Whether you’re searching for career advancement opportunities or you want to shift gears from your current job, a remote position might be the ideal solution. Search this list of top-paying remote jobs in Pennsylvania to hop on the fast track to an exciting and rewarding career path.
1. Pharmacist
Average Wage: $61.58 per hour (Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS], 2019)
Job Growth Rate: 0% (BLS)
Job Description: Pharmacists are medical professionals responsible for advising patients on what medicines to take, ensuring patients get the correct medicine, and making certain that all prescriptions are within local, state, and federal law. These individuals also fill prescriptions, supervise the dispensing of medicines by assistants, and provide medical advice.
Requirements: All pharmacists must have a Doctor of Pharmacy degree (PharmD) to practice. Many pharmacy schools across the country combine their undergraduate programs with doctoral programs. After obtaining the degree, prospective pharmacists must pass both the North American Pharmacist Licensure Exam (NAPLEX) and the Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Exam (MPJE). Finally, pharmacists must apply for a license in their state.
2. Sales Manager
Average Wage: $60.89 per hour (BLS, 2019)
Job Growth Rate: 5% (BLS)
Job Description: A sales manager coaches, mentors, and leads a team of salespeople. In this role, they create sales quotas, assign sales territories, craft a sales plan, and create a reward or commission system to motivate their team. They may also be responsible for hiring new team members and firing underperformers.
Requirements: Sales managers often have a four-year degree in a business-related field and proven experience as a salesperson. In large-scale companies, employers may require sales managers to obtain a master’s degree in finance, marketing, or other related areas of study.
3. Business Development Manager
Average Wage: $54.50 per hour (BLS, 2019)
Job Growth Rate: 8% (BLS)
Job Description: Business development managers are an important Pennsylvania remote job that have many different roles within a company, all of which are designed to foster growth and increase sales leads. Their most important tasks include finding new customers, improving the value of current customers, building and leveraging beneficial business relationships, and creating marketing strategies.
Requirements: Although there is no specific degree for business development, most employers seek a candidate with a degree in marketing, business, communications, finance, management, or another related field. Successful business development managers may also have experience with a variety of technical applications including customer relationship management (CRM) software, project management software, and spreadsheet applications.
4. Software Developer
Average Wage: $50.77 per hour (BLS, 2019)
Job Growth Rate: 21% (BLS)
Job Description: Software developers create, design, and test software, applications, and other programs to client or employer specifications. To create these programs, software developers meet with clients to discuss their needs, research solutions, and use programming languages to code the ideal software. Once they develop programs, these professionals are in charge of fine-tuning them, providing updates, and improving any glitches.
Requirements: A vast majority of software developers have a four-year degree in software engineering, computer science, or another computer-related field. In addition to a degree, a software developer should have a strong grasp of programming languages such as Java, C++, Ruby, Python, and PHP. Certifications can also help these individuals develop highly sought after skills to improve their chances of employment.
5. Data Integration Engineer
Average Wage: $48.50 per hour (PayScale, 2020)
Job Growth Rate: 9% (BLS, 2019)
Job Description: A data integration engineer is responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining data integration software and systems. This enables a company to allow a seamless flow of data, information, and documents from one department to another via a network or intranet. Data integration engineers may also extract and load data from customers or clients into a database for organizational purposes.
Requirements: Prospective data integration engineers need at least a four-year degree in computer science, applied math, physics, statistics, or software engineering. Companies may also require a master’s degree in one of these disciplines for larger projects. Knowledge of programming languages is also necessary. To secure employment and higher pay, many data integration engineers also obtain a Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP) credential from Data Management Association International.
6. Analytics Manager
Average Wage: $35.52 per hour (PayScale, 2020)
Job Growth Rate: 26% (BLS, 2019)
Job Description: Analytics managers craft effective strategies for the collection and analysis of data. To create and implement these strategies, they must coordinate all analytics within the organization. In addition to these duties, an analytics manager is also responsible for measuring performance and financial risks, motivating their team of data specialists, develop analytical methods to business questions, and provide end-user reports to management and stakeholders.
Requirements: Analytics managers typically have a bachelor’s degree in data management, a computer-related field, or analytics. However, many mid-level and senior-level managers obtain a master’s degree in statistics, computer science, or mathematics. Certification is not required, but candidates may wish to complete a Certified Analytics Professional (CAP) program from the Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences.
7. Penetration Tester
Average Wage: $30.02 per hour (PayScale, 2020)
Job Growth Rate: 32% (BLS, 2019)
Job Description: Also known as an ethical hacker, a penetration tester is the most high-demand Pennsylvania remote job. These highly specialized IT professionals use their hacking and computer security knowledge to test the security of a network. By breaching the network security system, a penetration tester identifies vulnerabilities and offers suggestions on how to fix them. Common tasks include writing security assessments, conducting security audits, and analyzing current security policies.
