By Deanna deBara Fairygodboss
When it comes to your earning potential, not all skills carry the same weight. Some skills not only help you stand out and secure a job but also position you for a higher salary. With that in mind, if you're aiming to boost your income (and let's be honest, who wouldn't want that?), developing those high-income skills is a great way to do it.
What are high-income skills?
First things first. Before we jump into what skills can help you generate a higher income, let’s quickly cover what, exactly, high-income skills are.
“High-income skills are skills that are in high demand in the workforce—which allow individuals who have these skills to achieve higher paying positions and earn more income over their career,” says Cox.
Many of those skills are specialized, meaning not everyone possesses them. They often lead to “decreased competition among job seekers, as these skills are more rare,” says career coach Adriana Cowdin.
“High-income skills make you more marketable and attractive as a candidate—and more valuable as an employee,” says Ashley Cox, CEO and founder of hiring consultancy SproutHR. “When you have high-demand skills that others don't, you can leverage them as an asset when searching for employment or when negotiating your salary, benefits, and desired perks.”
In addition to putting you in a position to negotiate a better compensation package, having high-income skills can also help you drive your career and find opportunities that work best for you.
High-income skills to learn in 2024
Cultivating high-income skills can offer a serious boost—both to your career and your income. But what are the most profitable skills to learn for 2024?
Let’s take a look at some of today’s most in-demand high-income skills for different types of people, jobs, and industries:
1. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
There’s no arguably nothing “buzzier” happening in the tech space today than artificial intelligence (AI).
“Artificial Intelligence (AI) is dominating the market right now, especially with the increase of free, accessible, and user-friendly AI tools that are available,” says Cox. “Companies everywhere have realized that AI is here to stay and they better get up to speed or get left behind.”
As AI continues to become more mainstream—and companies find more and more applications for AI within their business—people who understand how to work with AI are going to be more in-demand and higher-paid than ever.
“Candidates with knowledge and experience using AI will stand head and shoulders above the competition,” says Cox.
AI is also one of the most versatile high-income skills you can develop. You don’t necessarily need to be the person coding and creating AI-based applications (although there’s certainly plenty of money to be had in that industry!)—as competency with AI technology applies to a wide variety of jobs and industries.
“This particular skill is also transferrable across many different industries, from content creation and marketing to customer service and operations, to automating low-level tasks and freeing up teams to work on higher-level tasks,” says Cox. “AI has created tremendous opportunities to grow your career in a myriad of fields and industries.”
2. High-level project management
For many businesses, COVID-19 completely changed the way they operate. Today, many businesses are managing massive projects with remote teams that are working from different parts of the country (or, in many cases, the world!). Managing those types of high-level projects takes a lot of skill—and developing those skills can help you demand a higher salary.
“Project management—specifically at the leadership level—is of key importance when it comes to high-income skills and earning potential,” says Cowdin. “Those who can manage large, complex projects will be in great shape to earn high salaries.”
Effective project management is less a skill of its own and more an umbrella term for a variety of skills needed to effectively manage a project (and the people working on it)—including people management, planning, organization, tech, problem-solving, and communication skills.
It also requires being able to manage multiple moving parts and ensure projects come in on deadline. Cultivating these skills—and utilizing them together in a project management capacity—is key to increasing earning potential.
3. Creative content marketing
Content is everywhere—and it isn’t going anywhere. Virtually every company in the world is invested in content in some form, whether that’s writing for a corporate blog, creating and editing brand videos, or creating platform-specific content for social media. As such, there is a lot of opportunity in the content space.
However, because so many companies are developing content, many channels have become saturated. It’s harder than ever to stand out—so if you want to land a content job that demands a high salary, basic content marketing skills aren’t going to be enough. You’re going to need to get creative.
“In the world of content creation, creativity and innovation will lead the way in 2024,” says Cox. “Companies want content creators to come up with original, innovative, and engaging ideas that will set them apart from the rest—and they're willing to pay for it.”
In a space that’s overwhelmed with boring, mediocre, and/or repetitive content, content marketers who can create unique, innovative strategies; implement those plans; craft and distribute engaging content; and drive real, measurable results will be in high demand—and will have the leverage to demand just as high a salary.
4. Digital marketing
Digital marketing is a blanket term that covers a variety of strategies, including search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), email marketing, and social media marketing (SMM).
What all those platforms have in common is that they leverage digital channels to promote a business, connect with potential new customers, generate leads, and move people through their sales funnel—with the end goal of converting potential customers into paying customers.
Because so much of business today takes place online, people who have the skills needed to do that work can demand high salaries.
“With social media platforms constantly changing and adding new features and ways to create and interact with content, companies are finding it more challenging than ever to stay relevant and connected to their audiences in the online space,” says Cox.
“A highly skilled digital marketer who can demonstrate their ability to use multiple platforms by driving business through engaged followers leads, and sales will be in high demand and command top dollar.”
If you want to leverage digital marketing skills to earn a higher salary, consider becoming an expert in a single niche. Why? When it comes to digital marketing, a “jack-of-all-trades” marketer generally isn’t as valuable as a specialized marketer (for example, an SEO specialist or a TikTok growth marketer)—particularly since the marketing landscape changes so quickly and often.
Other high-income skills to help you increase your earning potential
There’s no double that the above-listed high-income skills can help you increase your income potential in today’s job market. But they’re by no means the only skills that can help you get the salary boost you want (and deserve!).
Other high-income skills include:
5. Digital advertising
6. Marketing analytics
7. Growth marketing
8. Augmented reality (AR)
9. Virtual reality (VR)
10. User Experience (UX)
11. Software development
12. Cloud computing
13. Account management
14. Data science
15. Blockchain technology
16. Cybersecurity
17. Robotics
18. Internet of Things (IoT)
19. Business consulting
20. Content design
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