Much of the growth in the U.S. economy over the past year has been due to gains in the technology sector, a trend that was reflected in PayScale’s worker survey data. Of the 10 fastest growing jobs in our crowdsourced salary data, half were in technology professions. We saw the largest increase in full stack software developers in 2018, with a 572 percent increase in respondents compared to 2017. There is intense demand for highly skilled tech workers across industries.
How do you begin looking for a career in the modern tech industry? The task can seem daunting at first, given the vast range of relevant technologies to learn, from public and private cloud platforms to JavaScript- (MEAN) and Linux-oriented (LAMP) development stacks. In their posting, some positions will require years of knowledge across multiple niche technical realms.
Starting in the early 2000s, the term DevOps - a portmanteau of "development" and "operations" - became common lingo within many IT departments, software startup teams and vendor marketing materials. Numerous pieces of software and hardware have since been branded with the DevOps label, but in reality DevOps refers to a set of collaborative practices rather than a specific assortment of technical tools.
Selecting an IT certification for your career can be like trying to pick out a new pair of shoes from the many options available in a shoe warehouse. Where do you start? How do you narrow down the range of acceptable choices?
Developers remain in high demand, but employers are often choosy about who they hire. While years of experience and demonstrated competency can get you noticed by recruiters, industry certifications are an easy step that can help you stand out from other candidates.