It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that jobs in tech and finance pay well. What’s difficult is actually landing one of these high-paying jobs.
At companies like Facebook or Google, applicants have to compete with thousands of other candidates. Last year, Tesla received nearly 500,000 applications for just 2,500 open positions. That means the odds of landing a job at Tesla is just 1 in 200.
When jobs site Glassdoor analyzed thousands of job openings, they found that opportunities that offered six-figure salaries and generous benefits were in high demand. Next, they set out to calculate which six-figure roles had the toughest competition. Glassdoor only included popular job titles with at least 1,000 unique job postings and defined "competition" as the ratio of open positions to applicants.
Here are the 10 most sought-after six-figure jobs:
Data engineer
Median base salary: $100,000
Ratio of applicants to openings: 3.06
Number of open jobs: 2,572
Software engineer
Median base salary: $103,000
Ratio of applicants to openings: 4.65
Number of open jobs: 24,743
Data scientist
Median base salary: $110,000
Ratio of applicants to openings: 9.51
Number of open jobs: 3,702
Product manager
Median base salary: $114,000
Ratio of applicants to openings: 3.92
Number of open jobs: 7,979
IT manager
Median base salary: $116,000
Ratio of applicants to openings: 6.76
Number of open jobs: 1,188
Engagement manager
Median base salary: $120,000
Ratio of applicants to openings: 2.43
Number of open jobs: 1,251
Finance manager
Median base salary: $120,000
Ratio of applicants to openings: 4.35
Number of open jobs: 2,286
Pharmacist
Median base salary: $120,000
Ratio of applicants to openings: 5.11
Number of open jobs: 1,228
Technical program manager
Median base salary: $130,000
Ratio of applicants to openings: 2.47
Number of open jobs: 1,338
Strategy manager
Median base salary: $135,000
Ratio of applicants to openings: 3.29
Number of open jobs: 1,206
Tech jobs dominated Glassdoor’s list of high-paying jobs with sky-high competition. Titles like data engineer, software engineer and IT manager were among the most sought-after positions, but getting a job as a data scientists might be the most difficult. Glassdoor estimated that between nine and 10 people apply for every open data scientists role.
Even though these jobs may be in high demand, there are several things that applicants can do to make themselves stand out. First, make sure that your resume is polished and professional, tailored to the job you are applying for and free of deal-breakers, like spelling and grammar mistakes. If you land an interview, be sure to practice your answers for common interview questions and prepare questions in advance.
Finally, be sure to send a follow-up note or email to thank the company for their time and highlighting how passionate you are about the role.
With highly-competitive in-demand jobs, personal touches like these can make all the difference.
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