The tech industry in the U.S. is expected to grow by 11% each year between now and 2029. To enter this booming job market, you’ll need to have the right hard skills. Equally as important, you’ll have to know how to make them stand out on your resume and while interviewing.

Hard skills include proficiency with the technical tools required to accomplish tasks like programming, designing software solutions, or using technologies like cybersecurity devices and database management tools.

Take a mechanic as an example. An all-around mechanic may fix brakes, adjust suspension, do oil changes, change tires, and troubleshoot a problematic O2 sensor.

These all require hard skills. Along with the tasks listed above, a mechanic may also have to talk to customers, explain why and how things need to be fixed, and listen as they describe issues. These tasks involve soft skills.

It’s the same with those who work in tech. Doing the basic elements of your job requires both hard and soft skills, but hard skills are used to perform the more technical aspects.

How to showcase hard skills on your resume

Showcasing your hard skills on your resume has to be done with care. You don’t want to simply list what you can do because that can undercut the value of your skills. It’s best to weave your hard skills into short statements or phrases that typically start with verbs.

For example, you wouldn’t want to say “Skilled in C++.” It would be better to word it like this:

“Programmed revenue-generating system tools using C++.”

This way, you indicate your skill with C++ and ability to use it to benefit an organization.

In many cases, it may be best to highlight your hard skills more than once in your resume. You can accomplish this in two ways:

• You can mention key hard skills multiple times by weaving them into descriptions of things you’ve done at other jobs or while working on projects in your portfolio.
• You may choose to list them within a “Skills” section elsewhere in your resume, which may be helpful if an employer is quickly scanning through it.

Keep in mind that you’re better off using both of these techniques instead of just the “Skills” section. Doing so makes it easier for an employer to see what you bring to the table.

How to showcase your hard skills during an interview

During the interview process, you want to avoid sounding like you’re reading directly from your resume — so when you discuss your hard skills, bring them up naturally. The best way to do this is by using examples that illustrate how you’ve used them to solve key problems.

For example, if your interviewer asks you about a business problem you’ve solved, you wouldn’t want to simply state, “I worked on a mobile app that helped a company increase engagement with customers.” It would be better to say:

“I used JavaScript to design a customer interface that made it easier for the company to collect and process customer feedback.”

In this way, you showcase the hard skill within the context of how it benefited an organization.

But you don’t want to stop there. Keep talking about how you used your hard skill, mentioning specific elements of your solution. For instance, for JavaScript, you can say something along the lines of:

“The company’s website was visually appealing but static and one-dimensional. Using JavaScript, I introduced an image carousel that changed in response to the visitor’s cursor position. To encourage them to leave their input, I also used JavaScript to code animations that appeared after they filled out feedback fields. The percentage of customers who left feedback increased by 38% year-over-year.”

With this kind of answer, you show:

• The hard skill you have
• How it contributes to high-level organizational goals
• Its associated metrics (like customer feedback rates).

How to showcase your hard skills during a technical interview

A technical interview is a golden opportunity to flex your hard skills as you’ll be tasked with solving some kind of problem using technology.

What are technical interviews?

Technical interviews typically happen after the initial interview, and it’s a chance for your prospective employer to see you in action — both as you solve a technical problem and communicate your solution to those in attendance.

The prompt may involve a general challenge that you can solve using a selection of tools, or it could be something specific such as how to solve a problem within a database using SQL.

How to show your hard skills in a technical interview

The time to show your hard skills is immediately after the prompt or question is posed. You can write down the skill you’re using on a whiteboard or begin by stating out loud which tools you would use.

For example, let’s say you were asked to make sure that the values presented within a column are all different from each other. You could begin by saying:

“To begin, I’d use the Unique constraint within SQL instead of Primary Key because you can use Unique to define more than one constraint within the same table. Primary Key may work as well, but it might take longer.”

While, based on the context of the problem, it may already be obvious they expect you to use SQL, announcing it at the start of your answer makes it crystal clear that it’s within your skill set.

With our platform, you can gain the hard skills you need to excel in any tech interview. You can also take advantage of interview preparation resources, such as our Pass the Technical Interview with JavaScript, Pass the Technical Interview with Java, Data Analyst Interview Preparation, and Pass the Technical Interview with Python Skill Paths.

You’ve taken online courses to learn how to code. You’ve finished some projects to include in your portfolio. You’ve set up your technical resume. Now, you’re ready to look into how you can best apply your new skills. Even if this is your first foray into the tech industry, you’re in luck. Many jobs in tech are in high demand, even those at the entry-level.

