How Can You Become a More Marketable Developer?
Even with a low unemployment rate and a technology job market favoring candidates, that doesn’t necessarily mean you can rest on your laurels waiting for great opportunities to arrive on your doorstep. In fact, focusing on learning in-demand skills remains the best way to ensure a rewarding IT career no matter the economy. It helps to truly understand what today’s organizations need: in a word, cybersecurity.
With a successful career as a developer in mind, here are a few insights on how to boost your information security acumen. Leverage these ideas to add the tech skills companies need the most to your portfolio.
A Current Shortage of Developers With Cybersecurity Experience
You probably hear of hacking incidents and similar nefarious behavior on a daily basis. Cyber criminals steal customer data and break into financial websites, with an expected cost of $6 trillion annually by 2021. Yes, that says trillion. It’s a scenario leaving companies scrambling to close any holes in their digital infrastructure.
One problem causing modern organizations difficulty is an acute shortage of qualified information security professionals. This means firms compete over a dwindling talent pool trying to hire the best candidates to join their team. Some also try to retrain their current staff in this area in an attempt to secure their website and applications.
In short, this situation created an extremely strong demand for developers with security experience. Salaries are trending higher and the job opportunities remain plentiful.
Adding Security Skills to Your Development Toolbox
In addition to securing their technical infrastructure, modern businesses also need to improve their own application security. This means finding developers able to write secure code. Alex Bekker, VP of Engineering at HackerOne commented on this need.
“There is no consistently reliable way to produce secure code, so organizations rely on a multi-layered approach to staying safe, which starts with developing with security in mind. Failing to do so dramatically increases the risk of a security breach and the significant damage it can do to the organization's brand and revenue,” said Bekker.
In a similar manner as DevOps, companies are implementing a DevSecOps policy where security professionals work in tandem with developers and networking professionals. In this environment, software engineers experienced in writing secure code are worth their weight in gold. Taking a training course in application security helps you gain the skills companies need the most in the modern technology world.
When you need advice on taking your IT career to another level, speak with the team at Technology Partners.
As one of the top technical staffing agencies in the Midwest, we know the companies looking for talented candidates. Connect with us soon!
