Are you switching careers to tech?
Are you planning to travel out and thinking of relevant tech skills to acquire?
Do you have basic computer skills but needed something more in order to get a high-paying job or promotion at work?
Or do you just want to explore tech to complement your current career?

Here are the top skills you can choose from.

1. Software Development/ Engineering

A software developer is someone who writes programs (step-by-step instructions on a computer) to build an application (software) that solves a specific problem. It could be creating accounting software, a school management system, a hotel booking platform and more. The websites you visit like youtube, Facebook, and Jumia are examples of software built by programmers.

It is a skill that is in high demand globally with a high salary. It can be faster to get a job as a software developer compared to other skills as you can easily monetize the skill on a freelancing platform, work for a one-man business or build your own software and get people to pay to use it or sell it to organizations.
Having software development skills can help you adapt to other areas of tech with ease. However, it is not for everyone. To know if software development is a good career for you, a software developer needs to have the following abilities

Strong logical and critical thinking. Writing programs requires lots of logic and telling the computer what to do at each instance. Being able to break down complex problems into smaller, more manageable pieces is an essential skill a software developer must possess.
Troubleshooting. You should be someone who is comfortable checking the reason why something is not working and researching possible solutions online.
Take the initiative. You may be required to add new features to the software. As such, you need to be able to use what you already know to come up with possible ways to create the needed feature.
Persistence: Developing software can be a complex and time-consuming process, and it's important for software developers to be able to stick with it and see projects through to completion.
Adaptability: The field of software development is constantly evolving, and software developers need to be able to adapt and learn new technologies and techniques.

2. Data Analyst/ Data Science

Data analysts are those who take the record of an organization (data) and analyze it to extract valuable information that can help the company make better decisions.
Eg. A company may want to know which product is bringing the highest revenue or the customer that is giving them the most profit and more. All these are and more achieved through data analysis. With machine learning, you can even predict who should be hired by a company, those that qualify for loans without talking to them one on one. This is what is used to recommend movies on youtube and Netflix, related product recommendations on Amazon and more.

Data analyst jobs may not be as much as software in Nigeria, however, it is in high demand abroad as they need people to help them make sense of their data. As a data analyst, you can work in any industry. Be it finance, health, education, government and more.

To know if data analysis is for you, a data analyst needs to possess the following

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills: Data analysts need to be able to identify patterns and trends in data and use that information to solve problems.
Familiarity with statistical analysis: A strong understanding of statistical concepts and techniques is important for data analysts to be able to draw accurate conclusions from data. Even though there are libraries that will do the calculation for you, you need to be comfortable working with data.
Curiosity: Data analysts should have a natural curiosity and desire to explore and understand data.
Familiarity with programming languages: Knowledge of programming languages such as Python and SQL can be helpful for data analysts to be able to work with and analyze data.
Strong communication skills: You need to be able to present complex data in a clear and concise manner, both orally and in writing to clients, management or stakeholder.

3. DevOps/ Cloud computing

DevOps engineer is someone who takes software that was built by the programmer and moves it to a server so people can have access to it from anywhere in the world. Just like you are able to access Facebook, Youtube, Linkedin and other platforms with little or no downtime. Also, they ensure these processes are automated so they dont have to manually do them again and again.
Having programming knowledge can be helpful but not a must to get started.
DevOps engineers are scarce as such they pay them well abroad.
A DevOps engineer needs to have the following abilities

Troubleshooting and problem-solving skills: DevOps engineers need to be able to identify and troubleshoot problems quickly and effectively.
Adaptability: The field of DevOps is constantly evolving, and DevOps engineers need to be able to adapt and learn new technologies and techniques.
Attention to detail: DevOps requires a high level of attention to detail, as even small mistakes can have significant consequences.
Collaborative mindset: DevOps requires close collaboration between development and operations teams, and DevOps engineers need to be able to work well in a team environment.
Automation skills: DevOps emphasizes automation, and DevOps engineers should be skilled at using tools and processes to automate tasks.

Source https://tech365.ng/5-in-demand-digital-skills-you-should-acquire-in-2023/