Certified talent likely to grab most IT jobs

Virtualisation, cloud, security, data sciences and IoT certifications will dominate demand, say experts

Diksha Gupta, TechGig.com

Old technologies give way to new ones and an IT professional has to keep upskilling to stay relevant in the job market. The demand for certifications is thus increasing with projections that certified professionals will dominate hiring in the IT sector in 2016 as compared to those who have not done any course on emerging technologies.

"Certifications definitely help an IT professional get closer to job than someone who doesn't have them at all. Certifications act as a differentiator, particularly in a country like India where for one job there are a thousand candidates," says Supriya Menon, director-education, VMware India, a cloud and virtualization software
and services provider.

Who needs a certification?

"We operate in a dynamic and agile industry, where trends are constantly changing and there is a persistent need for individuals to update their skills," says Geetika Mehta, director-HR, Urban Ladder, an online furniture marketplace.

IT certifications have also evolved over a period of time. Earlier, freshers looking for a job would go for certifications. But today, even professionals want certifications.

Kabir Chadha, India country manager, Coursera, a company that offers massive open online courses, highlights the trend.

"We have done a lot of market research and I can say there are two main reasons why people in IT seek certifications. The first is freshers looking for their first jobs. The second are professionals looking to succeed in their existing jobs and do well in projects."

How do certifications help?

"The value of non-certified skills went up 4 per cent in the past year as compared to 10 per cent for certified skills, according to a survey by Foote Partners. Certifications are clearly respected by the industry," says Rajarshi Bhattacharyya, country head, SUSE, an open-source software company.

"Today, the IT job market is highly competitive and having the right certification will help you push your resume right on the top, taking you ahead of your colleagues when the opportunity for a job or promotion arises. Sometimes, certifications weigh more than your degree as the skills and knowledge acquired are more relevant to the industry," he said.

Apart from upgrading one's skill sets, certifications grab the attention of recruiters.

"Certifications are a stamp from an external agency saying that the person is as capable as he/she is portraying himself to be. Companies are definitely looking at that especially if it's lateral hiring. If it is a fresher, they have to go through the entire training process. But in case of professionals with experience, they look at
certifications definitely. A certification also tells what an individual has gone beyond what he is expected to do," says Menon.

Hot certifications in 2016

Virtualisation, cloud, security, data sciences and IoT certifications will dominate the scene this year.

"Certifications on virtualisation and cloud will continue to be on top. The other could be security," says Menon.

"We see a lot of engagement in data science domain. In most companies today, data science is a niche area. But as companies start to deal with big sets of data and struggle with how to analyse them, data sciences has become popular," says Chadha.

This article first appeared in techgig.com