IOI
The IT industry is on the verge of a complete paradigm shift with the integration of new technologies, like cloud computing, virtualization, machine learning, and automation. As a result, the IT market is more competitive than ever.
If you’re in the IT field, or planning to be, then you’re likely familiar with the demand for your skills. Right now, demand for your skills is high. More than ever, employers are looking for talent that can quickly adapt to new technologies and methods of work. So how do you stand out from the crowd? One way is to provide your current employer with a clear understanding of the skills they need to fill those positions.
A CompTIA report suggests IT jobs that are most popular now are positions in software, IT support and systems engineering, in that order. Thanks to continued growth, cybersecurity and jobs with emerging technology are also hot.
Data scientist and data engineer
Data science has become more complex, broader and more involved, as it’s difficult for a single individual to possess all of the required knowledge,” Villanustre says. “Whether pursuing a career as a data analyst, a statistical modeler, or a data scientist — a subset of the two — there will be continuous career opportunities.”
Recruiters and hiring managers will have trouble placing these positions because of the expertise required, says Ken Underhill, master instructor at Cybrary.
According to some, the growth of data science and machine learning has led to a need for new jobs that accurately describe the work being done.
Network architect
Cielo’s Cassie Pike says that they’re struggling to fill two of their most difficult positions: network architects and administrators. They’ve also seen a surge in job postings since 2017.
As companies continue to invest in better, faster technology networks, employment within these functions is increasing year-over-year. However, candidates are increasingly leaning toward cybersecurity roles. Overall demand for tech workers is high,” she says.
Full-stack engineer
Users are increasingly demanding robust, app-like experiences from the web, which has led to a strong demand for front-end and back-end web developers – and even more for those who combine those skills as full-stack engineers.
Sencha’s Gautam Agrawal says “progressive web apps make the web experience more similar to native on mobile platforms. “It won’t be long before web becomes the preferred choice for mobile app development, especially in the enterprise, for the obvious benefits of cross-platform development.”
Having experience with open-source platforms is crucial, says Candace Murphy, IT recruiting manager at Addison Group. “Open source development is expanding to take the place of traditional platforms that require licensing fees.”
AI and deep learning engineer
With AI speeding up how we work with large quantities of data and turning it into actionable insights, this field is in need of new talent. Interest in areas like automated and autonomous driving is on the rise, so engineers with deep learning experience are hard to find.
According to Subbu Rama, CEO of Bitfusion, “AI and deep learning is in high demand with a very limited supply, and the pays are extremely good.” “It’s a great niche to work on.”
Those of you considering investing in a shift need not fear: Demand for engineers skilled in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning won’t wane anytime soon.
According to Villanustre, these positions will remain relevant for years to come as predictive analytics, deep learning, machine learning, and artificial intelligence become more mainstream.
In order to make a name for yourself, try to come up with solutions that apply deep learning to domains with little to no large amounts of data to model from.
As far as we know, it’s not clear how to build machine learning models with limited data, says Mehdi Samadi, CTO of Solvvy. “This is currently limiting the types of intelligent applications we expect to see in the near future.”
We must either find approaches to generate data or build more robust machine learning models that can learn from limited data. Transfer learning algorithms, or learning from the data of other domains to perform well in another domain, is a promising area for engineers.
IoT engineer
Companies are overwhelmed by data from IoT devices, much of which is unstructured, and they want to find ways to collect and make sense of that data in a timely manner.
Randstad vice president of recruiting Dino Grigorakakis says that the internet of things represents the future of technology. In addition to current and future opportunities, working as an IoT engineer often comes with competitive compensation, and experience with IoT will prepare candidates to move ahead within the information technology industry, even if they decide to move away from working directly with the internet of things.
Multi-cloud integrator
The CEO of Sensu, Caleb Hailey, suggests that companies that are adopting hybrid cloud environments are turning consultant roles into integrators, which we’ve previously identified as a highly-required skill.
It is becoming more complex every day to integrate otherwise loosely connected systems, which is why companies require skilled individuals who are capable of connecting them,” Hailey says.
“Even cloud-native thought leaders will admit there’s no magic bullet that can solve all problems. You still need the right tool for the job, and since cloud technologies are increasingly used across multiple platforms and providers, you’re looking for cloud integrators who can integrate them all together.”
Robotics and cryptocurrency engineer
Aside from more predictable roles like chief security officer, ON Partners partner John Barrett says demand has increased – and supply has fallen – for crypto engineering roles, and robot technology is rapidly evolving.
“CISOs have been in increasing demand for the past few years and have become more plentiful in the marketplace. However, these other new high-demand roles are very difficult to fill. For example, VPs of robotics engineering need to have knowledge of the development and production of automated equipment, [machine-to-machine], manufacturing operations and AI. And VPs of cryptocurrency need to have first-hand experience with know-your-customer and anti-money laundering regulations. The talent pools related to these two positions are still very small relative to the increasing demand,” he says.
VR/AR developer
Chief Product Officer for CA Technologies, Aymen Sayed, believes that VR and AR simulation and training will create opportunities for tech pros, which will result in more opportunities for AR and VR developers, both technically and in security.
It is important for companies to realize immense efficiencies and cost savings by using immersive enterprise apps, Sayed says. Gartner predicts that immersive solutions will comprise 20 percent of enterprises’ digital transformation strategies by 2020.
Using VR-based cybersecurity, Scott Chasin, former McAfee CTO, says security firms can both identify threats more accurately and recruit new analysts by giving them an immersive experience they are used to.
This will radically improve analyst response times and allow enterprises to bridge the talent gap by tapping into a new generation of analysts who are equipped with sensory-rich, immersive, and virtual environments.
Security analyst
According to Jeff Friess, cybersecurity practice leader at Global Executive Solutions Group, companies are so worried about cybersecurity breaches – which can cost them millions of dollars per incident – that there are many more open jobs than professionals to fill them.
“The United States is projected to have 2 million unfilled cybersecurity positions by 2020,” says Friess. “If companies struggle to hire cybersecurity talent, they are more vulnerable to hacking,” he adds.
Having a broad range of skills, he says, is crucial for security analysts who need to work in a variety of departments within the company. “They must think strategically about information security and have interpersonal skills to deal with stakeholders and board members.”
