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Tech Industry Facing a Shortage of Skilled Employees
According to The CV Squad, although tech is the fastest-growing industry in the UK (twice that of the wider economy), 85% of hard-to-fill positions are difficult to recruit for because of a lack of specialist, technical skills, meaning employees with top skills are hard to find.
Tech City UK’s 2017 report found that tech workers get paid more and contribute more to the UK economy than any other industry. The CV Squad have explored the skill set needed to become in-demand of tech recruiters from within the fast-growing industry.
Top Technologies to Work in
A recent report by techUK reveals the top new technologies poised for growth in the next five years:
| TOP TECHNOLOGIES | |
| AREA OF TECH: | PREDICTED MARKET WORTH: |
| Internet of Things | £5.4tn by 2017 |
| Wearable technologies | £52.3bn by 2024 |
| Big data and data analytics | £24.2bn by 2017 |
| 5G and associated wireless technologies | 40-fold increase by 2018 |
| Robotics | £21.7bn by 2018 |
| Autonomous | £20.9bn by 2020 |
| Advanced manufacturing, building automation | £37bn by 2018 |
*All numbers converted from US$ to £ as per rates on 19 December 2017
The Most In-Demand Tech Skills
The world’s largest professional social network, LinkedIn, analysed the hiring activity that took place on the platform in 2016 to highlight the 10 top skills most likely to get you a new job in 2017.
The Most Employable Skills:
- Statistical Analysis and Data Mining
- Middleware and Integration Software
- HR Benefits and Compensation
- Web Architecture and Development Framework
- Mobile Development
- Perl, Python, Ruby
- SEO/SEM Marketing
- Network and Information Security
- Data Presentation
- Data Engineering and Data Warehouse
LinkedIn careers expert Catherine Fisher adds, “While some skills expire every couple of years, our data strongly suggests that tech skills will still be needed for years to come, in every industry.”
Upskilling to Stand Out
To stand out in an industry with such a highly skilled talent pool, employees should take the opportunity to upskill themselves in various prominent areas that are vital to the tech industry’s growth.
Easily Transferable Skills & Tools for Tech Industry Workers
The CV Squad analysed data to determine which skills and tools are easily transferable to the industry’s top jobs:
- Project management:PRINCE2, Agile, Scrum
2. IT service management (ITSM): ServiceNow, BMC Remedy
3. Research and analysis of big data: Tableau, NoSQL, and Apache Hadoop
4. Programming and coding: HTML5, SQL, JavaScript, C#, and Python
5. Sales: Oracle, Salesforce CRM
6. Content marketing: JSON, SEMrush, BuzzSumo, WordPress, Canva
7. UX design: SEO, HTML, CSS, Adobe Creative Suite, CMS knowledge (e.g. WordPress)
Don’t Neglect Soft Skills
Top organisations want to hire leaders – those who can speak confidently, listen well, make decisions based on critical analysis, and lead by example. But, unlike hard skills, which can be proven and measured, soft skills are intangible and difficult to quantify, so organisations are on the lookout for this rare combination of skills.
The Top Soft Skills:
- Deal-making and meeting skills
• Presentation and negotiation skills
• Communication skills
• Time management
• Analytical thinking
• Ergonomic sensitivity
• Empathy
• Leadership skills
• Teaching, mentoring and knowledge sharing
• Flexibility and adaptability
• Innovation and creativity
• Being a team player that can work well collaboratively
According to The CV Squad’s Justin Roach, who specialises in recruitment in the tech industry: “Aside from much-needed technical skills, recruiters and businesses are struggling to find technically skilled candidates with the soft skills to match. The sector too often focuses on the hyper-technical knowledge of this highly experienced group, and less so on communication and leadership skills. These soft skills are crucial when climbing the corporate ladder from a purely technical role to a more senior one – and since soft skills are learnt, not taught, they should be a focus for employees, businesses, and the tech industry at large.”
Article and Infographic by The CV Squad
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