There’s something missing in Washington, D.C. and no, this is not about politics. Data scientists, software engineers, and digital literate employees are in short supply in Washington D.C., according to LinkedIn.
The nation’s capital has plenty of tech opportunities, but not enough people with the skills to fill these open roles. Find out how you can take advantage of this skills gap and get a tech job in D.C.
Skills gap in Washington, D.C.
There are simply not enough people with the necessary skills to fill open data science and software engineering roles, according to the LinkedIn Workforce Report. The demand for software engineers has been a multi-year trend with a shortage of 212,838 people in July 2018. We actually went to a surplus of people with data science skills in 2015 to a shortage of 151,717 people in July 2018, per LinkedIn’s report.
The same national trend is also happening in Washington, D.C. with a notable shortage of data scientists and digital literate employees. Washington, D.C. went from a shortage of 735 people with data science skills in July 2015 to a shortage of 7,686 people in July 2018. Digital literacy was the fourth-highest skill shortage in the city with a gap of 13,708 people. This last point is relatively broad, but highlights the need for tech-minded individuals for modern companies.
Almost everything we do requires some technical knowledge. While a large base of people may know their way around Excel or Google Docs, there are plenty who don’t have that knowledge. The pool of people who know more specific skills, be it front-end development or how to create a model, is incredibly small.
This skill shortage means there’s a need for tech talent in practically every industry in Washington, D.C. Whether it’s tech, finance, hospitality, or healthcare, companies have open roles for people with tech capabilities.
Washington, D.C. needs tech talent
The greater Washington, D.C. area has 15 Fortune 500 companies including Danaher Corp., Discovery Communications, Booz Allen Hamilton, Marriott International, and Capital One Financial. Medstar Health, Verizon Communications, and Deloitte are among the area’s top employers.
Washington, D.C. is also home to innovative companies such as Afiniti, an artificial intelligence solutions provider, and Vox Media. We have yet to mention aerospace and defense companies such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman.
Even if you’re applying software engineer roles, each company has its specific needs and requirements for that position. A software engineer at Verizon is a more senior position with previous experience in networking technology. Your daily responsibilities include software application development and testing and working across multiple teams to identify new systems solutions. At Deloitte, their software engineers are more specialized. There are openings for Java software engineers, front-end software engineers, and data engineer/back-end developers.
There are multiple openings for software engineers at Capital One with different needs and experience levels. One software engineer position requires three years of experience and you’ll be expected to work on customer-facing applications and back-end systems. Another software engineer position requires candidates to have experience with Representational State Transfer (REST) APIs such as Spring or Jersey.
If you’re more interested to work with big data, there are also plenty of exciting opportunities in the greater Washington, D.C. area. Marriott International is hiring an Operations Research/Data Scientist who can provide data-driven solutions to problems within the hospitality industry.
Medstar Health Research Institute is hiring a data scientist with at least five years’ experience performing analyzing data using SQL. You’ll develop algorithms, create data visualizations, and extract data as part of the center’s vision for improving healthcare.
With so many opportunities in Washington, D.C., the only thing missing is you. We’re working hard to close this skill gap with a world-class curriculum training students to become software engineers. No matter the industry or your career goals, you can find a great tech job in D.C.
