4 Development Skills That Add Value To Your Resume In 2017
Originally Published on LinkedIn - March 2017
The technology industry moves fast, and keeping up with all the latest and greatest technologies (and versions of existing technologies) is a mammoth task. However, IF you can, these new skills not only open doors for you to work on exciting projects with companies at the cutting edge of technology, but can also add considerable $$ to your pay packages.
With a host of new and emerging tech strings for professionals to consider adding to their bows every year, technology professionals have to pay attention to the flavour of the month in order to keep ahead of the curve. Even older skills can gain momentum after years of entering the market. This is why, after speaking to our clients and candidates, I’ve decided to compile a list of what we believe are the hottest tech skills in the NYC tech market right now.
REACT.JS
Front-end developers love to try new things, particularly things that make their work more efficient. However, the ever-changing nature of the front-end market means it’s difficult, and sometimes counter-productive, to try to learn new frameworks, particularly when that framework could soon become obsolete. With that in mind, React.JS seems a safe bet for a framework with longevity.
React.JS was created at Facebook and they released it to the public after they realised what an attractive and pioneering framework they had created. They even went on to build the entire Instagram website on this framework, once Facebook had acquired it.
React.js allows developers to create their own components which are reusable, and can be combined. It creates its own DOM (Document Object Model) and stores the components there. This means that the framework is much more flexible, and increases performance by analysing in advance the changes that must be made to the DOM, and updating accordingly. Developers can run React directly on the server, with the virtual DOM being rendered and returned to the browser as a regular web page, meaning it is extremely helpful for search engines to index the web pages built with React.
Companies that utilize React.JS: Facebook and Amazon, as well as start-ups and most companies in between.
Expected Salary in New York City:
Junior JavaScript Developer with React.JS experience: $75,000 - $90,000
Mid-Level JavaScript Developer with React.JS experience: $95,000 - $115,000
Senior JavaScript Developer with React.JS experience: $120,000 - $150,000
NODE.JS
Node can be considered revolutionary in terms of its push technology, which replaced websockets. Node allows the building of web applications with two-way connections that operate in real-time, allowing the server and client to build communication and exchange valuable data.
Node’s popularity is in part due to the fact that it uses JavaScript as its main language while building web applications, which is the go-to language for developing web applications in the browser.
Whilst similar web technologies such as Spring or ASP.NET require developers to have knowledge of multiple languages to write code on the server side, Node has the ability to re-use language. Node only uses JavaScript for both the client and the server side, meaning developers only have to learn one language to use across all layers.
Companies that utilize Node.JS: PayPal, LinkedIn, but also popular with start-ups and SMEs.
Expected Salary in New York City:
Junior JavaScript Developer with Node.JS experience: $75,000 - $90,000
Mid-Level JavaScript Developer with Node.JS experience: $100,000 - $115,000
Senior JavaScript Developer with Node.JS experience: $125,000 - $160,000
GOLANG (GO)
With the intention of increasing the speed and reducing the clumsiness of software development at Google, Golang was engineered specifically for use in projects built by large groups of programmers with varying skill levels – the open source community.
That pretty much summarises the whole reason Go was created – to minimise the complexity of dealing with very large teams of people working on large pieces of software in languages with large feature-sets. Google’s big projects are the focal point of this, and manage to reduce complexity by sacrificing anything considered to be even remotely disposable – even things previously considered untouchable, like the DRY principle. Unlike Python or Ruby, which allow you to write understandable code, in GO you have no other choice!
Companies that utilize GO: Docker, CoreOS or HashiCorp
Expected Salary in New York City:
Junior Golang Developer: $95,000 - $110,000
Mid-Level Golang Developer: $110,000 - $125,000
Senior Golang Developer: $135,000 - $160,000
RUBY on RAILS
When Ruby on Rails, a web application framework written in the Ruby programming language, was first released as open source back in July 2004, it struggled to become one of the most prominent programming languages. Despite a brief period of popularity around 2006, scalability issues and the release of other exciting new tools, such as Node.js and AngularJS, suggested Ruby was on its way out.
However, in 2015 Ruby began to grow in popularity once more, and Ruby on Rails has since become the ideal web application framework due to its ease of use, flexibility and accelerated web process, not to mention the fact that it’s free!
One of the stand-out reasons that RoR has become so popular is that it puts the developer first. It allows for much higher productivity compared to other languages, and is also highly accessible due to it being ideal for agile development – and since most tech companies and start-ups apply the agile methodology, RoR has become the perfect fit.
Companies that utilize RoR: Airbnb, GitHub, Hulu, Groupon and Kickstarter
Expected Salary in New York City:
Junior Ruby-on-Rails Developer: $80,000 - $100,000
Mid-Level Ruby-on-Rails Developer: $100,000 - $120,000
Senior Ruby-on-Rails Developer: $125,000 - $150,000
While these may be some of the hottest tech skills around right now, the tech landscape is ever-evolving. Keep on top of your skills with the latest upgrades, stay involved with the developer opportunity, and remember: don’t be afraid of new tech – old dogs can learn new tricks.