Mastering these skills could get you hired in 2017
![Twitter employee Amber Costa works on a computer at Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, California October 4, 2013. Twitter Inc, racing toward the largest Silicon Valley IPO since Facebook Inc's 2012 coming-out party, hopes to woo investors with rip-roaring revenue growth despite having posted big losses over the past three years. The eight-year-old online messaging service gave potential investors their first glance at its financials on Thursday when it publicly filed its IPO documents, setting the stage for one of the most-anticipated debuts in over a year. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith (UNITED STATES - Tags: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS) - RTR3FLSH](https://assets.weforum.org/article/image/large_V6LEsAdkP4l1sGCfOoZWqAzbaupyUpvqGxSrFu3JWhw.jpg)
"Now is a great time for professionals to acquire the skills they need to be more marketable." Image: REUTERS/Robert Galbraith
![A hand holding a looking glass by a lake](/uplink.jpg)
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:
Education
It's October, and there's a good chance you're looking for a new job.
According to LinkedIn data, this is the month job applications spike on the social networking site.
To find out what exactly employers are looking for, and what it takes to successfully land a job, LinkedIn looked at billions of data points and analyzed all of the hiring and recruiting activity that occurred on its site so far in 2016to identify the most sought-after skills.
Ultimately they uncovered the top 10 skills that can get you hired in 2017 in 14 different countries.
"While we see job applications spike on LinkedIn in October, we know companies aren't actually hiring at the same rate until January," says LinkedIn career expert Catherine Fisher in a press release. "While some skills expire every couple of years, our data strongly suggests that tech skills will still be needed for years to come, in every industry. Now is a great time for professionals to acquire the skills they need to be more marketable."
Here are the hottest, most in-demand skills around the globe:
1. Cloud and Distributed Computing
2. Statistical Analysis and Data Mining
3. Web Architecture and Development Framework
4. Middleware and Integration Software
5. User Interface Design
6. Network and Information Security
7. Mobile Development
8. Data Presentation
9. SEO/SEM Marketing
10. Storage Systems and Management
In a post on LinkedIn, Fisher explains that the "top skills" list reveals several trends about the global job market, including:
1. Demand for marketers is getting lighter
While marketing skills were in high demand in 2015, "things have changed," she writes.
"This year, SEO/SEM dropped five spots from No. 4 to No. 9 and marketing campaign management dropped completely off the list. Demand for marketing skills is slowing because the supply of people with marketing skills has caught up with employers' demand for people with marketing skills."
2. Data and cloud reign supreme
"I smell a dynasty in the making!" Fisher writes. "Cloud and distributed computing has remained in the No. 1 spot for the past two years ... . Following closely on its heels is statistical analysis and data mining, which came in No. 2 last year, and No. 1 in 2014. These skills are in such high demand because they're at the cutting edge of technology. Employers need employees with cloud and distributed computing, statistical analysis and data mining skills to stay competitive."
3. User interface design is what's hot right now
"User interface design (No. 5), which is designing the part of products that people interact with, is increasingly in-demand among employers," Fisher writes. "Data has become central to many products, which has created a need for people with user interface design skills who can make those products easy for customers to use."
Click here to see the full report and breakdown of in-demand skills by country.
Don't miss any update on this topic
Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.
License and Republishing
World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
Related topics:
The Agenda Weekly
A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda
You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.
More on Education and SkillsSee all
Sagar Goel, Joerg Hildebrandt, Leila Hoteit and Sriramprasad Rangarajan
August 15, 2024
Phil Baty
August 5, 2024
Rebecca Geldard
July 31, 2024
Ahmed Mazhari
July 31, 2024
David Elliott
July 29, 2024
Jeff Maggioncalda
June 21, 2024