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Know Your Worth / Career paths

1,030 paths. Find your next move.

Compare skills, employee pay, and freelance economics. Explore industries from optical and food to science, music, games, writing, and coaching.

Browse 30 sectors + cross-industry careers

865–912 of 1,030 careers

How to read these rates

Employee references are annual US median wages for the cited BLS occupation, which may cover several career paths. Replacement targets add $15,000 for benefits and $20,000 for business costs, then divide by 1,200 billable hours a year. They show what you would need to charge, not what customers or platforms will pay. Everyday shift and gig roles show no inferred freelance rate: compare your actual worker receipts after costs and unpaid time. Annual figures are rounded to the nearest $1,000 and hourly figures to the nearest dollar. Figures are before personal taxes, with no percentage fees. Open a guide to see the source or adjust the assumptions in the calculator.

Cross-industry

Sales operations analyst

Employee reference
$102K/yr
Replacement target
$114/hr
Income goal, not available pay

BLS · May 2025 · Management analysts

A sales operations analyst improves the information and processes behind a sales team. They maintain useful pipeline data, investigate funnel changes, and make reporting or handoff problems visible before leaders act on misleading numbers.

View career → Sales operations analyst
Content creation

Screencast producer

Employee reference
$69K/yr
Replacement target
$87/hr
Income goal, not available pay

BLS · May 2025 · Training and development specialists

Capture software workflows clearly while controlling screen context, cursor emphasis, narration timing, and version-specific instructions.

View career → Screencast producer
Content writing

Screen scriptwriter

Employee reference
$77K/yr
Replacement target
$93/hr
Income goal, not available pay

BLS · May 2025 · Writers and authors

Develop scenes, dialogue, and visual action into a producible script that makes character intentions and story progression understandable on screen.

View career → Screen scriptwriter
Cross-industry

Scrum master

Employee reference
$102K/yr
Replacement target
$114/hr
Income goal, not available pay

BLS · May 2025 · Project management specialists

A scrum master helps a team inspect its work and improve how it collaborates. The useful outcome is clearer commitments and fewer persistent obstacles, supported by facilitation rather than ceremony alone.

View career → Scrum master
Software & AI

Search Relevance Engineer

Employee reference
$136K/yr
Replacement target
$142/hr
Income goal, not available pay

BLS · May 2025 · Software Developers

Improve how search results match a user's intent within a defined collection. Connect ranking changes with evaluation examples, user evidence, and operational constraints rather than optimizing one metric without checking practical effects.

View career → Search Relevance Engineer
Cross-industry

Security Consultant

Employee reference
$129K/yr
Replacement target
$137/hr
Income goal, not available pay

BLS · May 2025 · Information Security Analysts

Translate security concerns into changes an organization can understand and prioritize. Security consultants assess practices, explain tradeoffs, and help owners choose practical controls with clear responsibility for implementation and ongoing review.

View career → Security Consultant
Cybersecurity & IT

Security Detection Engineer

Employee reference
$129K/yr
Replacement target
$137/hr
Income goal, not available pay

BLS · May 2025 · Information Security Analysts

Develop and evaluate detection logic using authorized telemetry and documented threat questions. Measure signal quality, missing context, and false positives so operational teams can judge whether an alert supports a useful investigation.

View career → Security Detection Engineer
Cybersecurity & IT

Security Operations Engineer

Employee reference
$129K/yr
Replacement target
$137/hr
Income goal, not available pay

BLS · May 2025 · Information Security Analysts

Develop the systems and workflows that help security teams evaluate alerts and respond appropriately. Connect logging quality, detection logic, and operational ownership while controlling noise and documenting gaps in visibility.

View career → Security Operations Engineer
Content writing

Sensitivity reader

Employee reference
$78K/yr
Replacement target
$94/hr
Income goal, not available pay

BLS · May 2025 · Editors

Review a manuscript's representation choices through an explicitly defined perspective while explaining concerns as contextual editorial feedback rather than universal audience judgments.

View career → Sensitivity reader
Food & beverage

Sensory Scientist

Employee reference
$89K/yr
Replacement target
$103/hr
Income goal, not available pay

BLS · May 2025 · Food Scientists and Technologists

Design studies that describe how people perceive food and beverages. Control sampling conditions and interpretation so product teams can distinguish useful differences from expectation or measurement noise.

