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What five technical skills are employers seeking? What five soft skills put you on top?

• By diesal9
• November 11, 2014
• No Comments

Ask yourself, do I have the skills to be a strong applicant in this competitive IT industry? If you said yes to that question, then what are the skills you have that make you strong? If you are unsure then you will find some of your answers here. Moreover, the skills we have can come from many different sources. For example, training can come from formal education, informal training or self-taught. We need these skills in order to perform tasks for someone that will pay us for them. Did you know skills can be hard, soft or both? Well, this paper gives examples of the top five hard skills, the top five soft skills and mentions a few things to help you achieve those skills.

According to BusiessDictonary.com  (2014) a technical skill is “a skill that is required for accomplishment of a specific task. In other words, hard skills are skills you need to do your job effectively”. There are many technical hard skills in demand in today’s IT world. The analysis of the top five hard skills here is based on the results from the 2014 IT Skills and Salary Survey conducted by various organizations like Foote Research, Global Knowledge, Robert Half Technology and Dice. The survey aggregates all of the collected data and based on the demand and salary, a top ten list was produced. Again we will only cover five here.

The first hard skill to have should be obvious; programming skills. The data extracted from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that programmers have one of the lowest unemployment rates at 1.8 percent. Although outsourcing has plagued programmers over the recent decade, people are bringing development work back in-house. The greatest trend right now is mobile apps. Smart phones and tablet use is still on the rise. Companies are very interested in mobile application development because of how easy it is to extend their customer reach.

The second hard skill to have may also be obvious; networking skills. In some of the results from the 2014 IT Skills and Salary Survey, networking skills were ranked number one. The world is getting smaller by the minute directly because of networking and companies need people to design, maintain and implement the infrastructure. In addition to running traditional hard wire cabling, the advent of wireless networking has never been easier and the demand has never been more important. Networking professionals also have a low unemployment rate too. It is even lower than the programmer’s rate at 1.1 percent.

The third hard skill to have is database administration skills. There is a huge interest in Big Data and what information can be mined from it. In today’s world there is more data than ever. For example, social media has tons of information to offer. Companies are using the data to analyze how to target existing customers and new customers more effectively. If you can gather data from multiple sources, compile some analysis and report it you are in high demand.

The fourth hard skill to have is security skills. Attacks on the IT infrastructure never stop. Employers need people that can help protect their treasured data. This is the most challenging skill to maintain because the security environment changes so rapidly. What may protect you today may not protect you tomorrow. Not one organization wants to be in the headlines for a security breach. It hurts their integrity and trustworthiness.

The fifth and last hard skill to be mentioned is not necessarily an IT skill. Project management skills are on the rise. As we get smarter with our use of technology, the more complex things are getting. Employers need people who can gather requirements, prioritize tasks, communicate between clients and developers and keep projects on schedule. Project managers are so important because they help keep things on or under budget. A project that is even one day late can cause a company to at least lose its repeat business. Losing clients is not in the interest of any prosperous company, they want to continue to grow month after month.

In addition, your hard skills get you in the door but, it is the soft skills that keep you employed or open new doors to other employment opportunities. According to Kate Lorenz  (2014) “soft skills refer to a cluster of personal qualities, habits, attitudes and social graces that make someone a good employee and compatible to work with”. For example, most employers are looking for what you can do beyond your education that will make them successful.

Moreover, soft skills are how hard you work, your punctuality, your attitude, your skills to communicate, how you solve problems and more. As important as soft skills are it is really interesting to find out that soft skills training does not get as much attention as with hard skills. It seems like employers assume an unwritten rule that people have developed these soft skill on their own. “They tend to assume that everyone knows and understands the importance of being on time, taking initiative, being friendly, and producing quality work” (Mind Tools, 2011). The purpose of this paper is not to discuss what is called the “soft skills gap” but, you should be aware that it exists. Furthermore, there are many soft skills to make yourself as marketable as possible. We will cover the most important five as reported by a survey compiled by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

The most important soft skill according to the NACE (2013) is the “ability to work in a team structure”. The ability to work in a team starts from when you were taught to share in elementary school. Employers are looking for people that can not only meet deadlines but, be a leader this week and a follower the next week. They want people that can collaborate with their team members as well as members from other teams. According to Randall and Katherine Hansen (2012), “so many jobs involve working in one or more work-groups, you must have the ability to work with others in a professional manner while attempting to achieve a common goal”.

