Boston Web Tech Job Market | Q1 2016

All Systems Go.  The job market in the New Year continues on an upward trajectory.

~  The unemployment rate dipped below five percent for the first time in nearly eight years.
~  A record 78 percent of hiring managers anticipate more hiring in the first half of 2016 compared to the second half of 2015.
~ Software developers and security talent continue to be in high demand.

Beantown Web's quarterly Boston Web Tech Job Market analysis confirms that demand, especially for web technology workers, continues to expand.

Boston Web Tech Job Market

The list of Top 25 Web Technologies in Boston has been updated for the first 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.  Indeed helps more people get hired than any other job site.

Top 25 Web Technologies in Boston

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

February, 2016

1. SQL | 6,051 2%
2. Java | 4,342 9%
3. agile *** | 3,935 6%
4. JavaScript | 3,337 7%
5. Oracle | 2,724 2%
6. Python | 2,539 9%
7. social media | 2,219 0%
8. SaaS | 1,775 7%
9. iOS | 1,755 12%
10. Web Services | 1,668 0%
11. C# | 1,654 3%
12. HTML + CSS | 1,568 12%
13. SQL Server | 1,469 2%
14. UI | 1,310 9%
15. Android | 1,298 10%
16. XML | 1,256 1%
17. jQuery | 1,243 4%
18. scrum *** | 1,177 2%
19. Ruby | 1,133 14%
20. MySQL | 1,119 11%
21. AWS | 1,111 19%
22. Perl | 1,075 3%
23. Git | 976 7%
24. PHP | 973 15%
25. UX | 714 14%

*** 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.

Supply vs. Demand

This market research only looks at the demand side of the equation.   Dice.com has analyzed the supply side and reported its findings in What's Hot (and Not) in Tech Skills.  Of the Top 25 skills listed here (demand only), Dice reveals that the two skills that are rated HOT (greatest demand vs. supply imbalance) are as follows:

~ Python | 2,539 9%

~ Git | 976 7%

If you are competent in these skills, employers will come knocking on your door.

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?

• ________________________
• ________________________
• ________________________
• ________________________
• ________________________

List three links to projects that demonstrate your proficiency in these technologies?

• ________________________
• ________________________
• ________________________

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.

To help you develop your technical skills consider joining Boston PHP Meetup and participating in one of the following virtual self-study groups:

jQuery jAM, Season 6
HTML5 Brunch, Season 6
PHP Percolate, Season 8
Drupal Diner, Season 2

[ Full Disclosure: The author of this blog is one of the co-organizers of Boston PHP Meetup. ]

Boston's Top 100 Web Technologies

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

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