Scott Gerber is the founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council, a nonprofit organization that promotes youth entrepreneurship as a solution to unemployment and underemployment. The YEC provides young entrepreneurs with access to tools, mentorship, and resources that support each stage of a business's development and growth. As the possibilities of the Internet continue to increase, tech startups will soon be searching for people well-versed in new information technology specializations. For those who want to beat the competition to these hot job openings, develop a solid expertise in a sector of IT — now.
I asked a panel of successful young entrepreneurs to predict the IT skills tech startups will be looking to hire throughout the coming year.
1. SEO Experts
Having a great idea is not enough to succeed in this competitive market. You need to be found by your potential customers, and the best way to do this is through search engine optimization. Having an expert in SEO allows you to target your core market through keyword research, and guarantees that every piece of content created enhances your brand and the web presence of your company.
- Andrew Saladino, Just Bath Vanities.
2. Data Specialists
Today's startups are deluged with data from all sides — web analytics, advertising performance, sales data, etc., and the move towards marketing automation at many companies further exacerbates this problem. Having a dedicated analytics specialist will ensure that company data is being transformed into useful, actionable insights, instead of creating a burden on the employees.
- Arjun Arora, ReTargeter.
3. Communication Experts
While IT folks are still in incredibly high demand, it's becoming more and more important to hire tech-savvy personnel that is comfortable and efficent in communicating directly with the client. By cutting out the middle man and bringing on IT personnel that's comfortable with communication, you greatly enhance your efficiency and productivity.
- Matt Cheuvront, Proof Branding.
4. Dev-Ops
Tech startups will be looking to hire more dev-ops specialists. Dev-ops employees combine expertise in application development and systems administration. Because consumers are becoming more tech-hungry, and startups are using "lean methodologies" to build fast, new startups are looking for people who can combine the skills that help to scale businesses intelligently.
- Doreen Bloch, Poshly Inc..
5. Mobile Developers
As more consumers shift to mobile devices, companies are going to continue wanting to exploit that trend with new apps for smartphones and tablets. This market is only going to evolve and become more and more advanced.
- Ben Lang, EpicLaunch.
6. Business IT Specialists
A lot of startups have a lot of technical abilities built in by virtue of early partnerships and hiring. But it's not as common that a startup has business support in its DNA. That means that there is an ongoing need for IT specialists who are used to working with project management, accounting and other business software.
- Thursday Bram, Hyper Modern Consulting.
7. User Experience Specialists
Quality UX or "user experience" specialists are becoming increasingly sought after. These individuals help to streamline processes while working towards maximizing return for their clients. Mobile apps, online stores, brick and mortar stores, airline terminals, etc. — all can benefit from exceptional UX design.
- Benjamin Leis, Sweat EquiTees.
8. Cloud Specialists
For most startups, it's no longer is necessary to build servers off of physical racks — it's all going into the cloud. Managing a strong, cloud-based server infrastructure requires some special skills and management. I expect that a lot of startups will be looking for people who know how to user cloud services like Amazon AWS and Rackspace this year.
- Eric Bahn, Beat The GMAT.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, TommL
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