The second most important soft skill to have according to the NACE (2013) is the “ability to make decisions and solve problems”. The first chance you get to prove you have this skill is in the job interview. During an interview you may be asked about how you solved a complex problem. They are trying to find out if you can solve problems using creativity and out-of-the-box thinking. Furthermore, it is nice if you can give detail about what resources you used or how past experiences helped you. It boils down to, can you need to demonstrate the ability to be given a complex problem and come up with a useable solution.

The third most important soft skill to have according to the NACE (2013) is the “ability to plan, organize and prioritize work”. Employers want people that can be given a task, then fill in the gaps of what needs to be done and complete it on time. That work may consist of developing your own designs or other things to aid in completing the tasks. In addition, you may also have to come up with a plan and organize your workday and/or workweek. Some people suggest setting small goals to get many small wins (known as shortest job first queuing to computer scientists) towards the end result and eventually finish versus trying to take on the project as a whole. Asking yourself simple questions like; what can I get done today are characteristics of a good planner/organizer.

The fourth most important soft skill to have according to the NACE (2013) is the “ability to verbally communicate with persons inside and outside the organization”. This soft skill may sound familiar. Remember the first most important skill, teamwork. The ability to communicate compliments teamwork. You may work well in the team but are your ideas conveyed clearly to others. It does not mean you have to be an award winning author. It means that when people read what you write or hear what you have to say, they can interpret it and act upon it if necessary. This soft skill is critical to have a successful career.

The last of the most important soft skill to have according to the NACE (2013) is the “ability to obtain and process information”. Say you have two data sources sitting out there. By themselves, they mean nothing but together you may be able to glean important information from it. Employers need people that can figure out different ways to interpret data not just collect it. For example, let’s say the two data sources have to do with billing. You notice that one source is missing data and they have been overpaying their contractors. You could save the company tons of money in this case which may have gone undetected for who knows how long.

In conclusion, you should understand by now skills can be hard or soft. The most important hard skills are programming skills, networking skills, database skills, security skills and project management skills. The most important soft skills are the ability to work in a team structure, the ability to make decisions and solve problems, the ability to plan, organize and prioritize work, the ability to communicate with persons inside and outside the organization and obtain and process information. If you have all of these skills you should never go unemployed. Remember, hard skills get you in the door but, it is the soft skills that keep you there.

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References

BusinessDictionary.com. (2014, May 21). BusinessDictionary.com. Retrieved from technical skill: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/technical-skills.html

Doyle, A. (2014, June 29). Ask.com Career Advice. Retrieved from Top 7 Skills Employers Seek in Job Applicants: http://jobsearch.about.com/od/list/fl/skills-employers-seeks.htm

Hansen, R. S., & Hansen, K. (2012, August 20). Quintessential Careers. Retrieved from What Do Employers Really Want? Top Skills and Values Employers Seek from Job-Seekers: http://www.quintcareers.com/job_skills_values.html

Lorenz, K. (2014, April 8). AOL Jobs. Retrieved from Top 10 Soft Skills for Job Hunters: http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2009/01/26/top-10-soft-skills-for-job-hunters/

Marsan, C. D. (2009, March 30). Network World. Retrieved from Top 10 technology skills: http://www.networkworld.com/article/2265132/email-services/top-10-technology-skills.html

Mind Tools. (2011, November 26). Mind Tools. Retrieved from Why Soft Skills Matter: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCDV_34.htm

National Association of Colleges and Employers. (2013, October 2). National Association of Colleges and Employers. Retrieved from Job Outlook: The Candidate Skills/Qualities Employers Want: http://www.naceweb.org/s10022013/job-outlook-skills-quality.aspx

Rouse, M. (2014 , January 22). Search CIO. Retrieved from soft skills: http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/soft-skills

Simoneau, P. (2014, February 15). Global Knowledge. Retrieved from The Top Ten IT Skills for 2014: http://www.globalknowledge.com/training/generic.asp?pageid=3635

Top 5 Job Skills Image – http://bancannguyen.com/portfolio/top-5-job-skills

Job Outlook Image – http://www.naceweb.org/s10022013/job-outlook-skills-quality.aspx