Having the right skills is crucial to landing a job in the highly competitive and rapidly moving technology industry. Because of fierce competition within the tech market, candidates can’t merely skate by on skills from yesteryear (not if they expect high salaries and advancement within the industry).
Today, employers seek candidates with highly specialized tech talent. But how can employers know where candidates stand? Which tech skills are needed as we move into a new decade?
A recent Indeed Hiring Lab survey found that Kubernetes, Magento, and Verilog made the list of in-demand tech skills, along with programming languages like PHP, C, and Golang. For example, Kubernetes, an open-source cloud computing tool, experienced the fastest job search rate, according to Indeed, increasing 173 percent from the prior year.
On the other hand, other skills that may have previously been referred to as “hot” have fallen out of the top skills category, as technology continues to advance and market needs fluctuate. For example, in 2018, Spark was considered a top-ten tech skill, according to Indeed. However, over the last year, job searches for this skill decreased by 47 percent, causing it to fall from the in-demand skill list. Other skills that have stagnated or faded away include Hadoop, Tableau, and Ruby.
With demand growing for IT experts, employers can find top-rated talent through the implementation of pre-employment skills tests. By conducting pre-hire assessments, employers can conduct screenings for both hard and soft skills, confirming that the applicant has the cutting-edge skills needed for the job.
Let’s look at the top skills tests of the IT industry.
According to a recent LinkedIn study, tech skills dominate the list of the most in-demand hard skills for 2019. For example, the gold medalist on the list is cloud computing, with artificial intelligence coming in for the silver. Other tech skills rounding out the top ten include UX design and mobile application development.
These high-demand skills translate to high-demand jobs, such as information security analysts, software developers, and cybersecurity positions. For example, according to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, both information security analysts and software developers make the list for the fastest-growing jobs between 2018-2028. Additionally, according to a recent study by the Herjavec Group, by 2021, cybersecurity alone will produce 3.5 million jobs.
To be sure that you hire the best-qualified IT professionals to remain competitive in today’s market, you need to verify their skills beyond the resume or interview. Let’s look at some recommended skills assessment tests for your next IT job candidate.
Pre-employment skills tests can help you quickly identify the top IT candidates for your organization by objectively determining whether that candidate not only has the right skills to do (and succeed at) the job but also has the right personality and soft skills to succeed within your company. By garnering as much information as possible about a job candidate, employers can be more confident in their hiring decisions, making sure the candidate has what it takes to be successful.
For example, you can implement off-the-shelf tests, helping you assess skills such as Java developer, C# developer, or e-commerce project manager skills. You could also dive into skills analysis based on subject-matter, such as Microsoft Office® simulations or web development. Alternatively, you could design a company-specific or multi-subject test by combining questions on hardware, software, business intelligence, or logical thinking, to name a few.
By testing application-oriented, development, or operation skills, you can better identify job candidates having the skills needed to work and excel within the IT industry.
The right person in the proper role can make or break your company’s performance. With eSkill’s integrated approach for pre-employment assessment, you can get to know the IT candidate before you hire them. By implementing pre-employment assessments, you can test skills cognition and aptitudes accurately and completely, ensuring a candidate’s successful fit within your organization.
At eSkill, we offer the most extensive assessment catalog plus video interviewing on the market. For example, we offer:
With our quality predictive content and a perfect compliance record, eSkill can help you identify and evaluate candidates who have the right knowledge and experience to do the job, speeding your hiring decisions and getting you (and your candidate) to “yes.”
Request a demo and see how eSkill can help transform and innovate your recruiting.