These days the tech industry is very dynamic with new skills and technologies coming up almost every now and then.
Some of the tech skills will be more relevant as we advance into digital era and will be a better option in terms of job prospects.
In this article, you will be able to discover twelve of the most relevant and promising technology skills that you will need to master.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence or AI is quickly becoming the norm. AI can be defined more or less as the method of making machines smart and providing them the capability to mimic human intelligence capabilities such as learning, decision making, speaking, vision, etc AI is behind some of today’s most revolutionary technologies ranging from smart personal assistants like Siri and Amazon’s Alexa to autonomous car technology.
As more companies adopt AI solutions, there will be a huge demand for AI expertise in areas like:
– Machine Learning Engineering: Creating and refining AI models and algorithms
– AI Cloud Engineering: Introducing and operating AI apps on the cloud
– Robotic Process Automation (RPA): The use of bots and algorithms to manage business processes in an organization
– Neural Networks & Deep Learning: Developing complex artificial intelligence systems that can make decisions like a human being
It will also be helpful if you are interested in getting into the AI field, to learn languages such as Python and frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, Keras, and libraries like Scikit-learn.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Another emerging technology is the Robotic Process Automation, often abbreviated as RPA. As the name implies, RPA enables the configuration of computer software or a ‘robot’ to interact with applications and capture data for processing transactions, analysing data, facilitating responses and interacting with other information systems.
It is possible to program RPA robots to handle high volume and repetitive business processes and hence the robots help companies reduce costs and increase productivity.
As indicated by Gartner in their research, the RPA industry generated more than 63% growth in 2018, reaching $846 million in revenue. As more organizations adopt RPA to manage repetitive processes, there is increased need for RPA developers and architects.
If you are aspiring to join an RPA developer, then tools such as UiPath, Automation Anywhere, and Blue Prism are very useful.
Blockchain
Blockchain was initially introduced to the world as the distributed ledger on which Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies operate. However, blockchain has not limited its usage to cryptocurrencies only.
In simple terms, blockchain is a distributed database that stores transaction and information, which is nearly impossible to alter, compromise or falsify. This creates a level of openness and credibility that fosters a network, but does not require a root.
Financial and service sectors, especially banking and insurance, as well as health care, media, and retail sectors are discovering various uses of blockchain technology to enhance their performance, reliability and accuracy.
LinkedIn in its emerging jobs report 2020 highlighted that blockchain developer is the most required emerging job position that has experienced more than 2000% growth in the last five years.
Languages such as Solidity and Hype ledger will be beneficial if you wish to build your career in blockchain technology.
Cybersecurity Expert
As more people use technology in their day-to-day life, cyber threats have increased immensely. Cybersecurity Ventures has indicated that the global cost of cybercrime is expected to increase by $ 15% per year in the next five years to $ 10.5 trillion USD per year in 2025.
This has led to the development of the need for cybersecurity professionals in organizations of all sectors.
Some of the specific cybersecurity roles that are in high demand include:
– Security Engineer/Analyst – Protecting system environment and restoring data
– Penetration Tester – This will involve the discovery of chinks or weaknesses that an attacker is likely to take advantage of.
– Security Architect – This is a professional whose main responsibility is to plan and design security for various IT systems and other structures.
– Security Administrator – Implementing and overseeing access control systems and data protection.
Therefore, to be able to get into any cybersecurity position, one has to gain applied skills. To be right one must get certified from CompTIA or EC Council and should know languages like Python and tools like Kali Linux to have a right foundation.
Data Science & Big Data
Today’s world can be referred to as the era of data. Currently, an exponential number of devices and applications are generating data on a daily basis.
Organizations are seeking to find meaning in this information and extract value from it. This has led to a growing demand for data science professionals in the past 10 years.
Some of the top data science job roles include:
– Data Engineer – Constructing frameworks for capturing, archiving and categorizing big data
– Data Analyst/Scientist – Conducting data cleansing, data pre-processing and statistical analysis of data.
– Machine Learning Engineer – Developing and improving self-learning algorithms and models
To become a data scientist, one has to be proficient in languages such as Python, SQL, and tools such as Tableau, Apache Spark and Hadoop.
Many big tech industries and startups today recruit data professionals, you should therefore concentrate in developing practical assignments that will enhance you in the specific competencies.
Full Stack Development
Full stack developers are among the most desired IT specialists nowadays. The ‘Full Stack’ that the name implies is an individual who can handle both front and back ends of an application.
Front-end deals with the graphical user interface while the back-end encompasses the database, server, the application programming interfaces, and logic.
In other words, a full stack developer must be capable of creating a complete application without involving other developers.
Some key skills include:
Frontend
– HTML, CSS, JavaScript frameworks like React
– Responsive web design and Progressive Web Apps
Backend
– On the server side, you can use such languages as Node.js, Python, Java, C#.
– The knowledge of database systems such as MySQL, MongoDB
– Docker and Kubernetes as the container platforms
– Creation of microservices and APIs
The beauty of full stack development is that your skill set can be utilized in any industry creating web applications, mobile applications and much more.
Thus, to be distinctive, it is suggested to work more on these important competencies within the scope of creating your apps and side projects.
