Best Jobs in America 2019 & How to Hire for Them - Glassdoor for Employers

Best Jobs in America 2019 & How to Hire for Them

With nearly seven million open jobs in the U.S., it can be tough to know which roles will be harder to fill than others. Competition is high across all industries and occupations, but we're here to help.

Glassdoor has announced its annual jobs report identifying the 50 Best Jobs in America for 2020. We evaluated millions of jobs by looking at three key factors equally: earning potential based on median annual base salary, job satisfaction rating and number of job openings. And it may come as no surprise that for the fourth consecutive year, data scientist takes the top spot as the best job in America. However, nearly every industry is represented in the list, which is a mix of tech and non-tech.

"There's no question that emerging technologies designed to grow and scale business, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation are having an impact on the types of jobs employers are hiring for across the country. As a result, we're seeing a spike in demand for highly-skilled workers in 2019," said Glassdoor Economic Research Analyst Amanda Stansell. "With such a healthy job market kicking off 2019, we're seeing many of these Best Jobs open for people to apply to and get hired at employers across all industries and in all areas of the country."

The top five on this year's list are:

1. Data Scientist

  • Job Score: 4.7
  • Job Satisfaction Rating: 4.3
  • Number of Job Openings: 6,510
  • Median Base Salary: $108,000
  • View Jobs

2. Nursing Manager

  • Job Score: 4.6
  • Job Satisfaction Rating: 4.0
  • Number of Job Openings: 13,931
  • Median Base Salary: $83,000
  • View Jobs

3. Marketing Manager

  • Job Score: 4.6
  • Job Satisfaction Rating: 4.2
  • Number of Job Openings: 7,395
  • Median Base Salary: $82,000
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4. Occupational Therapist

  • Job Score: 4.6
  • Job Satisfaction Rating: 4.0
  • Number of Job Openings: 17,701
  • Median Base Salary: $74,000
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5. Product Manager

  • Job Score: 4.5
  • Job Satisfaction Rating: 3.8
  • Number of Job Openings: 11,884
  • Median Base Salary: $115,000
  • View Jobs

So how can your company stand out and recruit for the best jobs in America? Here are a few ways to wrangle top talent for these roles at your company:

1. Write an Irresistible Job Description

Today's job seekers, by and large, aren't just looking for a workplace where they can punch in, do grunt work for eight hours and punch out. They're looking for a place where they can have a meaningful impact, and it's up to you to paint a picture for them. To do this, detail some of the most interesting parts of the position, and how they will impact the company overall. Perhaps your company has a major focus on improving customer satisfaction in the next year in order to reach your next major financial milestone, and the Customer Success Manager role you're hiring for will leverage a new playbook to help achieve that. You'll also want to tie the role back to the company's mission and culture, so the job seeker can see a clear purpose and value to what they would be doing. Finally, don't forget to mention any exciting projects the successfully hired candidate will take on. Will they get to use any exciting new technologies, collaborate with higher-ups or contribute towards major strategic initiatives? If so, include it!

You should also conduct external research to make sure that what you're offering candidates is on par with what others are offering. Research competitors' job postings and data sources like Glassdoor's Salaries tool to find out what sort of salary range and benefits package is competitive for the market. Once you arrive on a final range, list it within the description - Glassdoor research has shown that salary/compensation packages are the number one thing job seekers care about when looking at job descriptions!

2. Interview for skills, not an exact role

In today's job market, recruiters and executives at Facebook look beyond the job description and the handful of roles they may be hiring for, in order to assess candidates for skills that align with roles they know will be opening up down the road. This kind of forethought is essential in the future of work.

"We look for builders - people who want to work on some of the most complex and challenging problems facing the tech industry and people across the globe," says Ruta Singh, Facebook's VP of Global Engineering & Product Recruiting. "We want to bring in people who are passionate about our mission of bringing the world closer together to help build communities and create equal opportunity for communication within society."

Therefore, Singh laughingly admits that an engineering interview isn't all about coding. "Understand that it's not all about the coding. Well, ok, it's a lot about the coding, so take the advice our recruiters share and invest in your preparation (study!)," she tells Facebook candidates. "But we also want to know what motivates you. What gets you excited? How does working at Facebook fit with your strengths? What do you want to work on here? We want people who want to be here because their goals and interests align with Facebook's mission. We want you to come in at the beginning of the day energized and ready to do your best work, and to leave at the end of the day feeling like you accomplished something meaningful. So when you're getting ready to interview, understand that we really want to get to know you. Come ready to talk about what you know, but also who you are."

3. Support Flexibility & Mobility

In today's labor market, recruiters often think they need to offer lavish perks like free gourmet meals, state-of-the-art game rooms and in-house masseuses. But one of the most attractive perks by far is also one of the more affordable ones: flexible/remote work.

"Increasingly the workforce is becoming more mobile and employees want to work how and where they do their best work. Having the correct work environments and technology that fosters collaboration and supports a mobile workforce is more important than ever," says Kevin Peesker, President of Microsoft Canada.

One company that's been quick to embrace this trend is data analytics company Heap, where about 40 percent of engineers are remote. Heap CEO Matin Movassate makes it clear, though, that a distributed workforce doesn't have to mean a distant workforce.

"We fly our remote engineers to our San Francisco HQ three times a year for 'Eng Global,' a chance for our distributed engineers to connect with their SF teammates, to attend Lunch & Learns hosted by our go-to-market leaders and to take part in cultural initiatives," Movassate shares.

4. Prove That Your Company Values Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging

When conversations around workplace equality first entered the zeitgeist, the focus was on diversity alone - recruit enough talent from distinct backgrounds, and eventually, you'll have a better organization as a whole. However, it quickly became apparent that this alone would not be enough. When underrepresented minorities are hired into an environment that doesn't fully welcome them, they're set up for a disappointing experience, and unlikely to stay long.

Inclusion was the next big movement, with an emphasis on ensuring that employees from diverse backgrounds are plugged into the organization in terms of networking opportunities, promotions, leadership, etc. But still, employees can feel they have access to what their company has to offer without feeling that they're truly meant to be there.

Enter: a focus on belonging. "Belonging means feeling safe in the workplace to show your differences without being marginalized for it," says Glassdoor's Chief Economist, Dr. Andrew Chamberlain. "By building a culture of belonging, underrepresented employees can feel more at home in the workplace - emotionally and culturally - so that they're more likely to stay, be engaged and creative at work."

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