If you are looking to launch into the tech space or looking for tech skills to learn to kickstart your journey, you are in the right place. We would provide you with 10 in-demand tech skills to start in the digital space.
There is no doubt that there are opportunities in the tech space.
Several skills have been identified as in-demand skills, especially since post Covid period.
A survey carried out by Udemy identified that technical skills were of top priority in 2020.
Moreover, the context of technology is comprehensive, and it can be taken from different angles.
But there are some tech areas where demand has been rising.
And employers are looking for skilled talents to employ to fill up the roles.
In this article, we would consider some tech skills to start as a tech professional and some digital tools to kick start your journey into the world of technology.
First, let’s look into the definition of tech skills.
What is tech skills?
Tech skills are necessary talents or expertise to perform a given task or job in the tech space.
They are specialised skills that help you achieve expertise in a particular field.
If you plan to land a dream job in the tech industry, these tech skills are fundamental.
Tech is a broad industry with many exciting roles that employers are looking to hire for.
If you have these skills, you are ready to soar in the industry.
Some of the roles you can use the skill include analytics, research engineering, cybersecurity, information technology and many others.
We will be discussing some of these skills that are in demand in the tech space.
10 In-demand Skills to break into the tech industry
Below are 10 in-demand skills with tech tools to start in the digital space.
However, you should know that the list doesn’t come in any chronological order.
1. Social media
If you want to enter the tech space, one skill you can learn from your convenience is Social media.
New businesses are generated every day, and they are looking for how they can grow and sell their products.
With everyone on online platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and others, brands are looking to utilise these platforms to grow their business.
Social media platforms are the best form of PR and marketing.
However, to utilise the platforms effectively, you need to be skilled in social media.
To manage, build and generate the conversion for your brand.
Often people with this skill are referred to as community managers or social media managers.
They play the role of the voice of the brand.
And they are trusted with the official social media account of a brand to monitor, filter, execute, manage and measure.
The role of a social media manager is vital for persons, products, brands, businesses.
If you want to start in the tech space by being a social media manager, you can start with the following digital tools.
Canvas: You can create posts through the designing platform.
Buzzsumo: It is a content research tool that helps you to see what is trending online.
Hootsuite: The tool helps you to manage several social media contents from the streams of social platforms.
Sprout Socials: They help you to reschedule and repost content for you on days when ideas are not forthcoming.
2. Programming (Web and App development)
Web and app development is one skill that has a bigfooting in the tech industry.
LinkedIn recorded it as one of the top ten most demanded skills in 2021.
Technology is the use of knowledge and science to solve problems and make life easy and better.
And so many people are creating apps and web programs that can make life easier and better.
Programming and coding is one emergence of technology that has hooked the manufacturing and service industry.
Companies are looking for how to hire for roles to build their apps and create solutions for the world.
However, even with the apps, things are a lot better, especially with users experience.
Companies are now integrating AI’sinto this app.
AI is the use of machines to learn from human experience and perform human tasks through data processing.
Companies now require coders to write codes that would enable scalable data sharing.
AI helps to redefine and reshape how businesses run.
Infact in years to come, machines would be able to do so much like humans.
Venturing into this part of tech, you will need tech skills like programming and coding to hit the hot demand of the market.
Here are some programming tools you can begin to practice and learn.
They include R and Python, C++, Java and many more
3. UI/UX design
One constant thing with websites, apps and digital platforms is that they come with an interface.
Most companies engage with talent with this skill because they use their creativity and analytic to build the users experience on their platforms.
And this makes it one of the in-demand skills you should learn to start in tech.
Many tend to mix User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX), mainly because they sound alike.
However, User Interface is different from User experience, although they fall under the same category.
A User Interface professional designs the interface of a website, making it visually appealing to the users and easy for them to navigate through.
While a User experience professional goes through testing of how users interact with the website.
The UX designer considers every element of the websites and sees how the users interact with them.
If you are looking to learn digital skills that are creative and analytical, UI/UX is the skill that offers both.
Although many offer the service as a whole while others stand by one of the expertise.
A person can be a UX designer or a UI designer; also, another person can be both a UI/UX designer.
You should learn the skill if you are interested in the public feel and look of a product.
Some tech tools to use in starting as a UI/UX designer includes Adobe Illustrator, Sketch, Figma, Zeplin and many others
4. Project/Product Management
Starting in the tech space, one of the easy tech roles you can get in 2021 is being a project manager.
They are in charge of managing a team to achieve a specific goal or deadline.
Product and project management are helpful in many organisations setups.
Examples are a consultancy, information technologist, engineering and many others.
Project management skills are desirable skills because it means you are versatile.
Interestingly, tech has made functioning in the skill better.
There are project management tools that would help you to visualise your team project and manage it.
They include; flow Project. Trello., Asana., Zoho Projects., Wrike, Monday.com.
Projects could require a checklist, assigning tasks, setting deadlines, time tracking and many more.
5. Digital marketing
Many companies are looking for what to how to promote their products and accelerate their business online.
With a tech skill like digital marketing, you can help businesses promote themselves online and reach their target audience.
The space of digital marketing is vast.
Under digital marketing, we have social media marketing, content marketing, SEO, analytics tools and many others.
Digital marketing is an in-demand skill because everyone is looking for a way to take their businesses online.
And use the available tools online to push their product or service to the right audience.
To start as a digital marketer, you need to upskill yourself by taking courses online.
