What Skills Are Most Valuable To An Employer?

Well for starters, skills aren't everything. For an entry level job, employers aren't going to expect high proficiency in certain IT skills, someone applying for that type of job is likely to have very minimal exposure at best. Being able to show that you're an independent and quick learner, a good communicator and team player is just as important. If anything, examples of applying teamwork or having a list of projects that you've worked on and being able to talk about them to an interviewer will get you a long way, far more so than just listing a ton of skills on the CV and not relating them to anything.

An example of a popular way of entering this industry is writing an android application or creating websites for clients, friends & family. You will be expected to be able to talk about the processes and technologies involved, such as comparing technologies, why you believed technology X was right for the job. How did you deal with your customer? How smooth was the delivery? Etc.

If I had to say a few skills which are good to have nowadays... The number of asterisks out of 5 represent how much I think the skill will benefit you or increases your chances of being successfully offered an entry level / junior role (basically try and hit as many of these as you can and you wouldn't be far off securing a job)

- I would say having a basic understanding of Agile methodologies such as Scrum and Kanban would be impressive and would be a quick win in an interview. *****
- Javascript is also rising in popularity and a familiarity with AngularJS and backboneJS would be beneficial **
- Knowledge-of and being able to use Linux is also a quick win. ***
- Familiarity with at least one scripting language ***
- Familiarity with at least one unit testing framework *****
- Familiarity with at least one integration testing framework ****
- Understanding of software architectures, multi-tier, RESTful, Cloud based, client-server, peer to peer. **
- Basic computer science knowledge (not uncommon for interview questions to ask you to implement a sorting algorithm) ***
- Familiarity with one database management system. Popular ones are MySQL & Oracle *****
- Familiarity with the commonly used protocols: UDP/TCP/IP/HTTP/ ***
- Be able to use Regex ****
- Know what MVC stands for / means (I know many people who have failed interviews for being unable to answer this basic question) *****
- Know what 'Object Oriented Programming' is. Coherence vs separation of concerns, etc. *****
- Basic idea of how to write 'clean code'. i.e, Refactoring techniques, readability, reusability ****
- Understanding of Dependency Injection **
- Understanding of how to use an API ****
- Understanding of how to manipulate JSON or XML ****
- Awareness / Understanding of Extreme Programming principles such as TDD, Pair Programming, Continuous integration, Refactoring, Planning Games *****

In no way does an employer expect you to be a master of any/all of these skills (you'll pick them up as you work, don't worry). What I'm saying is, a familiarity with these skills and being able to talk about them is already a massive boost over other entry level candidates. The best part? Other than the javascript/scripting skill which takes a lot of time, they're pretty easy to understand given a little bit of home googling. Quick wins and sure way to get yourself into the industry if I say so myself

Well for starters, skills aren't everything. For an entry level job, employers aren't going to expect high proficiency in certain IT skills, someone applying for that type of job is likely to have very minimal exposure at best. Being able to show that you're an independent and quick learner, a good communicator and team player is just as important. If anything, examples of applying teamwork or having a list of projects that you've worked on and being able to talk about them to an interviewer will get you a long way, far more so than just listing a ton of skills on the CV and not relating them to anything.

An example of a popular way of entering this industry is writing an android application or creating websites for clients, friends & family. You will be expected to be able to talk about the processes and technologies involved, such as comparing technologies, why you believed technology X was right for the job. How did you deal with your customer? How smooth was the delivery? Etc.

If I had to say a few skills which are good to have nowadays... The number of asterisks out of 5 represent how much I think the skill will benefit you or increases your chances of being successfully offered an entry level / junior role (basically try and hit as many of these as you can and you wouldn't be far off securing a job)

- I would say having a basic understanding of Agile methodologies such as Scrum and Kanban would be impressive and would be a quick win in an interview. *****
- Javascript is also rising in popularity and a familiarity with AngularJS and backboneJS would be beneficial **
- Knowledge-of and being able to use Linux is also a quick win. ***
- Familiarity with at least one scripting language ***
- Familiarity with at least one unit testing framework *****
- Familiarity with at least one integration testing framework ****
- Understanding of software architectures, multi-tier, RESTful, Cloud based, client-server, peer to peer. **
- Basic computer science knowledge (not uncommon for interview questions to ask you to implement a sorting algorithm) ***
- Familiarity with one database management system. Popular ones are MySQL & Oracle *****
- Familiarity with the commonly used protocols: UDP/TCP/IP/HTTP/ ***
- Be able to use Regex ****
- Know what MVC stands for / means (I know many people who have failed interviews for being unable to answer this basic question) *****
- Know what 'Object Oriented Programming' is. Coherence vs separation of concerns, etc. *****
- Basic idea of how to write 'clean code'. i.e, Refactoring techniques, readability, reusability ****
- Understanding of Dependency Injection **
- Understanding of how to use an API ****
- Understanding of how to manipulate JSON or XML ****
- Awareness / Understanding of Extreme Programming principles such as TDD, Pair Programming, Continuous integration, Refactoring, Planning Games *****

