DURING A MORNING IRELAND conversation, Wendy Murphy from LinkedIn [1] shared insights from the Economic Graph, "a digital representation of the global economy which provides LinkedIn with unique insight into labour markets". [2] Several of the top 25 skills that got Irish professionals hired in 2015 feature in third level programmes delivered by Jackie Humphries and the staff on the LIT-Thurles campus.
As might be expected in a LinkedIn data set, technology skills dominated the list. Top of the lists are skills with strong academic courses running on the Thurles campus of the Limerick Institute of Technology. Working with third level students taking business, creative multimedia and digital animation production degrees, I teach elements of search engine marketing and data visualisation. [3] The Economic Graph shows "huge demand for professionals in Ireland with expertise in areas like Cloud Computing, Big Data and IT Security". Companies need these skill sets as Ireland continues carving out data centres for big players like Facebook and Microsoft.
The fact that tech skills remain in high demand serves as an affirmation that initiatives like the Young Scientists Exhibition and Coder Dojo lead directly to marketable skills.
Here is the listing of the 25 Hottest Skills of 2015 on LinkedIn in Ireland:
1. Cloud and Distributed Computing
2. Statistical Analysis and Data Mining
3. SEO/SEM Marketing
4. Middleware and Integration Software
5. Network and Information Security
6. Web Architecture and Development Frameworks
7. Data Engineering and Data Warehousing
8. Mobile Development
9. IBM Mainframes and Systems
10. Software Revision Control Systems
11. Software Modeling and Process Design
12. Data Presentation
13. Algorithm Design
14. Microsoft Application Development
15. SAP ERP Systems
16. Recruiting
17. Perl/Python/Ruby
18. User Interface Design
19. Mac, Linux and Unix Systems
20. Electronic and Electrical Engineering
21. Economics
22. HR Benefits and Compensation
23. Database Management and Software
24. Business Intelligence
25. Shell Scripting Languages
Supporting Material:
1. Wendy Murphy -- "The top LinkedIn skills that got people in Ireland hired in 2016" on LinkedIn Pulse, February 12, 2016.
2. The LinkedIn Economic Graph digitally "maps the global economy to connect talent with opportunity at massive scale".
3. Bernie Goldbach teaches on the third level Honours Degree in Creative Multimedia. Details on the CAO course at LIT.ie/courses/LC517.