In this article, we’ll give you a concise run-down of a few of the best entry-level jobs in tech. We’ll describe what they do on a daily basis and their average salaries (in the U.S.) to give you a feel for which job could be a good fit for you. Keep in mind these salary ranges are averages, so you may need a couple of years under your belt to get to that level. But each of these entry-level tech jobs is a smart choice because they’re all expected to expand, providing you with serious job security.

1. Front-End Engineer

Front-End Engineers are commonly referred to as Web Developers or Software Engineers. They design, optimize, and maintain user-facing websites and applications, and they’re experts in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Front-End Engineers work at a unique intersection. Their work can be creative and artistic, like when they design buttons, website layouts, and select colors for a webpage. And they’re also very technical and meticulous, using code to create exactly what their boss or client has requested.

Front-End Engineers make an average salary of $77,200 per year, with an expected growth of 8% over the next decade.

2. Back-End Engineer

Back-End Engineers are the complement to Front-End Engineers since they create and maintain the server-side of applications. They also work with databases that function in the back end of a business. Typically, they’ll know how to program in JavaScript, Node.js, and SQL.

Back-End Engineers get to solve problems, troubleshoot issues, and house all the data that other applications need. For example, a Back-End Engineer will write code that prepares data to be sent over to the front-end programs.

Back-End Engineers make an average salary of approximately $110,140 per year (falling under the umbrella of Software Developers in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). Back-End Engineers can expect their profession to see a 22% increase over the next decade.

3. Full-Stack Engineer

Full-Stack Engineers combine elements of front-end and back-end engineering. They can write programs for the client-side, the server-side, and the APIs that function in between. Full-Stack Engineers are an asset to companies because they understand how all elements in the business’s tech stack interact and work together.

Becoming a Full-Stack Engineer means that you’ll need to learn the programming languages required for both front and back-end development. But, if you enjoy doing a variety of different tasks in your work, full-stack engineering might be just the ticket. You can solve problems, use your creativity and imagination for design elements, and delve deep into databases.

Full-Stack Engineers can also expect to make an average salary of $110,140 each year, just like Back-End Engineers.

4. Data Scientist

Data Scientists work in an emerging field in tech, and many companies are on the lookout for someone that can collect data and design systems in-house. Data Scientists take on the detail-oriented tasks of cleaning data, organizing it, storing it in databases, and creating the systems that allow it to be easily accessed and analyzed.

Data Science requires knowledge of Python, SQL, and experience with data analysis, statistics, and visualization. These professionals also build models based on the data they prepare and employ machine learning techniques.

Data Scientists make an average salary of $93,290 per year (according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data on the related Mathematician and Statistician positions), and their profession is expected to expand by 33% over the next decade.

5. Data Analyst

A Data Analyst is a tech specialist that takes all the tools and systems created by Data Scientists and puts them to good use. They’ll analyze business data, create reports, and make suggestions to management based on the company’s data. They’ll also need to know SQL, Python, and knowledge of data acquisition processes, data visualization, and statistics.

Data Analysts can take their skills to almost any industry, meaning they can work in a field that interests them and use their coding skills to add value to an organization. For example, they could report on digital marketing campaign effectiveness or work in the finance department to help analyze customer data and purchasing trends.

Data Analysts make an average salary of $86,200 per year (the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics refers to these professionals as Operations Research Analysts). Their field is predicted to see a 25% growth over the next decade.

How to start learning the skills you need for a career in tech

All of the careers we discussed have a common thread. Learning to code, gaining a foundational understanding of programming concepts, and practicing the application of these skills by solving problems are all required.

Each career has a different set of programming languages that must be learned, but don’t get too caught up in all the specifics. Once you’ve mastered one, learning another is much easier. For example, once you know how to use Python, you might find it’s relatively easy to pick up another language.

Also, if you’re trying to decide between a few different careers, check out our sorting quiz. It’ll give you some guidance on which jobs and programming languages you might like best.

For all of the tech careers we covered, there are dedicated Career Paths where you can acquire all the skills you’ll need to succeed. Our Paths take the guesswork out of which languages and tools you need to learn and help you make the most of your time. You’ll also get to create a portfolio, prepare for technical interviews, and more.

You’ve seen it on every job description:

“Ideal candidate will have exceptional analytical skills.”