View career → Sensory Scientist
Content writing

SEO content editor

Employee reference
$78K/yr
Replacement target
$94/hr
Income goal, not available pay

BLS · May 2025 · Editors

Improve search-oriented material by aligning reader intent, factual quality, structure, and internal references rather than relying on repeated keywords.

View career → SEO content editor
Cross-industry

SEO specialist

Employee reference
$79K/yr
Replacement target
$95/hr
Income goal, not available pay

BLS · May 2025 · Market research analysts

An SEO specialist helps useful website content become easier to discover through search. The work combines technical investigation, audience intent, and content improvements with measurement that separates observed changes from assumptions.

View career → SEO specialist
Design

Service designer

Employee reference
$104K/yr
Replacement target
$116/hr
Income goal, not available pay

BLS · May 2025 · Web and digital interface designers

Connect a customer's visible journey with backstage activities, responsibilities, and handoffs needed to deliver a dependable service.

View career → Service designer
Game development

Shader artist

Employee reference
$136K/yr
Replacement target
$142/hr
Income goal, not available pay

BLS · May 2025 · Software Developers

Create controllable surface effects that support an art direction while respecting lighting assumptions, readability, and runtime performance constraints.

View career → Shader artist
Food & beverage

Shelf Life Scientist

Employee reference
$89K/yr
Replacement target
$103/hr
Income goal, not available pay

BLS · May 2025 · Food Scientists and Technologists

Evaluate how product quality and safety evidence changes over storage. Design studies that account for packaging, distribution conditions, and uncertainty rather than assigning dates from a single observation.

View career → Shelf Life Scientist
Cross-industry

Site Reliability Engineer

Employee reference
$99K/yr
Replacement target
$112/hr
Income goal, not available pay

BLS · May 2025 · Network and Computer Systems Administrators

Use engineering methods to improve the reliability of running services. Site reliability engineers define meaningful service measures, reduce repetitive operational work, and help teams balance change with a tolerable level of failure.

View career → Site Reliability Engineer
Fitness & sport coaching

Soccer coach

Employee reference
$47K/yr
Replacement target
$69/hr
Income goal, not available pay

BLS · May 2025 · Coaches and Scouts

Develops soccer players through technical practice, tactical learning, and team communication, connecting age-appropriate sessions with match situations and club responsibilities.

View career → Soccer coach
Cross-industry

Social media manager

Employee reference
$75K/yr
Replacement target
$91/hr
Income goal, not available pay

BLS · May 2025 · Public relations specialists

A social media manager plans publishing and audience interaction for an organization. The role combines platform-appropriate content, community judgment, and reporting so public conversations support the brand's goals and responsibilities.

View career → Social media manager
Cross-industry

Software Developer

Employee reference
$136K/yr
Replacement target
$142/hr
Income goal, not available pay

BLS · May 2025 · Software Developers

Turn a repeated business task into software people can use reliably. The value comes from understanding the workflow, making sound technical choices, and maintaining the result as needs change.

View career → Software Developer
Software & AI

Software Performance Engineer

Employee reference
$136K/yr
Replacement target
$142/hr
Income goal, not available pay

BLS · May 2025 · Software Developers

Investigate software latency and resource use through repeatable measurements. Connect bottlenecks to representative workloads and correctness requirements rather than assuming that a favorable microbenchmark guarantees a better user experience.

View career → Software Performance Engineer
Environment & agriculture

Soil scientist

Employee reference
$89K/yr
Replacement target
$103/hr
Income goal, not available pay

BLS · May 2025 · Food Scientists and Technologists

Investigates soil properties and processes through appropriate scientific methods, field permissions, and qualified interpretation, connecting evidence with its limits rather than generalizing from one sample.

View career → Soil scientist
Cross-industry

Solutions architect

Employee reference
$106K/yr
Replacement target
$117/hr
Income goal, not available pay

BLS · May 2025 · Computer systems analysts

A solutions architect designs how systems should work together to meet a business need. Their value is making technical tradeoffs explicit before expensive implementation decisions create avoidable reliability, security, or operating problems.

View career → Solutions architect
Software & AI

Speech Recognition Engineer

Employee reference
$120K/yr
Replacement target
$129/hr
Income goal, not available pay

BLS · May 2025 · Data Scientists

Develop and evaluate speech-to-text systems for specified recording conditions and audiences. Account for consent, acoustic variation, language coverage, and error patterns rather than treating an aggregate score as complete user suitability.

View career → Speech Recognition Engineer