Opting for a career in tech can provide many exciting opportunities. Employees are often drawn to tech companies because of the great benefits that they boast, including flexibility, work-life balance, generous salaries, and not being bound by a typical college degree. The tech industry has opened millions of doors to job seekers worldwide, but it’s not always the easiest industry to break into or advance in.
Adding new skills to your toolkit and working on your professional development can give you an edge in the rapidly changing tech landscape.
We’ve compiled a list of the top 10 essential tech skills that can help you boost your career in tech.
What Employers Want: 10 Tech Skills Most In-demand
1. Cybersecurity
Let’s begin with the foundational skill for the tech field – cybersecurity. Information disclosure, theft, hacking, and malware attacks are critical issues for any internet-connected systems, and cybersecurity companies are concerned with protecting these networks and applications.
Businesses are aware of valuable cybersecurity practices more than ever! Prioritizing their network safety gives loads of job opportunities in the IT domain. To land a position in cybersecurity, employers are looking for candidates with these tech skills:
- Network Security Control
- Controls and Frameworks
- Operating Systems
- Intrusion Detection
- Scripting
A cybersecurity expert has multiple responsibilities. They might be tasked with installing routers and firewalls or ensuring software security by performing threat analysis and ethical hacking.
Here are some of the most popular roles in the cybersecurity field:
- Security Architect
- Information Security Analyst
- Security Engineer
- Digital Forensic Examiner
- Security Analyst
- Sales Engineer
2. Blockchain
We are only starting to scratch the surface of probabilities regarding blockchain. With an increase in peer-to-peer energy trading, the development and maintenance of the blockchain are required and in demand more than ever before.
The increased popularity of cryptocurrencies has given rise to unchangeable distributed ledger technology (DLT) to keep and record transactions. Now, more industries are turning to blockchain technology to attain the highest transaction safety and transparency level.
The top skills needed to get into the blockchain include:
- Data Structures
- Cryptography
- Smart Contracts
- Programming Languages
- Web Development
- Blockchain Architecture
With a significant and sudden-current increase in blockchain technology, you can find jobs for these roles:
- Blockchain Developer
- Blockchain UX Designer
- Blockchain Project Manager
- Blockchain Solution Architect
- Blockchain Quality Engineer.
Beginning with the foundational courses to learning the technology and practices, you can become a pro with the “Blockchain Consensus mechanism.”
As a newbie, you must learn decentralization, peer-to-peer, mining, hashing functions, and cryptocurrencies. In addition, you need to familiarize yourself with the applications and tools associated with this complex technology.
3. Artificial Intelligence
Despite Elon Musk’s fear of artificial intelligence and his citing it as the biggest threat to civilization, AI is quickly becoming mainstream and accessible. Generative AI tools are already allowing users to become more efficient and effective in their work. Dubbed “everyone’s new copilot,” AI is forging the way for new career fields and money-making opportunities. Learning dynamic AI skills will help you to evolve at a frequent pace.
AI is beyond your technical degree and allows you to make unbiased professional decisions.
Skills associated with artificial intelligence will give you a competitive advantage in the industry. It simplifies complex tasks with no slow-downs, making it a requisite part of almost every industry out there.
Here are some popular career opportunities related to artificial intelligence:
- Robotics Engineer
- Business Intelligence Developer
- AI Data Analyst
- Research Scientist
- Big Data Engineer
- Robotics Scientist.
If this sounds like the path for you, focus on learning and improving these skills:
- Programming languages like Python, C, C++, MATLAB, and R.
- Statistics
- Linear Algebra
- Neural Network Architectures
- Signal Processing Techniques
4. Machine Learning
According to a recent report, with a yearly growth rate of 40%, the global machine-learning market is anticipated to reach $117.19 billion by 2027.
And that is not the only reason to be interested in machine learning. Just like humans, a machine can learn tasks with experience, making its output better and better over time.
A machine is subjected to perform tasks without any explicit or heavy programming using artificial intelligence. Multiple machine learning models are involved based on the chosen algorithms and different data.
Reducing human labor and minimizing manual efforts, machine learning enables companies to deliver personalized results to customers, and you can be part of the team.
As a machine learning expert with the appropriate skills, you can apply for the following job roles:
- Business Intelligence Developer
- Machine Learning Engineer
- Software Developer
- Human-Centred Machine Learning Designer
- Computational Linguist
- Data Scientist
5. Cloud Computing
Did you know that 90% of businesses have a multi-cloud plan of action? Cloud computing has become almost universal, creating new work opportunities along the way.
Many companies are helping their IT specialists develop in this area, while others are recruiting cloud-related positions for the first time ever. Here are some of the most in-demand tech skills related to cloud computing:
- Migration across various platforms
- Cloud Deployment
- DevOps
- Containerization
- Multicloud Management
- Cloud Security
- Information Skills.