Requirements: Most employers search for candidates with a bachelor’s degree in computer science or another computer-related field. However, companies may also consider a person with a high school diploma or associate’s degree, provided they have advanced knowledge of computer programming languages, security frameworks, security assessment tools, and various operating systems.
8. Mobile Engineer
Average Wage: $27.03 per hour (PayScale, 2020)
Job Growth Rate: 21% (BLS, 2019)
Job Description: A mobile engineer creates, develops, and builds applications for smartphones and other mobile devices. These individuals will also test the app for any problems, troubleshoot issues, and make redesign requests based on the client’s requests. Mobile engineers also build updates to improve the performance of the app.
Requirements: Most mobile engineers hold a bachelor’s degree in a computer-related field. In some instances, employers may hire an engineer with no college degree as long as they demonstrate programming proficiency. Mobile engineers should also have technical expertise in major mobile platforms such as Android and iOS, coding frameworks, and programming languages.
9. Project Manager
Average Wage: $25.70 per hour (PayScale, 2020)
Job Growth Rate: N/A
Job Description: Project managers are one of the top Pennsylvania remote jobs. These individuals provide the strategy and leadership necessary to carry out a project from start to finish. Consequently, some common tasks of a project manager include keeping the project organized, adhering to a schedule, and staying on budget. In addition, several different industries require the services of a project manager including business, IT, marketing, construction, and more.
Requirements: To gain employment as a project manager, candidates must have a bachelor’s degree in management, marketing, or another business-related field. Employers with larger projects may look for a master’s degree in their prospective hire. Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute is also highly sought after by many employers.
10. Tutor
Average Wage: $19.65 per hour (PayScale, 2020)
Job Growth Rate: 4% (BLS, 2019)
Job Description: A tutor is an educational professional who meets with students to help them with subjects outside of normal class hours. Common tasks include going over homework assignments, reviewing test questions that the student answered incorrectly, creating student aides, administering practice tests, and communicating results with parents to address any progress or shortcomings.
Requirements: A tutor needs at least a high school degree. However, the level of education varies for each tutor depending on the subject and level they’re teaching. While a high school diploma is necessary to teach grade school students, a college degree is preferred to tutor high school and college-level students.
11. Medical Coder
Average Wage: $19.40 per hour (BLS, 2019)
Job Growth Rate: 11% (BLS)
Job Description: A medical coder is a health care professional that takes the charts of patients and converts them into online code. Other tasks of medical coders include reviewing records for timeliness and accuracy, assigning codes for billing, statistics, and care, and analyzing patient information so their health records and history are properly encoded.
Requirements: Most medical coders have an associate’s degree in medical coding or a post-secondary certificate. To fast-track a career, many medical coders also obtain a certificate. For instance, two of the most popular certificates include the Certified Coding Associate (CCA) and the Certified Coding Specialist (CCS) credentials.
12. Recruiter
Average Wage: $17.95 per hour (PayScale, 2020)
Job Growth Rate: 5% (BLS, 2019)
Job Description: A recruiter fills clients’ vacant job positions. To find the ideal candidate, recruiters meet with management to discuss their needs and the type of employee they need. Once a recruiter determines the company’s hiring needs, they search for qualified applicants and schedule interviews with potential employees, arranging any travel plans as necessary. Recruiters may also recommend hiring policies to management.
Requirements: Most recruiters have a bachelor’s degree in human resources or a business-related field. Oftentimes, employers may also prefer or require certification. For example, the HR Certification Institute is the top option to find a recruiting certificate that’s widely accepted by employers.
13. Customer Service Representative
Average Wage: $16.69 per hour (BLS, 2019)
Job Growth Rate: -2% (BLS)
Job Description: Although the industry is in somewhat of a decline, customer service is still one of the top Pennsylvania remote jobs. A customer service representative helps the customers of an organization by responding with information and troubleshooting advice to concerns, questions, and complaints regarding products or services. Some common tasks of customer service representatives include maintaining a calm and professional demeanor, processing orders, communicating via a variety of channels, providing feedback to management, and ensuring customer satisfaction.
Requirements: To become a customer service representative, candidates must have at least a high school diploma or a GED. Strong communication skills and customer service experience are two hallmarks of a highly successful customer service representative.
As the categories above indicate, no matter what your area of expertise or education level, organized and vetted listings from Virtual Vocations provide instant access to some of the top remote jobs throughout Pennsylvania. Begin the next step in your career and find your dream job today.
Want to learn more about Pennsylvania remote jobs? Use our Pennsylvania Remote Work Resources to help you find out the current remote work climate in the Keystone State.
iStock Image: Shunyu Fan
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