If you want to know where the IT jobs are, just follow the trail of corporate data. As data growth explodes across corporations nationwide, so has the need to manage that data effectively. That need translates into jobs. According to the most recent numbers from the SearchWin2000.com salary survey, the top three-paying jobs have to do with managing and manipulating corporate data. Storage managers, data modelers and storage architect are the top three job titles on the salary survey, earning an average salary of $95,000, $86,000 and $81,000, respectively.
The survey, which is customized for many Windows-related sites, such as SearchWin2000, SearchVB.com, SearchWebservices.com and SearchDatabase.com, has taken a look at the ten highest paying jobs at each site, and some interesting insights bubble up when compared with similar data from last year's survey.
For example, those top three job titles on SearchWin2000.com didn't even make it into the top ten of the survey last year. Instead, the top-paying job was that of security manager, reflecting the rise of corporate interest in information security in the wake of events such as 9/11 and new regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley.
Only two jobs stayed on the list for both years. Database administrator dropped from the number five position to number 10, as the average salary for this position fell from $69,458 to $65,333. In the meantime, Project Manager/Team Leader held steady at the number six slot, with an average salary that jumped from $67,364 to $68,789. Interestingly, the entrance of 'contractor/consultant' into the survey at the number 9 position could reflect the current predilection in IT staffing for outsourcing. The average bonus across the entire site survey held stead at 3%.
SearchWin2000's entire top ten list:
1. Storage manager
2. Data modeler
3. Storage architect
4. Internet architect
5. IS director
6. Project manager/team leader
7. Technical writer
8. IS manager
9. Contractor/consultant
10. Database administrator
Other Windows-related sites had some equally interesting tidbits to mine from their site-specific salary surveys. Here's a look at a few more:
SearchDatabase.com
This survey also showed signs that data management needs are growing at many companies. Data modeler scored high on this survey as well -- landing in the number two slot, behind network manager/architect -- while data architect came in at number four. The top position of network manager, with an average salary of $82,500, reflects similar survey results from DICE.com, an IT job Web site (www.dice.com). Its recent salary survey found that network and MIS manager positions had the largest increases over the past year, gaining 7% and 5%, respectively. Both positions have seen steady salary growth since 2001, according to DICE.
SearchDatabase's entire top ten list:
1. Network manager/architect
2. Data modeler
3. Technical support manager
4. Data architect
5. Security specialist
6. Software development manager
7. Internet architect
8. Project manager/team leader
9. Contractor/Consultant
10. IS director
SearchVB.com
SearchVB's top paying jobs mostly seem to revolve around the people who run and maintain corporate infrastructure. Other than the mysterious 'other' in the number one slot, jobs such as network manager/architect (number two), database administrator (number six) and systems administrator (number seven) are all about making the trains run on time. This is in marked contract to the top jobs from the previous year. Jobs like CTO (number two), operations manager (fourth) and seventh-ranked IS manager all seemed more operational. Overall pay seemed to remain relatively flat -- the top job from two years ago, Internet architect, actually had a higher average salary ($79,000) than this year's top title, which had an average salary of $75,000.
SearchVB.com's top ten paying jobs
1. Other
2. Internet architect
3. Network manager/architect
4. Contractor/consultant
5. Project manager/team leader
6. Database administrator
7. Systems administrator
8. Senior programmer
9. Technical support staff
10. Programmer
SearchWebServices.com
Here's where the money is. The top three jobs in the SearchWebServices.com list of high-paying jobs average $90,000 (data architect), $85,000 (software development manager) and $85,000 (webmaster). However, while some of the positions that remained constant over the two surveys showed some hefty hikes, others took a dive. For example, the average salary for the software development
manager jumped from $69,133 to $85,000, while the position rose from a number 10 placement to number two. Meanwhile, senior programmer went from $71,911 to $63,750 as the position dropped from seventh to eighth place. And while security is clearly still an issue, it's not quite as hot a job this year as it was last, dropping from third to sixth place, and remaining essentially flat in salary (from $78,000 to $77,000).
SearchWebServices.com's top ten paying jobs:
1. Data architect
2. Software development manager
3. Webmaster
4. Technical writer
5. Security manager
6. Project manager/team leader
7. IS director
8. Systems administrator
9. Senior Programmer
10. Contractor/consultant
