“Landing a role today still requires a strong foundation,” says Natalia Rodriguez, vice president of talent acquisition at BairesDev, which reviews more than 2.5 million applications per year. “Engineers who succeed often combine strong core skills with newer capabilities, such as machine learning frameworks and emerging AI-specific techniques. Developers should take the time to really sharpen their fundamentals in programming, data structures, and system design.”
While the right skills and certifications are important, it might be having just the right kind of experience that lands the job. “Software developers must be able to demonstrate they’ve built something effectively, not just talk about it,” says Sheldon Arora, CEO of healthcare staffing agency StaffDNA. Companies and employers are looking for successful implementation on real projects, he says.
While technical skills are important, hiring managers are looking for other skills aimed at supporting organizational goals.