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing has been one of the most disruptive technologies in the ICT sector in the past decade. According to Gartner the global public cloud market is estimated to be around $397.5 billion by the year 2022.
The number of organizations transferring their technology to the cloud rises significantly, and there are not enough qualified cloud specialists.
Some of the most in-demand cloud computing jobs include:
-Cloud Architect/Engineer – Responsible for developing and coordinating the adoption of cloud solutions
– Cloud DevOps Engineer – Perform CI/CD and make the deployment process on the cloud.
– Cloud Security Manager – Identity and Access management and Cloud Security Service
– Cloud Solutions Architect – Be responsible for designing cloud solutions and services.
The three major public cloud services are Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. Getting certified with cloud skills in any of these platforms will definitely boost your career.
User Experience Design (UX)
Usability and user experience design therefore relate to the process of optimizing and refining the utility, ease of use and fun that a user gets out of a product or a website.
It’s essential for business success when consumer shifts more time to be online for mobile usage since the UX Design states that 75% of users never resort back to a specific website again in case they had a bad experience.
Some key UX design jobs include:
– UX Designer – Developing designs that lead to high usability and conversion rates
– Business Analyst – Taking the business requirements and turning them into UI architecture and wireframes
– UX Researcher – Studying target users and their requirements to design improved product
– Interaction Designer – Creating proper user interactions and good website responsiveness
It would be helpful to know about wireframing, prototyping, user testing and tools such as Sketch, Balsamic and Invision to get into this field.
Being a good UX designer, it is possible to find freelance or fulltime remote positions in any industry.
Product Management
Product managers are often referred to as mini CEOs tasked with the responsibility of creating, launching and continuously improving digital products.
Today every large technology company that you can think of like Google, Facebook, and Amazon, among others have a large number of product managers to develop and improve their products.
The day to day activity of a product manager involves:
– Acquiring customer requirements and converting them to technical requirements
– Engaging in comprehensive market and user analysis to discover new product potential
– Setting of timeframes, targets, and managing the entire product life cycle
This is to mean that for a product manager to be effective he or she has to have both soft skills such as communication and analytical thinking and at the same time have some technical skills.
Other things that are useful are learning prototyping tools such as Figma/Sketch and, of course, having prior experience within an industry.
DevOps Engineering
It is derived from joining the words ‘development’ and ‘operations’ to capture the essence of collaboration between these two functional components.
A DevOps engineer helps to narrow the gap between dev and ops teams and ensures that the goals of both are tightly synced within an organization.
This assists the company to deliver good products quickly, often and with increased reliability. Glassdoor has ranked the DevOps Engineer position the 7th best tech job in the USA, with a median pay of $107,000 per year.
Key technical skills for a DevOps engineer include:
– DevOps tools such as CI/CD and automation tools like Jenkins, Ansible, Puppet
– Containerization with Docker and Kubernetes
– Cloud platform skills such as AWS, Azure and GCP
– Application development tools such as Terraform and Packer.
– Other tools that can be considered as monitoring and logging tools are Datadog, Splunk
If you are interested in system administration and like working with automation and optimization, then DevOps is quite a fulfilling career.
Specialization: Augmented Reality (AR) / Virtual Reality (VR) Engineer
The use of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) is a growing trend that is changing the way people engage with technology.
AR superimposes digital objects onto the real environment using graphics, audio and haptic feedback while VR captures users and places them in a completely artificial 3D world.
The application of AR/VR has grown rapidly in industries such as retail, healthcare, education, and entertainment industries to enhance the user experience.
Key AR/VR jobs that tech professionals can explore include:
– AR/VR developer – Creation of apps, environments, and animations
– 3D designer – Developing 3D models for assets and rendering accurate textures.
– AR/VR platform engineer – Developing the next generation of headsets, and implementing advanced technologies.
– UX designer – Create interfaces for augmented reality/virtual reality applications and gadgets
If one wants to develop skills in AR/VR, it would be beneficial to know game engines such as Unity and Unreal Engine for creating interactive 3D applications.
Increasing penetration and technological advancements in the hardware are likely to lead to massive innovation and job opportunities in the AR/VR solutions market.
Internet of Things (IoT) Engineer
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a relatively young and fast-growing area, which focuses on devices connected to the Internet and equipped with sensors, software, and electronics.
IoT is an extension of the Internet which connects objects with each other directly through existing network facilities to make the physical world integrated with the cyber world.
According to the IDC, there will be more than 55 billion of the IoT connected devices globally by 2025, and as a result, firms are trying to develop their competence and benefit from this sector. Some of the key IoT jobs include:
– IoT solution architect – Ensure the security and scalability of the IoT solution with connected devices
– Firmware apps of IoT devices – Software development for IoT devices
– Internet of things cloud engineer – Control IoT applications in cloud environment
– IoT security specialist – Impact on IoT data and its encryption
The following course is useful in gaining knowledge on IoT: Embedded programming languages such as C/C++; Building electronics circuits; Networking protocols such as WiFi/Bluetooth; Cloud platforms; To obtain an IoT developer position, the following knowledge is valuable.
Conclusion
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a relatively young and fast-growing area, which focuses on devices connected to the Internet and equipped with sensors, software, and electronics.
IoT is an extension of the Internet which connects objects with each other directly through existing network facilities to make the physical world integrated with the cyber world.