“Analytical skills are a must.”

“If you don’t have analytical skills, don’t bother applying.”

OK, so we haven’t run across that last one (yet).

But what are analytical skills, exactly? And are they really all that important?

Simply put, analytical skills involve using logic and reasoning to solve everyday problems. With them, you can examine and break down complex information into basic parts and understand how those parts are related.

And yes, analytical skills are very important, especially for developers. The good news, though, is that most of us already have and use a few analytical skills without realizing it.

Though most of us associate the words “analytical” and “analysis” with numbers and complex math, you don’t have to be a math whiz to have analytical skills. In fact, there are plenty of common activities that require analytical skills, including:

• Research (academic or in the workplace)
• Resolving customer complaints
• Finding ways to overcome obstacles to achieve a goal
• Troubleshooting
• Finding the root cause of an issue
• Games and leisure activities (for example, chess, Sudoku, puzzles, and videogames)

If you’ve done any of these activities before — and chances are that you have — then you’re already familiar with using analytical skills. But how do developers use these skills to do their jobs? In this article, we’ll explore the analytical skills that developers and tech companies value the most in their teams.

3 important analytical skills for developers

Although developers should have several analytical skills, these are some of the most important.

1. Communication

We’re listing communication first for a reason. It’s the top analytical skill for any profession, including development. If you can’t effectively listen and communicate, you’ll have trouble with every other analytical skill.

Examples of communication skills include:

• Listening: Can you understand why something is a problem and how others are affected by it?
• Oral communication: Can you explain a concept or situation to someone in a way they understand?
• Written communication: Can you write in a way that’s clear and concise?
• Presentation: Can you convey an idea or situation to an audience using oral communication, written communication, and visual aids?

Effective communication can be tricky because it’s so situational. For example, let’s say you developed a new app and needed to present it at a meeting. If the meeting were with fellow developers, then you’d likely have an in-depth discussion on some of the design decisions, as well as issues on coding and server communication.

But, if you’re presenting that same app to the business team, you’ll want to focus on what makes the app stand out from its competitors and why customers will want to download it. It’s the same app, but to effectively communicate with different people, you need to highlight different aspects.

If you can master communicating with people at all levels and departments of your company, then you’re guaranteed to succeed at whatever you do in your new development career.

2. Critical thinking

Next in our list of analytical skills for developers is critical thinking. Critical thinking skills are what separate the best developers from the rest of their peers. Critical thinkers ask the right questions and use patterns and trends to make informed, proactive decisions.

Examples of critical thinking skills include:

• Prioritization: Can you focus on the most relevant or important aspects of a project based on the goals?
• Deductive reasoning: Can you develop and test a hypothesis by making observations and collecting data? Can you recognize when your hypothesis isn’t valid?
• Inductive reasoning: Can you develop larger patterns and theories based on specific observations?
• Comparison: Can you accurately judge two situations against each other and account for minor differences between the two?
• Troubleshooting: Can you find the cause of a problem by identifying its symptoms?

As you can see, critical thinking skills go beyond the technical work of programming. Companies love hiring people with critical thinking skills because they’re better able to work independently and even proactively. That is, they’re less likely to sit around and wait to be assigned a new task.

3. Research

With unlimited information accessible in everyone’s pocket, it seems that everyone’s a researcher. But, while anyone can just type a question into a search engine, it takes a person with well-developed research skills to make the best use of all that information.

Examples of research skills include:

• Investigation: Can you come up with a research question whose answer will be helpful to the project or company?
• Data collection: Can you determine which publicly available sources are the most helpful, as well as which private sources are relevant and worth the cost?
• Accuracy checking: Can you filter out information that’s outdated, inaccurate, or biased?

With so much information available on everything, research skills are becoming more and more valued by employers. Data is everything, and the most successful developers can collect data from sources beyond just the top search engine results.

How employers ask about analytical skills

It’s one thing to just list them on your resume, but potential employers will want to understand more about the analytical skills you bring to the table.

Here are a few example questions an employer might ask you about your analytical skills during an interview. As part of your interview prep, you should practice answering these so you’re not caught off guard.

• Talk about a time when you had to make a decision without all the information you needed or wanted. How did you come to your decision?
• Describe a particularly difficult troubleshooting experience. How did you eventually figure out the problem?
• How do you factor in pros and cons when making a decision?
• Describe a time when you needed to communicate a complex issue or concept to someone outside of your field. How did you help them understand the important points?

