CareerCast recently released their 2011 survey of the best and worst jobs, and this year software engineering tops off their list. The company looked at a total of 200 professions and ranked all of them according to physical demands, work environment, income, outlook, and stress, and assigned a score to each profession.
CareerCast defines software engineering as, “Researches, designs, develops and maintains software systems along with hardware development for medical, scientific, and industrial purposes.” Software engineering began as simple computer programming in the mid 20th century, but has expanded into an extremely diverse discipline. Software engineers can work on projects ranging from the next computer operating system and enterprise software to web-based tools and mobile phone applications.
Software engineering is generally a desk job, so injuries tend to be of the repetitive stress type, such as carpal tunnel syndrome and eye strain. Mental stress due to project deadlines does make up for the lack of physical stress. Starting income is generally high, and income growth is also high, particularly for engineers who transition to project or personnel management.
Other Engineering Professions are Ranked High in Study
Many of the engineering fields were ranked in the top half of the study. Aerospace engineer is ranked 19th, petroleum engineer at 24th, civil engineer at 33rd, industrial engineer at 37th, nuclear engineer at 49th, mechanical engineer at 62nd, and electrical engineer at 78th. One of the factors that lowered the score of many engineering professions is hiring outlook.
Many of the traditional engineering disciplines such as mechanical and electrical engineering have functions that are being outsourced to other countries or companies aren’t expanding their engineering departments. Software engineering, on the other hand, is in high demand, from large software giants such as Microsoft or Oracle to small startups, mobile application developers, and gaming companies.
Math and Science-Based Professions Dominate Top 10 Jobs
The top 10 jobs were dominated by math and science professions as a whole. Jobs ranked #2, #3, and #4 were mathematics based, #7 was biologist, and #9 was audiologist. All of these professions included low physical stress, good working environment, and positive hiring outlook. Professions based in mathematics and sciences also have the benefit of higher than average salaries, making these options very attractive to students considering a career or older workers considering a career change.
Software engineering was ranked by Money Magazine in 2006 as the top job in America, and Salary.com agreed. The profession has continued to grow as the market for software has expanded, and is not showing any evidence of slowing down anytime soon, as evidenced by this current survey.
Susan Kristoff - Susan Kristoff is mechanical engineer by trade, but has a diverse set of professional and personal interests. The glue that binds all of ...
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