From the standpoint of a technology enthusiast, 2017 was an exciting year. And when we talk about technology, we're talking about much more than the latest devices and hardware. Actually, the hardware is the offspring and proponent of the 'deeper' technology. Mostly digital innovations, these have created previously unseen segments in the job market. If you look at it one way, everyone in those jobs is new.
With that said, we must continue to sort out the trending technologies in order to provide the best opportunities for freshers to land a job and launch their careers. We looked at three basic criteria to evaluate these prospects: one, skill and education requirements that freshers can meet; two, industry requirements and job openings in the next year; and three, compensation and career growth options.
Based on the foregoing, consider the following options:
- DevOps
One of the most recent additions to the Indian IT industry, it has received attention as a result of the shift toward cloud-based services and operations. While the cloud movement has created many more opportunities, most require specific experience and advanced skills. However, device operations, also known as DevOps, is a relatively simpler technical profile but an equally challenging and exciting responsibility profile. DevOps is also in high demand and pays well when compared to many other technical and sometimes more difficult profiles. It requires basic skills and a good understanding of the job, but due to competitive requirements, it does not require much experience and is a very good profile for a fresher job.
- Big Data
Big data is sweeping the IT industry, with applications spanning many industries and fields. As a result, several jobs requiring big data analysis skills are on the horizon. The most visible are data scientists, who were previously overlooked. Separately, freshers have a lot of opportunities in Hadoop development, big data analysis, data mining, and other areas. Although certification in big data and related fields/skills is one of the primary requirements for these jobs, it is certainly not an impediment but rather an opportunity for the next few years.
- Cyber Forensics
Security breaches and cybercrime are on the rise as the digital landscape grows and spreads by the minute. Although digital security has long been recognised as a prestigious industry in its own right, forensics and investigative science have only recently blossomed. Cyber Forensics is an investigative branch of security that has recently seen an increase in demand as a result of several blows to large corporations and blockchain operators. The majority of the demand is met by security firms, and many jobs are also available online. The job requires mid-level to expert-level skills and is open to hiring new employees.
- Administration
Administration and moderation become increasingly difficult as digital and physical systems become more complex and widespread. This job profile has a wide range of applications and employs people from a variety of backgrounds. It can range from digital/device system administration, which requires technical skills, to online/offline community management, which requires a unique set of skills similar to HR. These jobs were uncommon a few years ago, but with recent advancements, they have become more common. Depending on the job, most will accept and welcome newcomers, while others may require prior experience and/or certifications. One of the major openings that is currently available is in HR Analytics.
- Content Analyst
The only job on the list that arose as a result of current technological growth limitations. These jobs require very little technical knowledge and a strong command of the written and spoken languages. These jobs entail analysing content where software has failed to identify its relevance in conjunction with keywords/tags or content in general. This includes resumes, search results, mentions, and so on, and is recruited by content-related institutions. Many of these jobs are available online, but with the increasing demand for content and data analysis, they have also become full-time. Especially with the introduction of voice search, audio analytics, graphics and video content, and other upcoming services. Similar opportunities exist in the R&D industry, where people work on machine learning and AIs to train and 'educate' machines in human interactions and language.
And these aren't the only newer jobs that are in high demand in various industries. Jobs in Digital Marketing, Online Teaching, Project Management, Optimization and Strategy, and many other fields are seeing an increase in employment and pay scales and are available to new graduates. If you're stuck, use the above formula to evaluate any job prospectus to see if it meets your career requirements. There will be no need to look back once you've entered!