10 of the Hottest IoT Skills
There is a steady uptick in job postings related to the Internet of Things.
January 31, 2017
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While Apple designed Swift to be less prone to problems with sloppy coding than Objective C, classic programming languages like C, C++, and Java are staples in many IoT-related job listings. Swift programming was among the most in-demand skills of 2016, according to Upwork. Swift can be used for an array of Internet of Things applications and the topic of Swift-driven IoT applications for the was the subject of a 2016 book from Ahmed Bakir, Manny de la Torriente, and Gheorghe Chesler.
Voice-based virtual assistants are going mainstream and, earlier this year, Amazon’s Alexa began to pop up on a growing number of devices, ranging from cars to consumer-facing appliances. Only recently, Starbucks announced that it would begin allowing customers to order via voice using the company’s app. As a result of this surge in such applications, Upwork deemed natural language processing to be the single hottest new skill on its site last year.
Thanks to the IoT, it is never been easier to collect data from objects. But that is a double-edged sword. It has never been harder to make sense of that data. For this reason, Tableau Software’s tools for data visualization and business intelligence are gaining ground in the IoT, as are demand for people who are expert in their tools. MySQL, OBIEE, and S3 are also popular tools.
Many companies with IoT projects continue to look for data scientists and related titles. Popular tools linked to data science include, R, SQL, Python, Hadoop, SAS, Java, Hive, and Matlab.
Big Data and cognitive computing may not be new terms, but they are gaining ground—especially in data-rich environments like healthcare that are struggling to rein in waste and improve the performance.
Big Data and cognitive computing may not be new terms, but they are gaining ground—especially in data-rich environments like healthcare that are struggling to rein in waste and improve the performance.
The AngularJS JavaScript framework is becoming more popular for IoT-related professionals, as is Node.js, but traditional scripting languages like Python, Shell, JS, Ruby, Perl, and PHP pop up more often in job listings.
Machine learning is a quickly-growing and high-paid field. According to data from Indeed.com, there were more than 2000 job openings related to machine learning that pay salaries of $130,000 or more.
One of the trendiest skills of last year on Upwork was business consulting—an extremely generic-sounding activity. Many businesses flirting with IoT, however, have the potential to launch new business models or rethink old ones.
It’s perhaps unsurprising that security experts are in demand, given the nonstop media coverage dedicated to the negative security implications of the Internet of Things. Demand for such professionals, however, is far outstrippting supply. According to 2016 data from TEKsystems, security expertise is one of the toughest skills to find in job candidates.
Demand is high for professionals experienced with Bluetooth as well as other types of wireless sensor networks and wireless communication protocols including WiFi, Zigbee, Wireless Hart, 6LowPAN, and RFID.
Last year, the online education portal Udacity decided to launch a “nanodegree” for engineering self-driving cars. When the program—costing $2400—opened, the site was flooded with applicants.
To enter the program, candidates must be well versed in statistics and calculus, have experience with Python, C++, or another coding language. Demand is high for people with such expertise. Udacity has a list of 14 companies that are looking for such candidates, including Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
The topic of self-driving cars is near to the heart of Udacity CEO Sebastian Thrun, who also was involved in Google’s early self-driving experiments.
Last year, the online education portal Udacity decided to launch a “nanodegree” for engineering self-driving cars. When the program—costing $2400—opened, the site was flooded with applicants.
To enter the program, candidates must be well versed in statistics and calculus, have experience with Python, C++, or another coding language. Demand is high for people with such expertise. Udacity has a list of 14 companies that are looking for such candidates, including Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
The topic of self-driving cars is near to the heart of Udacity CEO Sebastian Thrun, who also was involved in Google’s early self-driving experiments.
As the Internet of Things goes mainstream, the words “Internet of Things” or “IoT” are appearing in a growing number of job profiles. Recently, Mike Quindazzi, managing director at PwC, took at look at the trend with a clever use of publicly available data. He discovered that the top 10 Internet of Things employers showed employee profile counts on LinkedIn up 23% in just the last six months alone. Quindazzi notes that while the outright number of jobs posted on LinkedIn is an imperfect indicator of employment, the self-reported increase in profiles does directionally indicate that more employees working in IoT space.
The following slideshow presents 10 of the most in-demand IoT-related skills—predominantly in the IT realm. The list draws from data on IoT-related job listings on indeed.com and from the Upwork freelancing platform.
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