Employers’ Needs for Computer Science, Information Technology and Software Engineering Skills among New Graduates

Graduates of computer science programs often lack skills that employers desire among software developers. These include, for example, weaknesses in the areas of collaboration, communication, and software testing. Further research can help to refine this list by providing insight into additional skills that are of rising or regional importance. This paper therefore presents a study aimed at uncovering desirable technical and soft skills for graduates of computer science in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Interviews of 11 employers, including both managers and recruiters, highlighted the prominent importance of skills related to web development, relational databases, and testing. Additionally, it spotlighted not only widely-recognized soft skills such as those related to collaboration and communication, but additionally on skills tied to personal attributes such as innovating, coping with ambiguity and learning quickly. The results provide insights for what skills and personal attributes to include in a future survey of employers aimed at quantifying the importance of skills on this list.