Life

And the So-Called "Best" Jobs in the U.S. Are...

Jan. 28, 2015

If you're either about to enter the full-time workforce for the first time 2015 or are considering making a major career shift, this one's for you: Employment database and job seeking site Glassdoor.com just released their ranking of the 25 best jobs in the U.S. for 2015. Don't expect to be surprised by what made the list and what didn't, though; it's all pretty much what you'd expect. There are a few surprises, though, so let's take a look, shall we?

Glasdoor determined its ranking by considering three pieces of criteria for each job: The number of openings available, the average base salary, and how highly it ranks in career opportunities. These three numbers were then used to calculated a Glassdoor Job Score for each, with scores ranging from one to five. Numbers, by the way, are the name of the game for most of the big winners here; analysts, engineers, business, and finance jobs took many of the top slots. Interestingly, though, human resources manager landed quite high in the number four slot; meanwhile, the number one winner was physician's assistant. As SFGate noted, CareerBuilder's top jobs of 2015 list overlaps quite a bit; I guess the data doesn't lie.

It's worth noting that high paying jobs may not score higher overall. For example, the highest paying job on the list, finance manager, has an annual base salary of $122,865, but landed in the number five slot; meanwhile, at $64,806 physical therapist has the lowest salary, but scored the number 19th spot, not the 25th one. Also, let's not forget about the fact that just because you can have a high-paying job doesn't necessarily mean you should have one. Studies have found that a lot of people are happier working a job they love that pays less than a job they hate that pays more. Food for thought, right?

Check out the top 10 below; head on over to Glassdoor for all 25.