There are many factors which are important when choosing the right career/job for yourself. This can include interest, demand for the role, and how stable the sector is. One of the most important areas to consider when choosing a career however is the salary level along with the rate of salary growth per year. This will enable you to plan, qualify and train for a career that will be both interesting to you and also to be able to support your life goals and aspirations.

A recent survey by careerbuilder revealed the top 20 fastest growing salaries in in America. For the full list, you can visit the site, but we have summarized the findings below.

7% Salary Growth

The jobs that experienced the highest salary growth were Network Engineers, Staffing Managers, and Customer Account Representatives. The average salaries for these roles increased by 7% between 2010 and 2011.

6% Salary Growth

There was another category of jobs which averaged 6% salary growth between 2010 and 2011. These were Recruiting Coordinators, Purchasing Managers, Customer Service Managers/Advisors, Mortgage Loan Processors, Operations Managers, and Chief Technology Officers.

There is a recurrent theme worth mentioning here. It appears that customer facing roles which require the management of accounts and services have shown good growth at both junior and senior level. This is a particularly lucrative role or career which has a good rate of salary growth at all stages of the career path.

5% Salary Growth

There were 9 jobs averaging 5% salary growth between 2010 and 2011. Three of these were in the area of finance. Another three of these jobs were in the area of therapy and support, including Occupational Therapist, Physical Therapist and Home Health support.

In terms of Physical Therapist, it is worth pointing out that salaries are expected to continue to grow over the long term. This is because a recent survey revealed that there is a shortage of Physical Therapists in America and that demand for therapists is expected to grow by 27% by 2016.

Demand for Home health support is expected to grow significantly due to the aging population and there being more old people in need of care. We can expect to see continued growth in salaries for these staff.

The remaining jobs that experienced 5% salary growth were a legal clerk, marketing junior and electronics engineer.