BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Hiring the Top 12 Most Valuable, In-Demand Tech Professionals in 2015

Following
This article is more than 8 years old.

Just last week, tech startup Pinterest announced that it is allowing employees who have worked there for two years to keep vested stock options even after they leave the company. Ultimately, they’re offering their team more job mobility. After all, the average tech startup usually requires employees to either exercise or walk away from their stock options if they leave the company.

If even the most buzz-worthy tech startups, like Pinterest, are trailblazing enticing, new ideas to recruit tech talent, the average company across industries needs to rethink their recruiting strategy.

Most employers have been boosting salary offers as an incentive. Glassdoor’s recent report on the top 25 lucrative, in-demand jobs for 2015 is a good indication that companies are willing to pay top dollar for tech professionals, more than any other industry. Of the top 25 highest-paying, in-demand jobs, more than half are in technology. And most of them require strong programming skills.

 Top skills and average base salary data:

  1. Software Architect: $130,891
  2. Software Development Manager: $123,747
  3. Solutions Architect: $121,522
  4. IT Manager: $115,642
  5. Product Manager: $113,959
  6. Data Scientist: $105,395
  7. Security Engineer:$102,749
  8. QA Manager: $101,330
  9. Computer Hardware Engineer: $101,154
  10. Database Administrator: $97,258
  11. Software Engineer: $96,392
  12. Sales Engineer: $90,899

Of course, one major discrepancy in Glassdoor’s report is its lack of mobile development jobs, which are undoubtedly both in demand and lucrative. Both B2B and B2C companies are striving to adapt their products to their increasingly mobile customer habits. In fact, mobile developer tops Robert Half Technology’s list of high-paying salaries. While such crowd-sourced, less-than-scientific salary reports should be taken with a grain of salt, they offer a decent picture of the job market.

Nonetheless, the value and demand for experts who can help businesses keep up with the rapid pace of technology will grow with the exponential pace of tech innovation. The competition for tech talent is fiercer than ever.

 

Finding Innovative Talent Requires Innovative Recruiting Strategies

Most employers aim to recruit from the same limited pool of top software engineers with a killer work history, exceptional degree or the right people in their network. This traditional recruiting method is simply no longer conducive to meeting the high demand of talent in the tech space.

Recruiters should shift focus away from credentials and start prioritizing skills. This is one of the core philosophies behind the White House TechHire Initiative that kicked off earlier this month.

Non-traditional educational organizations are banding together to raise awareness on innovative strategies for evaluating and hiring technical talent based entirely on skill. For instance, leveraging new recruitment pathways, like LaunchCode, which trains people on coding skills and matches them with apprenticeships and tech jobs, are helping bridge the gap in tech talent.

LaunchCode also uses coding challenges to evaluate programming skills after training because it allows companies to hire candidates exclusively based on skills. Online coding challenges are not only the new, innovative way to source and evaluate technical skills but also provide a better recruiting experience for candidates. Code challenges empower everyone, from all walks of life, with a shot at proving their technical skills, regardless of their school, background or network.

Unless companies start innovating their traditional tactics, most companies will continue to try and fish from the same pond. With each year that Glassdoor.com comes out with its latest highest paid tech jobs, tech salaries will continue to increase. Swinging the focus away from shiny degrees and toward skill can help widen that pool of talent.

What innovative hiring strategies are working for you? Share your comments below.