2018 in Tech Recruitment – Our Take

To round up 2018 and to set the scene for 2019, our tech recruitment team sum up their year within the sector, and share what they see ahead for the coming year. Here, some insights from our pretty insightful bunch…

What are the top 3 skills / traits that are most in demand from clients seeking the best tech talent?

Joe Mawson:

From a technical point of view our most common requirements have heavily featured React, Node, Angular, PHP, Laravel, AWS, Java, .Net and Python.

I think we’d say the 3 main attributes are:

• Adaptability – a polyglot developer, able to pick up a wide range of tech as required without getting too attached to a specific language.
• Passion – a genuine interest and drive to learn, maybe a contributor to open source communities or tech meetups, a hunger to consume new tech.
• Communication – a team player, able to help others (technical and non-technical), able to work well with clients if needed and not afraid to ask for help.

In terms of innovation, how did you see tech jobs evolve during 2018 and what are your predictions for the coming year?

Mike Harley:

As 2018 unfolded, we saw a real resurgence in Java and Python based opportunities. In addition, we saw a spike in DevOps vacancies (mix of AWS, Azure and GCP) as well as functional programming (including Scala, Clojure and Elixir). Remote and more flexible working certainly became more common as many of our clients sought to improve diversity in their workplaces.

In 2019, we suspect that we’re likely to see the continued rise of Golang, AR, VR, IoT, Scala, Data Science, React Native and Kotlin amongst others. As the skills shortage increases, we’re hoping that businesses will be more proactive in training/developing young talent and career-changers to plug the gap. Many of our clients have trialed remote working, 9 day working fortnights and unlimited holiday offerings to get ahead of the competition in securing top talent.

What are your tips for candidates to ensure that their knowledge remains top-notch for 2019 in the technology industry?

George Cumberlidge:

The South-West has the highest number of tech meetups outside of London, so there’s no shortage in excellent local events, hacks and tech talks to choose from to keep your knowledge current and share ideas with others. There are a ton of great tech sites to check in on too, we like TechWorld, TechCrunch, The Verge, Reddit and TechRadar. StackOverflow and Github are two of many communities where you can always get help on technical problems and there’s a whole host of online training sites/forums such as CodeAcademy, Udemy, Lynda.com and others.

What would you say are some common misconceptions about working in the tech industry and how can we ensure that people are correctly informed?

Ellen Davies:

There’s a few actually. Firstly that everyone in tech is uncomfortably nerdy! That’s definitely not what we find. Whether you’re an introvert or extrovert you can always find a good home as long as you love what you do.

It’s not a misconception to say that there’s a diversity problem within the industry but it’s fair to say that more businesses are now addressing this and funding initiatives to make a positive change. We’ve had a busy year running workshops, CV surgeries and talking at events on the issue, doing our best to educate clients and advise as to how to be more open and attractive as an employer.

It’s quite common to dismiss an opportunity if the sector/market of the company doesn’t look wildly exciting from the outside. Many blue-chip, software houses and corporate firms are surprising candidates with their innovative use of cutting-edge tech; it’s always good to keep an open mind and get in to see what they have to offer.