Tech Jobs

Blame a software developer for your obsession with the Kim Kardashian: Hollywood app or your dependency on your Samsung Galaxy phone. These professionals usually fall into two camps: There are the application developers, who design computer software and databases, then there are the systems-focused developers who build operating systems, such as Linux or iOS. Growth for both types should balloon: The Labor Department predicts there will be nearly 140,000 brand new positions created before 2022.

To excel in this job, you need to be both goal-focused and process-oriented. Computer systems analysts must understand computer hardware, software and networks and how they work together, so they can make recommendations to organizations for the best operations systems to use. The Labor Department predicts 24.5 percent employment growth for this job through 2022.

It’s a no-brainer that this profession is growing – at a rate of 36.5 percent through 2022 – as we become increasingly reliant on technology to facilitate our every day. So what does the profession entail? Information security analysts plan and monitor security of computer networks for companies and government agencies. They also troubleshoot any security breaches that should occur.

Web developers are responsible for the sleek fonts and clean layout you love on your favorite websites. The Labor Department considers this one of the fastest-growing jobs this decade, and it predicts employment will swell by about 20 percent by 2022.

If you’re looking for work that offers the perfect blend of right- and left-brain thinking, consider mechanical engineering. In this line of work you’d get the chance to shepherd devices from the theoretical design phase (hence, the right brain) to the technical production phase. The profession makes our list for its low unemployment rate of 2.7 percent and comfortable median salary of $82,100.

As the head of a company’s information technology department, IT managers are the go-tos when your email won’t send or your word processor won’t start. They triage the operations of an organization’s technical network, and they’re a growing profession. Expect 50,900 new positions by the year 2022.

Want one reason civil engineering makes for a cool job? Part of the payoff comes from stopping to take a look around. The fruits of civil engineers’ labors are seen everywhere – they have hands in building bridges, retrofitting buildings and damming reservoirs. By 2022, the BLS predicts there will be 53,700 new openings.

Network and computer systems administrators keep your emails sending and your Web pages loading, plus they lend their tech-savvy skills to managing telecommunication networks. This profession is expected to add 42,900 new positions by 2022.

This in-demand profession involves setting up databases to fit a company’s need, then maintaining those databases’ operations. The Labor Department predicts this field will add 17,900 new positions by 2022.

Patience and a generous understanding of how computers function will benefit those interested in computer programming. These IT specialists rewrite, debug, maintain and test the software and programs essential to key computer functions. The Labor Department predicts employment growth for programmers of 8.3 percent through 2022.