“Learning never exhausts the mind.”- Leonardo da Vinci
The information technology industry continues to heat up and isn’t showing any signs of stopping. At this point, it’s important for IT job seekers to know how to effectively showcase their skills and abilities to hiring managers. Equally as important, IT professionals should be aware of the most in-demand skills today. As a result of the demand (and lack of supply), the roles/skills are projected to have the biggest compensation increases. Crafting a plan to obtain the most in-demand skills, certainly can reap financial rewards.
As the IT job market continues to thrive, IT professionals should consider the benefits of sharpening up their skills. In my professional experience, I’ve seen firsthand how important it is to set oneself apart from their peers. While this is advice that applies to professionals across all industries including accounting and finance, IT job seekers should especially differentiate themselves from other job seekers as the demand for IT professionals’ increases.
I saw the article, “20 hot IT skills that will get you a raise” on InfoWorld and immediately saw the value of the information presented.
According to the article, there is a direct “cause and effect” related to the demand for specific IT skills and the pressure to increase compensation for the most in-demand IT professionals.
So, what skills have the potential to boost your compensation? See 20 Hot IT Skills below.
1. Scala
Scala is an acronym for scalable language, which is related to building Web services. According to PayScale, knowing Scala can lead to a 24.8 percent compensation increase.
2. Algorithm Development
Any IT professional who has worked in a data-heavy position knows the importance of algorithm development skills. This skill can boost software engineers, product/project managers’ paychecks by 22.1 percent.
3. Apple Xcode
Xcode, the integrated development environment used with the Swift programming language to build Apple apps, has seen a 20.1 percent increase.
4. Ruby on Rails
For software engineers, Ruby on Rails or simply Rails, has long been a popular Web application framework. It shows no signs of slowing down thanks to its 19.9 percent increase.
5. Node.js
This server-side JavaScript environment could see a 19.6 percent pay increase in 2016.
6. Objective-C
This object-oriented programming language, most popular in the development of Apple software and applications is expected to see an 18.3 percent pay increase.
7. iOS SDK
Apple’s software development kit is used to create software and applications. Software engineers and developers can expect to see a 17.2 percent pay increase.
8. Ruby
This general purpose programming language has seen popularity since its inception in the 1990s in Japan. Its popularity is still growing years later and is even slated to experience a 17.1 percent increase in compensation.
9. MongoDB
This cross-platform database is considered a NoSQL database. Software engineers with this skill could see a 16.5 percent increase is their paychecks with this skill.
10. Mergers and Acquisitions. While this is not necessarily a technical skill, experts say that knowing how to transition systems after mergers and acquisitions is highly valued in the IT world. Having this skill can lead to a 13.9 percent pay increase.
11. Hadoop
Software engineers with this open-source software development framework can expect to see a 13.7 percent paycheck increase.
12. Oracle RAC
Oracle RAC, or Oracle Real Application Clusters, can expect to see a 13.5 percent increase thanks to this skill’s resurgence.
13. Android SDK
This application development language is used for Android’s mobile operating system. Mobile application developers can expect to see a 13.2 percent pay increase.
14. Cloud computing
IT professionals with cloud design, development, and integration skills are in high demand as the cloud becomes more and more popular. There will be a 13.2 percent compensation increase.
15. PostgreSQL
This object-relational database management system also known as Postgres can expect to see a 13 percent pay increase.
16. Django
Django is an open-source Web application development is expected to see a 12.8 percent pay increase.
17. Python
This general-purpose, high-level Web application development skill is used in conjunction with many other skills on this list including Hadoop. It is expected to see a 12.6 percent pay increase.
18. Mobile application development
It’s no surprise that there is a push towards mobile. In fact, many companies are switching to a mobile-first strategy which means that apps are in. With this skill, software engineers should expect to see a 12.6 percent compensation increase.
19. Angular.js
This development framework written in JavaScript is used most often for Web application development. IT professionals with this skill could see a 12.5 percent increase in pay.
20. RESTful Web services
This architectural style used for networked, hypermedia applications can see a 12.5 percent boost in pay.
Did we leave anything off the list? Comment below and let us know!