In no way does an employer expect you to be a master of any/all of these skills (you'll pick them up as you work, don't worry). What I'm saying is, a familiarity with these skills and being able to talk about them is already a massive boost over other entry level candidates. The best part? Other than the javascript/scripting skill which takes a lot of time, they're pretty easy to understand given a little bit of home googling. Quick wins and sure way to get yourself into the industry if I say so myself

Well for starters, skills aren't everything. For an entry level job, employers aren't going to expect high proficiency in certain IT skills, someone applying for that type of job is likely to have very minimal exposure at best. Being able to show that you're an independent and quick learner, a good communicator and team player is just as important. If anything, examples of applying teamwork or having a list of projects that you've worked on and being able to talk about them to an interviewer will get you a long way, far more so than just listing a ton of skills on the CV and not relating them to anything.

An example of a popular way of entering this industry is writing an android application or creating websites for clients, friends & family. You will be expected to be able to talk about the processes and technologies involved, such as comparing technologies, why you believed technology X was right for the job. How did you deal with your customer? How smooth was the delivery? Etc.

If I had to say a few skills which are good to have nowadays... The number of asterisks out of 5 represent how much I think the skill will benefit you or increases your chances of being successfully offered an entry level / junior role (basically try and hit as many of these as you can and you wouldn't be far off securing a job)

- I would say having a basic understanding of Agile methodologies such as Scrum and Kanban would be impressive and would be a quick win in an interview. *****
- Javascript is also rising in popularity and a familiarity with AngularJS and backboneJS would be beneficial **
- Knowledge-of and being able to use Linux is also a quick win. ***
- Familiarity with at least one scripting language ***
- Familiarity with at least one unit testing framework *****
- Familiarity with at least one integration testing framework ****
- Understanding of software architectures, multi-tier, RESTful, Cloud based, client-server, peer to peer. **
- Basic computer science knowledge (not uncommon for interview questions to ask you to implement a sorting algorithm) ***
- Familiarity with one database management system. Popular ones are MySQL & Oracle *****
- Familiarity with the commonly used protocols: UDP/TCP/IP/HTTP/ ***
- Be able to use Regex ****
- Know what MVC stands for / means (I know many people who have failed interviews for being unable to answer this basic question) *****
- Know what 'Object Oriented Programming' is. Coherence vs separation of concerns, etc. *****
- Basic idea of how to write 'clean code'. i.e, Refactoring techniques, readability, reusability ****
- Understanding of Dependency Injection **
- Understanding of how to use an API ****
- Understanding of how to manipulate JSON or XML ****
- Awareness / Understanding of Extreme Programming principles such as TDD, Pair Programming, Continuous integration, Refactoring, Planning Games *****

In no way does an employer expect you to be a master of any/all of these skills (you'll pick them up as you work, don't worry). What I'm saying is, a familiarity with these skills and being able to talk about them is already a massive boost over other entry level candidates. The best part? Other than the javascript/scripting skill which takes a lot of time, they're pretty easy to understand given a little bit of home googling. Quick wins and sure way to get yourself into the industry if I say so myself

Hi i just finished my a-levels and i have to apply to university for next year and i'm thinking of doing Computer Science. Please tell me they teach you that stuff on the list at uni?
Any websites, tips, books, videos, online courses or advice on how i can check those things on that list off, or in general, anything i can do out side uni so that I can be more employable within the next 4/5 years after i god willing finish my computer science degree and start looking for work? From what i hear, they really don't teach you much programming at university unless you go somewhere like Cambridge/Imperial Please reply, from a teen who ain't got a clue about anything career related...

By the way, what is it you do btw? Work/study? and where? (if you don't mind sharing that info of-course).

Thank you!

Hi i just finished my a-levels and i have to apply to university for next year and i'm thinking of doing Computer Science. Please tell me they teach you that stuff on the list at uni?
Any websites, tips, books, videos, online courses or advice on how i can check those things on that list off, or in general, anything i can do out side uni so that I can be more employable within the next 4/5 years after i god willing finish my computer science degree and start looking for work? From what i hear, they really don't teach you much programming at university unless you go somewhere like Cambridge/Imperial Please reply, from a teen who ain't got a clue about anything career related...

By the way, what is it you do btw? Work/study? and where? (if you don't mind sharing that info of-course).

Thank you!