As a developer, your hiring process will likely include a technical interview — which involves solving a complex technical problem without any prior information. Don’t panic. The idea here isn’t to come up with the perfect answer but rather to understand your thought process.

Regardless of which development career path you’re pursuing, it’s important to highlight as many transferrable skills as possible from your previous career. That includes analytical skills, which you can develop and master in any professional field.

Changing your career to become a Front-End Developer is an exciting journey. You’re learning new skills, making new contacts, and moving toward personal and professional happiness. That’s all great, but it doesn’t answer the lingering question: Just how much do Front-End Developers make? Will investing the money, time, and effort pay off financially, too?

The good news is that, like many other careers in development, Front-End Developers in the U.S. can look forward to a six-figure salary on average. But the specific numbers depend on several factors. In this article, we’ll go over how much Front-End Developers make on average, as well as what affects the average salary.

How much do Front-End Developers make on average?

According to a recent analysis of salary data, Front-End Developers in the U.S. earn an average of about $104,450 per year. Keep in mind that this is a general number based on salaries around the country without accounting for different locations, experience levels, employers, skill sets, and other important factors. As you’ll find out, all of these factors play a vital role in determining how much you could make as a Front-End Developer.

Factors that affect how much Front-End Developers make

Several factors can influence a Front-End Developer’s salary. The following are some of the most significant.

Location, location, location

Where you work has a big impact on how much you can expect to make as a Front-End Developer. Some of these differences are simply due to the cost of living — housing and other expenses are higher in big cities than in small suburbs — but in some cities, companies pay more for Front-End Developers because there aren’t enough to satisfy demand. The result is that you, as a Front-End Developer, can expect a higher salary if you live in an area where more companies are competing for your talent.

Here are eight cities in the U.S. where Front-End Developers make the highest average annual salaries:

Your knowledge of coding languages

The most successful Front-End Developers are expected to know HTML, CSS, and JavaScript as a minimum requirement. But, these aren’t the only tools that Front-End Developers use.

Depending on the company and its projects, knowing frameworks and libraries such as React, Bootstrap, jQuery, and AngularJS can make you a much more valuable part of the team, increasing your chances of landing a job as well as your starting salary.

Your course certifications and certificates

There’s not much that can beat solid career experience, but how do you get a foot in the door when you’ve just switched careers to become a Front-End Developer? When you don’t have years of relevant work history, getting a certification is a great way to prove that you have the knowledge and skills you’ll need to succeed in the role.

Though we don’t recommend including every course certificate on your resume, adding those relevant to front-end development can help grab the attention of prospective employers and show that you’re worth every penny.

Remember that compensation is more than salary

While the competitive salary expectations for Front-End Developers are definitely exciting, keep in mind that a company might compensate its employees in other valuable ways. As you narrow down the list of companies you’d like to work for, make sure you do a little research into non-salary compensation such as:

• Annual bonuses
• Vacation and flextime
• Stock purchase options and employee ownership of the company
• 401(k) and retirement account contributions
• Relocation reimbursement

Experience matters

As you might imagine, your experience in the field greatly affects how much you can expect to make as a Front-End Developer. If all other factors are equal, an entry-level Front-End Developer might make about 20% less than the given average. On the other side of the spectrum, a Front-End Developer with over 20 years of experience can look forward to making 23% more than average.

Here’s a breakdown of how much a Front-End Developer makes on average based on experience:

By the way, don’t think that a lack of experience automatically puts you at a disadvantage in the job market as you pursue your career as a Front-End Developer. A balanced development team includes Front-End Developers of all experience levels in roles that best suit their abilities.

Companies like having entry-level developers on their teams because they can handle simpler projects while senior members focus on more complex tasks.

Which companies pay more for Front-End Developers?

Location and experience play a major role in how much Front-End Developers make. But even within a particular city or region, some companies simply need a lot of talented Front-End Developers. In most cases, they’re willing to pay salaries well above the average in their areas.

Here are the 15 companies in the U.S. that pay the highest average salaries for Front-End Developers:

Becoming a Front-End Developer will pay off personally and financially

As you take the next step toward becoming a Front-End Developer, there’s one thing you won’t have to worry about: money. Rest assured that you can look forward to a comfortable salary, even as you’re just starting off in your new career. Not sure how to get there? Our Front-End Developer Career Path will guide you toward getting all the skills you need to succeed as a Front-End Developer.