Editor’s note: This article was first published in August 2012. All salary ranges are Spanish figures from 2012, and the list of “new” internet professions reflects that moment; several roles have since changed or merged, and pay levels will differ today.
The times we live in are forcing society to change, reinvent itself and adapt to new circumstances. As a result, companies now have a very different work structure and very different needs. Those differences and new needs are creating new job opportunities.
If you’re thinking about what line of work to look for, bear in mind that long-established careers now coexist with new opportunities created by the digital world. In other words, there are new degrees such as Biomedical Engineering sharing ground with traditional studies such as Industrial Engineering.
If we look at listings for skilled jobs, two degrees are the most in demand: Industrial Engineering and Business Administration. They’re the veterans, but they coexist with Biomedical Engineering and all the digital ones, such as Digital Communication or online marketing.
All the job offers come with a requirement for broad knowledge of new technologies and social media, and strong communication skills.
New job opportunities online
Web analytics expert
These are engineers, mathematicians or statisticians in charge of measuring a website’s audience and advertising data in order to improve its ranking. Their main job is to interpret the information that comes out of the statistics in relation to online marketing. The average salary for these experts in Spain is usually between 40,000 and 60,000 euros a year.
Information architect
They’re responsible for the structure and organization of a website, to make it easier to navigate. Information architects plan the elements that make a site more accessible, and they work together with developers and graphic designers. The average salary for these “new architects” ranges from 35,000 to 60,000 euros a year.
Web designer
This requires knowledge of computer graphics and design software, as well as HTML and JavaScript. Web designers work to improve a site’s look, its accessibility and also its order and visual appeal to attract new users. The most common salary ranges from 18,000 to 33,000 euros a year.
Usability expert
This new professional’s main mission is to find out what users are looking for and want. This market researcher or analyst has to run frequent surveys asking “customers” what they think of the website or what they’d like to see improved. The salary range is between 18,000 and 42,000 euros.
Content editor
These are the new digital journalists. They handle the content, writing and editing of articles on all kinds of websites, from a corporate site to an online newspaper. The average salary is 30,000 to 35,000 euros a year, according to the INKS guide.
Functional analyst
Their job is to analyze how new software applications work so that they perform as well as possible. In Spain, they usually earn between 30,000 and 35,000 euros a year.
E-business consultant
This marketing expert analyzes a company’s online needs and uses a strategy to attract customers through the internet. Earnings are 30,000 to 45,000 euros a year.
E-commerce manager
The person in charge of a company’s online sales. The mission is to be the link between the website’s store and the potential consumer audience. They can earn between 30,000 and 60,000 euros a year.
Webmaster
The main role is making sure a website runs as well as possible on the technical side. To do this successfully, the webmaster has to coordinate the technical team. According to the INKS guide, webmasters are one of the professional groups with the best long-term job prospects. The salary for this profile ranges from 26,000 to 40,000 euros a year.
Internet lawyer
A lawyer specializing in new technologies deals with matters such as online contracting, e-commerce, digital signatures, data protection, intellectual property and content management, websites’ general terms and conditions, and legal issues around domain names, among others. The average salary ranges from 24,000 to 80,000 euros a year.
Affiliate marketing manager
The intermediary between companies and advertisers in a type of advertising where the advertiser pays only if there are results that translate into website visits, sales or sign-ups. They earn 24,000 to 40,000 euros a year.
Online marketing director
The specialist in online advertising contracts and in creating campaigns to promote products. The job requires training in marketing, market research, statistics, sociology… In Spain, the salary is between 50,000 and 80,000 euros a year.
Product manager
This new internet profession focuses on identifying new opportunities, trends and problems in order to develop successful products. The product manager also prepares sales projections and works closely with the sales team, then analyzes the results of the product once it’s on the market. A product manager earns between 18,000 and 54,000 euros a year.
SEM specialist
The expert in marketing a website on search engines. The SEM specialist decides which audience the “advertising” will target, which keywords to sponsor and how, and also sets the necessary budget. The salary ranges from 20,000 to 50,000 euros a year.
SEO specialist
SEO experts are in charge of positioning a website’s content in search engines so it stands out from competitors’ pages. SEO work involves identifying keywords, analyzing competitors and, in short, getting the company’s web pages to the top of the rankings on search engines such as Google. Pay is 15,000 to 50,000 euros a year.
Database administrator
Maintains the databases that make up a company’s information system. The role calls for expertise in information technology and knowledge of the SQL query language and DBMSs to optimize queries. The average salary in Spain ranges from 32,000 to 45,000 euros a year.
Programmer
Programmers build a website’s applications and solve problems arising from how they work. It’s a profile in high demand at all kinds of companies, the creators of the INKS guide point out. Pay ranges from 15,000 to 35,000 euros a year.
Head of IT systems
Manages the administrative and technical side of the company’s data processing area, organizes the IT staff and selects the software and hardware the company buys or uses. Earnings are 30,000 to 90,000 euros a year.
Support technician
Installs, configures and maintains the company’s computer equipment, and installs the software needed for everyday use. The salary ranges from 18,000 to 30,000 euros a year.
Trafficker
The person in charge of managing, implementing and monitoring a website’s traffic. The average salary ranges from 20,000 to 50,000 euros a year.
Community manager
The main role is handling the company’s communication with the outside world through social networks such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. Part of the job is encouraging online conversations and debates and responding to users’ comments about the company. There are variants of this role, with profiles known as SMO (social media optimization) manager and social media strategist. The average salary for a community manager in Spain falls in a range from 18,000 to 70,000 euros a year.
Featured image: Campus Party México, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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