PCCAPS
- Feb 4, 2020

How Tech Stacks Inform Career Pathway Decisions

Understanding a company's tech stack will help young people understand what skill sets matter to employers, and therefore what pathway choices to make. This post will share methods for finding out what software programs companies use to operate. Read further to find out how PCCAPS students can get a leg up on competing candidates for the career field they're aiming for.

Tech Stacks

A tech stack, or technology ecosystem, is a list of all the technology services used to build and run one single application. Facebook, for example, is composed of a combination of coding frameworks and languages including JavaScript, HTML, CSS, PHP, and ReactJS.

A tech stack also refers to the bundle of software services a company uses to operate and produce a product. These are software solutions for marketing, customer communication, market intelligence gathering, creative content & productivity.

For the purposes of the PCCAPS program, we are referring to the later definition. We believe students can benefit from looking at career candidacy from the perspective of 1) understanding high demand software skills and 2) earning self-driven certifications. In a future post, we'll describe available software certification paths. First, it's important to understand how and where to uncover what software industries demand.

PCCAPS Tech Stack

PCCAPS Put together its own stack. Students can reference this to understand the depth of program skill takeaways of this program. All PCCAPS students use common "operational" software to communicate with clients and track projects. Each PCCAPS speciality uses a specific set of tech to produce client deliverables. The same can be said for a company's operations and specialized departments.

Publicly Accessible Company Tech Stacks

Here is a comprehensive, free source to uncover what programs companies use: Stackshare.io

Applications are grouped according to business function. Take a look at Uber's tech stacks below. Recognize any programs? One can assume Uber requires its current and future employees to be proficient in these programs. You will notice that some programs probably require training and certification.

Uber's tech stack for Application Development & Data Management:

Uber's tech stack for Operations:

Uber's tech stack for user intelligence and payment processing:

Reverse engineer a company's tech stack to find out what program skills they demand.

Suppose E-Commerce interests you as a career field. Let's see what program skills E-Commerce leaders are utilizing:

Amazon

Wayfair

Ebay

Let's say you are more driven toward the field of architecture. Since Stackshare's database contains mostly web-based industries, we surveyed career postings by architectural industry leaders, including Gensler and Perkins & Will. Software knowledge requirements are explicitly stated (in addition to traditional four year training programs). From the job postings, we gathered that the architectural industry's tech stack includes: Revit, SketchUp, Building Information Modeling (BIM), V-Ray, Grasshopper, Rhino, AutoCAD, 3D Studio MAX, PhotoShop, InDesign and Illustrator.

Once you find out what software your desired industry demands, then one can seek out certifications which will demonstrate proof of skill sets. Sometimes referred to as "badges," these certifications can be added to resumes and email signature titles. Demonstrable skills sets, in addition to or in lieu of traditional college degrees, can make the difference in competing for internships and jobs.

In a future post, we will share a boat load of available, self-driven certifications students can pursue and earn. Currently, a PCCAPS student project team is developing a first-of-its-kind database of these skill certifications. Some are completely free. Others are free to prepare for but charge a fee for the certification test.

Popular, High Demand Software Knowledge

Based on feedback from PCCAPS company partners and industry mentors, below is a sample of commonly desired, software certifications & certification providers by industry or department. According to Salesforce, adding Salesforce Trailhead badges to ones resume "leads to competitive salaries. On average, jobs with Salesforce skills pay more than $70,000 per year." According to Park City School District's Career and Technical Education partners in construction, starting salaries for high school students average $10 more an hour if a student can demonstrate proficiency in Revit or SketchUp.

Coding / Applications, Webdesign, Hosting

HTML, CSS, JAVA, Python, PHP, Bootstrap - w3schools

Data Management, AI, Cloud Computing, Autonomous Systems - Udacity

Engineering/Architecture

Revit, Fusion, 3DS Max, AutoCAD, 360 Inventor, Maya - Autodesk

Project Management / Operations

AWS Certification - Amazon

Scrum - Scrum Alliance

PMP - Project Management Institute

Organizational Efficiencies - LinkedIn Learning

Digital Design / Media Production

Graphic Design - Adobe Suite