What 10 Skills Do European Companies Expect from Their Front-end Developers?

In 2021 it is by no means startling to hear that coding is an in-demand skill throughout the globe. Europe is no exception here, with tens of thousands of job openings posted on professional network platforms every day.

If we were to look at a couple of these front-end developer posts, we would notice a few repeating requirements. The more posts we would analyze, the more precise our picture of European companies' expectations. Unifying threads would inevitably unfold.

Be it in Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, or the Netherlands, specific skill sets are preferable to others and allow you to fill more Web developer positions.

There is no question that a profound understanding of HTML, CSS, and Vanilla JavaScript is fundamental yet complementary competencies can open more doors. The list below, in essence, comprises those additional skills to the mentioned trio that hold the most market value based on the analysis of the job posts.

So, what are these ten skills in addition to HTML, CSS, and Vanilla JavaScript that are the most desirable for front-end developers in the mentioned European countries?

10. SASS— 17%

Mentioned by close to a fifth of the recruiters, SASS opens our list at 10th position. In 17% of all the analyzed posts, this CSS preprocessor was noted as a requirement.

This is understandable, given that it is a well-documented, easily reusable, and comfortable tool. All of this and more often helps users to write CSS faster.

Today, collected data indicates that SASS is a more popular choice than other CSS preprocessors — LESS, CSS-Crush, or Myth.

9. RESTful API — 18%

At the ninth position on this list, we find the ability to handle and work with RESTful APIs. Most APIs of the world are, in fact, RESTful hence the value of having a good comprehension of it.

These APIs are a sort of architectural style that enables communication or data transfer between different machines or software. REST uses multiple standards. These would include JSON, HTML, and HML, too.

REST is the leading choice in both Europe and the World for API implementation. However, it is wise to keep an eye open for GraphQL, as it has rapidly grown in popularity over the past couple of years.

8. Agile Software Development — 20%

One in five posts mentions Agile Methodology.

With four values and 12 principles, Agile offers a lot of flexibility and adaptability for practitioners of this approach. Many companies choose to apply this methodology in their daily routines because of, amongst other reasons, its utility when dealing with unpredictable and rapidly changing environments.

Thus good understanding, certification, or, better yet, actual project management experience with this methodology can only add market value.

7. UI/UX Design — 23%

An eye for aesthetics and a feel for experience are valuable in the craft of web development. UI and UX design ranking 7th illustrate just that.

Being different as User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) designs are, these two often mesh together. And rightfully so, given the amount of overlap between the two.

While companies with more significant budgets can hire entire teams primarily focused on either user interface or experience, smaller companies are not in such a position and put a stronger emphasis, thus on a solid comprehension of both UI and UX design.

6. Angular — 24%

The first but not least JavaScript framework that we find on this list is Angular. Like any framework, it allows programmers to develop applications in general and single-page applications (SPA) in particular.

Even though Angular is not the most preferred framework for the analyzed European companies, learning or having learned it is nonetheless of pronounced benefit. For example, in Germany, Switzerland, and Israel, Angular developers are paid on average the highest salaries compared to React and Vue developers.

5. Git — 26%

Over a fourth of the companies or, more specifically, 26 percent address the importance of knowing how to use git version control.

The relevance of a good understanding of git version control can be perhaps better illustrated by the circle graph below.

According to Openhub, git is the most preferred software to handle projects based on the collected data from just under a whopping 1.5 million projects.

4. TypeScript — 29%

At the ninth position of this list, we find TypeScript, a programming language developed in 2012 by Microsoft.

Typescript has a plethora of additional features to JavaScript and is generally better suited for large-scale projects. Hence it is often highly valued in large enterprises.

A significant aspect of this programming language is that it is a strict syntactical superset to JavaScript, which makes it relatively easier to grasp for those with prior exposure to JS.

3. Vue.js — 30%

In thirty percent of all the analyzed posts, we found mentions of the Vue framework as desirable in a front-end developer's skill set.

It is, nonetheless, very well documented that Vue is a very well documented framework which makes it a popular choice for many companies. Its easy learning curve and intuitive programming style adds to the mix and make it appealing for developers.

Many European companies, therefore, desire knowledge of this open-source framework.

2. English — 45%

The most spoken language in Europe is the second most mentioned requirement by companies hiring front-end developers. This may come as a surprise at first glance, yet it really should not be.

Given the prevalence of the English language in the EU and the world of software development, it is somewhat predictable to see it so high on the list.

Internet is full of valuable written, video, and audio content that is English, whereas many critical professional operations take place in English-speaking environments, too.

Thus there is value in both knowing this language and letting the world know that you know it well.

1. React.js — 64%

React is at the top of our list, with significantly more mentions as a desired skill than any other skill out there. A framework that is widely spread and commonly used.

React has an abundance of packages that help to save a lot of time. In addition to that, it is backed by large corporations, which indicates stability and further development in the future. This suggests that React will stay at the top of this list for many years to come.

The data reflected in this list was collected from 250 random Linkedin posts from the following European countries on 2021–09–19. Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, and the Netherlands (50 posts from each country).

NOTE: This article was originally published by Medium.