Boston Web Tech Job Market | Q4 2014

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"Employment for technology professionals continues to thrive, yet this rising tide of job opportunities for tech pros has not lifted the prospects for all skillsets equally."

According to The Dice Report for September, 2014 demand for some technology skills is growing faster than for others.  Beantown Web takes an in-depth look at the demand for tech skills in the Boston area.

Boston Web Tech Job Market

The list of Top 25 Web Technologies in Boston has been updated for the fourth quarter. It appears in the right-hand column and below.  This list is based on keyword searches in job postings at Indeed.com. The most in-demand keywords are listed more frequently than less in-demand keywords.

Indeed.com is a meta-search engine that offers a maximum number of search possibilities.  All searches encompass a 25-mile radius of Boston.  Search parameters can be adjusted to fit your personal needs.

Top 25 Web Technologies in Boston

Here is an abbreviated list of the 25 most in-demand web technologies in Boston. [ or from early July ] listed by number of job postings at Indeed.com:

October, 2014

1. SQL | 4,310 11%
2. Java | 3,861 4%
3. agile *** | 2,787 17%
4. JavaScript | 2,614 23%
5. Oracle | 2,682 5%
6. Python | 2,062 4%
7. social media | 1,481 2%
8. C# | 1,349 1%
9. Web Services | 1,441 6%
10. SaaS | 1,299 4%
11. SQL Server | 1,265 5%
12. HTML + CSS | 1,248 25%
13. XML | 1,237 22%
14. UI | 1,162 7%
15. Perl | 1,098 18%
16. jQuery | 1,063 31%
17. scrum *** | 955 30%
18. MySQL | 939 15%
19. Ruby | 919 39%
20. PHP | 763 40%
21. HTML5 | 732 50%
22. UX | 727 11%
23. SharePoint | 690 4%
24. Android | 684 18%
    
25. Ajax | 670 7%

*** Note: While "agile" and "scrum" are not technologies, they are methodologies used in technology development.  These two  keywords appear in many web development job descriptions.  Experience with "agile" and "scrum" is often preferred, if not required, in many web development jobs.

Recommended Strategy

Select five technical skills in the Top 25 and focus on becoming proficient -- if not expert -- in each technology.  What are your top five technology skills?  What projects can you link to that demonstrate expertise in these technologies?  View a Smarterer Scorecard of my top technical and business skills.

Guard against being distracted by "shiny new object" skills that are not listed in the Top 25.  Without having solid core skills in high-demand technologies, you may not experience an optimum return-on-investment in terms of time and energy invested in becoming proficient at lower-demand technical skills.

Boston's Top 100 Web Technologies

An expanded version of this list -- Boston's Top 100 Web Technologies -- is being counted down for the next three months @webapprentices.

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