:
Job title | Average total pay |
---|---|
UX writer | $98,553 |
UX researcher | $100,490 |
User interface (UI) designer | $102,987 |
UX designer | $105,118 |
Product designer | $107,400 |
Learn more about essential skills needed to work in UX.
Web development brings together the fundamentals of software development and user experience, incorporating the technical aspects of the former with the design elements of the latter. People skilled in web development will also be familiar with technical search engine optimization (SEO) in order to design and program websites that meet business needs.
Here are some careers that require web development skills, along with average base pay in the United States as of December 2022, according to Glassdoor:
Job title | Average total pay |
---|---|
Front-end developer | $104,394 |
Full-stack developer | $110,497 |
Webmaster | $110,686 |
Back-end developer | $119,292 |
Learn more about what web developers do.
Many companies use an organizational structure in which different departments, teams, or team members all work on a singular product or project. A person who is skilled in coordinating efforts across each of those touchpoints is skilled in project management. These team members may be responsible for maintaining schedules, organizing budgets, and communicating with project stakeholders (or various parties interested or invested in the project outcomes).
You can consider “project management” to be a catch-all term for leadership, communication, planning, resilience, and organizational skills—all of which are frequently cited as valuable to employers [2, 3, 4, 6].
Project management shows up in many careers and becomes especially important as you move into managerial positions. However, you can also pursue a career as a project manager. Here are some careers along the project manager path and their average base pay in the United States as of December 2022, according to Glassdoor:
Job title | Average total pay |
---|---|
Project coordinator | $89,374 |
Program manager | $89,989 |
Project manager | $93,043 |
Portfolio manager | $119,373 |
Learn more about what a project manager does.
While project management typically has an internal focus, account management taps into a similar subset of skills to work with people outside of your organization. Often highly valued in sales positions, account management skills enable you to confidently position your company and its products to customers.
Account management skills incorporate both the organizational aspects required to close a business deal as well as the interpersonal skills required to productively negotiate and maintain relationships. They often work with a customer relationship management (CRM) tool like Salesforce.
Here are some careers that use account management and sales skills, along with average base pay in the United States as of December 2022, according to Glassdoor:
Job title | Average total pay |
---|---|
Account manager | $83,999 |
Business development associate | $88,601 |
Business development manager | $98,861 |
Sales representative | $100,310 |
Content creation and management skills involve storytelling and are often crucial for marketing careers. This skill set incorporates creativity, originality, social perceptiveness, and emotional intelligence. Taking these skills a step further can also mean adding data analysis to your toolbox, specifically honing in on marketing analytics so that you can assess how well an audience is connecting with your content.
Here are some careers that use content creation and management skills, along with average base pay in the United States as of December 2022, according to Glassdoor:
Job title | Average total pay |
---|---|
Social media manager | $76,325 |
Digital marketing manager | $96,206 |
Content marketing manager | $107,777 |
Brand marketing manager | $109,952 |
You can build many skills through your regular work activities, however, sometimes it can help to bolster your skill set with outside classes or certifications. If you are trying to figure out the best skills for you to increase your earning potential, visit the Career Academy on Coursera. Here, you’ll get an in-depth look at the key skills across several career paths and can find specific online courses for each path.
McKinsey & Company. "The Great Attrition is making hiring harder. Are you searching the right talent pools?, https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-great-attrition-is-making-hiring-harder-are-you-searching-the-right-talent-pools." Accessed December 9, 2022.
World Economic Forum. “The Future of Jobs Report 2020, https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs_2020.pdf.” Accessed December 9, 2022.
Pearson. “The Future of Skills: Employment in 2030, https://futureskills.pearson.com/research/assets/pdfs/technical-report.pdf.” Accessed December 9, 2022.
Future Learn. “The Future of Learning Report 2022, https://cdn-wordpress-info.futurelearn.com/info/wp-content/uploads/The-Future-of-Learning-Report-2022.pdf.” Accessed December 9, 2022.
Search Engine Journal. “LinkedIn Lists Top 10 In-Demand Marketing Skills, https://www.searchenginejournal.com/linkedin-lists-top-10-in-demand-marketing-skills/409997/.” Accessed December 9, 2022.
Glassdoor Economic Research. “Looking to Upgrade? These are the Best Jobs for 2022, https://www.glassdoor.com/research/best-jobs-for-2022/.” Accessed December 9, 2022.
Coursera. “Industry Skills Report 2021, https://www.coursera.org/skills-reports/industry.” Accessed December 9, 2022.
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