Google has been offering a free course online for digital marketing, and you can get certified.
Asides, other professional websites would guide you to a great start as an expert in digital marketing.
This would enable you to use tools and techniques that would help build strategies and plans for businesses online.
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6. Internet of Things (IoT)
IoT encompasses everything that has to do with the internet.
As a result, in Covid-19, the internet penetration has taken a skydive.
Many businesses are now launching an Ios project.
In the US, 79% of businesses launched new projects on Ios.
Also, according to another report, 92% of US companies became successful due to Ios.
With this, many businesses all over the world would be looking to leverage such a trend.
The adoption of Ios changes the way businesses behave.
It changes how competitive they are, their operation and investment choice.
You should consider a job role in this space.
One person’s career role that has progressed with Ios is cyber security.
In the UK and California, legislation was released to make Ios devices safer.
With many people working remotely, there is a higher risk of them being attacked by cyber ware.
And so cybersecurity that focuses on this aspect of Ios are in-demand.
So it would be better to upskill in IoT, as it is a rising tech skill.
With the best tech remote working tips, you can efficiently work better and quicker.
7. Cloud computing/ AWS
More companies are now switching from the shared platform’s solutions or platforms to Cloud-based solutions.
They are building products and services under Cloud, leading to the demand for cloud computing skills.
One of the Cloud-based platforms includes Amazon.
Amazon offers a web Cloud service named Amazon Web Services (AWS).
And it features over 100 online services in its package.
Some of which includes data storing, networking, and many others.
If you want to go big into Cloud computing, start by learning AWS.
This is because it gives you a more considerable advantage in the market.
And if you are looking to earn more in roles that involve Cloud computing, you should upskill for AWS.
Some AWS specialist includes software engineers, system administration and others.
Those who are certified AWS specialists earn better than non-certified professionals.
Some other skills and tools to learn under Cloud computing are Java, Linux, Docker, LaaS.
You can also take courses online to build your skill. Check out sites like Coursera.
8. Data Science & Analytics
Although a person could be skilled in both, they are two different in-demand skills in the tech industry.
Data analytics is the processing, storing, and managing data to gain insight into a subject matter.
Many businesses use data analytics to know where their numbers are coming from.
A.nd generally preview how their product or service is doing out there.
They use data to find out more information.
A person who does this is a data analyst.
Some of the job roles that require a data analyst in the tech space include data engineers, data analytics consultants and others.
Data science is the mixture of two or more different fields. Some of which includes maths, science, data engineering, visualisations and many others.
A data science skill can be incorporate machine learning, big data, data mining.
Also, you can function in roles like data scientist, statistician, machine learning engineer and others.
The two skills are consistently in demand, especially in the data space.
Industries like manufacturing, professional, services, banking are online looking for information about a service or product.
You can check online platforms for courses and videos that can guide you more in this skill.
9. Network and Information Security (cybersecurity)
As more people are expanding into tech, there has been a rise in cyber security issues.
We use data in our day to day activities.
And many companies need data to predict customers’ behaviour and generally improve their business.
Companies that collect their customers’ data know how sensitive it is, and keeping it secured is essential.
People skilled in network and information security help to protect people’s information against cyber issues.
Cyber issues could affect not just the database of customers but could affect sensitive information about an organisation.
So many big companies with a sensitive database of people have been hacked.
An instance is when companies like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and many others got hacked.
Rather than waiting for it to happen, most companies are looking for those skilled with network and information security to help safeguard their system.
Unfortunately for companies, there is a shortage of people trained in network and information security.
And fortunately for you, there is a gap in the market for you to fill.
There are online courses, training, and books to get started as a cybersecurity expert.
10. Artificial Intelligeance
Artificial intelligence is gaining ground in our society as companies and businesses are leveraging it.
And it is interesting how many businesses have now integrated AI into their system to make things simple and faster.
We now have self-driving cars, robots that can help out with services, integrations that enable hand-free like Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant and other digital personal assistants.
If you are looking to learn any digital skill in 2021 and years to come, this is one skill you should consider.
Simply put, AI uses machines to learn from human experience and perform human tasks through data processing.
It is the science behind creating systems and machines that learn from human experience and emulates it.
In broad terms, it deals with how robots and machines can process, think, learn, and speak like humans by instilling human intelligence.
It is a skill that encompasses many other skills.
Skills like; machine learning, expert systems, data mining or data scientist, and others.
To start as an AI expert, you need to know these top intertwined skills.
Let’s talk briefly about them.
Machine learning is the method of training machines and systems to recognise human patterns and perform tasks the way we do.
Computer programming and fundamentals: This skill involves having in-depth knowledge about computer software which would help you understand the working structure of the system.
Robotic science: This skill involves building robots that can perform tasks like humans with commands from human programming.
Data Scientist: It is a skill that involves a person collecting and analysing data through the use of Machine learning.
Research scientist: A person with research science skills is knowledgeable about the different fields in Artificial intelligence.
Then the person applies the knowledge to analysing information, making hypotheses, collecting data, and interpreting results, using practical and theoretical means.
Having these skills can make you qualified as an AI expert.
Implication for you reading
As you can see, it is no biggie starting in the tech space.
All you need is the necessary and in-demand skills
In which, most can be learnt and adopted into the system of the world.
So, leverage these 10 In-Demand Tech Skills To Start In The Digital Space listed above.
Also, with the tech tools alongside the skills.
Then you are on the right way to becoming a tech specialist in any of the fields.
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