Here are the key roles you can get after learning cloud computing:
- Cloud Engineer (QA Engineer, DevOps Engineer, Full Stack Engineer, Software Engineer, Security Engineer, and Data Engineer)
- Cloud Architect
- Chief Cloud Officer
- Cloud Security Officer
- Cloud Network Engineer
- Cloud Automation Engineer
6. Mobile App Development
Today, mobile apps are used more often than websites. In fact, people spend up to 90% of their screen time using apps instead of web browsers.
If you seek a career in mobile app development, you must be future-ready! There are plenty of lucrative careers witnessing a tremendous rise. The draw to create something new and approachable for users will always keep you creative and focused.
To be proficient in app development, you must be skilled and fluent in object-oriented programming languages, leading cross-platform development tools, and supporting mobile functionality by implementing application programming languages (APIs). The other foremost tech skills include:
- Internet of Things (IoT)
- Backend Development
- Cross-platform Application Development
- GIT
- Language Programming
- UI Design (Mobile)
- Cybersecurity
Top career opportunities in mobile app development include:
- Mobile App Developer
- Senior Software Engineer
- Android Mobile Application Developer
- iOS Developer
- ReactNative Developer
7. UI/UX Design
Customer-oriented businesses fly high with approachable UI/UX design, as the product appeal is ultimately crucial. UI/UX design helps to impress stakeholders too. A good UI can increase the conversion rate by 200% and UX can make a difference of up to 400% increase in conversion rate!
Everyone is looking for a stable career. UI/UX can give you a future-proof job, as it is not going anywhere. UI/UX is a multidisciplinary, broad field with a variety of career options. Similar to graphic design, you can start freelance work or a business in your niche.
So, which particular skills do you need to become a UI/UX professional? Here are the most in-demand:
- Typography
- Information Architecture
- Interaction Design
- Analytical Skills
UI/UX design is an absolute meeting point for people with both imaginative and inquisitive minds. Let’s check out the job roles associated with the UI/UX field:
- UI/UX Research
- Information Architect
- Product Designer
- Product Owner
- UI/UX Strategist
8. Game Development
Game development is about the journey of developing, designing, and releasing a game. A career in game development can be immensely rewarding for your pockets and resume. The best part is the game logic!
From developing new ideas for game design, reviewing existing codes, and recommending improvements to monitoring game stability across platforms, game developers can get involved in multiple processes.
These particular skills are the most crucial to become a proficient game developer:
- Animation
- Programming
- Database Design
- User Interface Design
If you are looking forward to a career in game development, you can seek the following job roles:
- Game Designer
- Quality Analyst
- Audio Engineer
- Game Programmer
- Game Publisher
9. Big Data
Data analytics is the beating heart of innovation. Whether you are in structured (simplest data to analyze) or semi-structured data analytics, there are massive job openings with good salary aspects. The collection and preservation of generated data are crucial and regarded as an “urgent” task in the industry.
Another “not-to-miss-out” perk of this career path is that it is one of the highest priorities in top industry organizations. Undoubtedly, data analysis has become sophisticated on various datasets.
Which skills do you require to have to break into data analytics?
- Probability Statistics
- SQL
- Econometrics
- Statistical Visualization
- Statistical Programming
You can explore different dimensions of the job role, from data mining, sharing, visualization, analysis, and storage. Here are some of the most popular job opportunities in this field:
- Big Data Analyst
- Big Data Analytics Business Consultant
- Metrics Specialist
- Big Data Solution Architect
- Big Data Analytics Architect
- Business Intelligence Consultant
- Analytics Consultant
- Big Data Engineer
10. Digital Marketing
Digital marketing has emerged as one of the most definitive and dynamic career choices. The digital marketing industry is estimated to reach $786.2 Billion by 2026 globally.
With the encapsulated potential to grow a business at the highest possible level, online marketing is continuously evolving, resulting in many career paths to consider. Popular job opportunities include:
- Search Engine Optimization
- Social Media Management
- Impact Analysis
- Digital Public Relations
- Brand Management
- Copywriting
- Content Writing
The digital marketing field is dedicated to targeting and attracting potential customers and business leads through online channels. While digital communication plays an integral role here, you must be well-informed about the distinctive and supportive marketing tools.
These skills are a few of the prerequisites for a career in digital marketing:
- SEO & SEM
- Content Creation
- Social Media
- Data Analysis
- PPC
- Email Marketing
Explore Your Career Options
A career in tech can be exciting and very rewarding. But in such a rapidly expanding industry, it can be difficult to identify your next step. If you’re not sure where to start on your tech career journey, begin with a SWOT analysis and some market research. This will help you to narrow in on one field and identify the top tech skills you need to develop or improve.
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