Industry & Business

Business-oriented social network, LinkedIn has unveiled the 25 top skills that got Irish professionals hired last year.

It is the first year that LinkedIn has conducted the research in Ireland, which revealed cloud and distributed computing as the most desirable skill for Irish employers.

Technology dominated the top skills with statistical analysis, search engine optimisation, middleware, and network security making up the remainder of the top five.

Speaking about the research, senior HR director for LinkedIn Europe, Middle East and Africa, Wendy Murphy, highlighted the importance of technology skills.

“Technology skills are highly valued by Irish employers, which may not come as a complete surprise given the growth in the sector in Ireland last year. It is a positive sign though for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) graduates that there is still huge demand for professionals with these skills,” Ms Murphy said.

LinkedIn generated the list by analysing all of the recruiting and hiring activity that occurred on the site.

Ms Murphy continued, saying that the option of retraining into some of the most desirable skills is an option for Irish employees.

“For anyone looking to retrain, the top 25 skills gives a good sense of what employers are looking for when considering going back to further education.  We would encourage people to ensure that they include their skills on their profile to make it easier for potential employers to find them,” Ms Murphy said.

The list is as follows:

1. Cloud and Distributed Computing
2. Statistical Analysis and Data Mining
3. SEO/SEM Marketing
4. Middleware and Integration Software
5. Network and Information Security
6. Web Architecture and Development Frameworks
7. Data Engineering and Data Warehousing
8. Mobile Development
9. IBM Mainframes and Systems
10. Software Revision Control Systems
11. Software Modeling and Process Design
12. Data Presentation
13. Algorithm Design
14. Microsoft Application Development
15. SAP ERP Systems
16. Recruiting
17. Perl/Python/Ruby
18. User Interface Design
19. Mac, Linux and Unix Systems
20. Electronic and Electrical Engineering
21. Economics
22. HR Benefits and Compensation
23. Database Management and Software
24. Business Intelligence
25. Shell Scripting Languages