5 in-demand skills for EPAM Anywhere talents

The latest report by Upwork reveals that top freelancing skills include copywriting (58%), creative design and interface design (58%), as well as web and mobile software development (51%).

Here at EPAM Anywhere, we welcome Software Engineers and IT specialists with versatile skills to join our platform. In our new post, we'll uncover how to be a successful freelancer at EPAM Anywhere with our curated list of free and useful learning resources.

According to the LinkedIn Global Trends Report in 2019, there are several key factors that influence the decision to switch to a remote freelance job. These are working flexibility, opportunity to travel and get new experiences, and the ability to work in a comfortable setting being a freelancer.

At EPAM Anywhere, IT specialists are able to remote IT jobs in global enterprise companies, maintain full-time workload, and get a nice pack of benefits of an enterprise-level company. Read on to find out how to get a freelance job at EPAM Anywhere and what skills you'll need!

In spite of COVID-19 and quarantine measures, the demand for software engineers (web and mobile) doesn't cease. During the pandemic, 86% of American companies haven't changed their hiring strategies. Moreover, 31% continued to hire more software engineers.

To stay in demand and get a nice freelance job, software engineers must possess a certain skill set:

• Perfect command of one of the programming languages. Python, Java, JavaScript, C#, and PHP are among the top languages in 2020.
• Integrated development environment (IDE) to manage the codebase.
• Popular relational databases like Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle Database, and MySQL.
• Software testing basics.
• Software security basics like popular hacker attacks, encryption algorithms, and cryptography.

What are the most demanded engineering roles today? Hired.com, a tech talent search platform, reported about a 1400% increase in demand for AR/VR Engineers in 2019. Such roles as Gaming Engineer and Computer Vision Engineer got a 147% boost accordingly.

At EPAM Anywhere, we offer vacancies in projects with leading players in the gaming industry, sports retail, FinTech, IT, and more. Rest assured you'll find a project to apply your skills and fulfill your career ambitions.

Last but not least, check out several useful (and free!) courses to boost your software engineering skills from our team:

• A selection of internal EPAM courses for Basic and Intermediate level on BDD, unit testing, Java, JavaScript, and more. The access is granted to EPAM Anywhere freelancers.
• A course by Udemy Coding Interview Bootcamp Algorithms, Data Structures Course offers an opportunity to turn up your mind and prepare before a technical interview.

"The function of design is letting design function." – Micha Commeren, designer.

Professional UX designers are eager to study user behavior and solve problems rather than focus on aesthetics. Essential hard skills for a UX designer include:

• Research skills to identify the target audience and their needs.
• Information architecture to organize the content in a meaningful way.
• Visual communication skills like typography and icons to present the information in an appealing way.

Empathy, knowledge of user behavioral patterns, and problem-solving mindset help UX designers stay ahead of the competition.

To boost the professional level of UX designers at EPAM Anywhere, we offer a variety of internal courses, workshops, and events crafted by EPAM professionals. In addition, we enable access to platforms like LinkedIn learning and getAbstract.

Our list of learning resources to develop hard and soft skills for freelancers in UX design includes:

• YouTube channel DesignSpot with workshops and lectures from leading Product and UX designers.
• A library with free micro-courses on Skillshare helps creative freelancers pick up skills in illustration, motion design, film making, and more.
• A Product Design course on Udacity with self-check, community support, and interactive quizzes to monitor your progress.

DevOps Developers and Cloud Architects are multi-skilled specialists that bridge the gap between software development and IT operations like deployment. Typically, DevOpses are ex-software engineers or system administrators with expertise in software testing, project management, and software development lifecycle (SDLC).

That's why, experience with source control tools, continuous integration and deployment, configuration management tools, and cloud platforms is a must for a DevOps. In addition, DevOps engineers must be great communicators to bring together development and other IT operations teams and facilitate a collaborative environment.

Our DevOps team recommends the following courses to refresh your DevOps knowledge and learn new skills:

• DevOpsMinsk YouTube channel with meetups of DevOps Minsk community. New videos are released every 2 months.
• Professional certification Cloud engineering with Google Cloud on Coursera. The course is free and after you successfully pass the tests, you get a certificate.
• A Version Control with Git course from Atlassian to learn Git and Bitbucket for version control.

An eye for details, technical background, and analytical skills are must-have for software testing engineers. Since software testing engineers work with different stakeholders at different stages of project development, excellent communication skills are a must. They help QAs present the information without any confusion to all project stakeholders.

Here's a couple of useful resources to boost your software testing expertise:

• Internal EPAM Software testing courses on BDD, testing automation, and beginner courses with an introduction to software testing.
• Building test automation framework using Selenium is a step-by-step micro-course with mentoring sessions and an interactive testing system.
• Udacity's Software Testing course for middle QA engineers. That course covers essential topics from code coverage to bug reporting.

A Business Analyst's job doesn't end with gathering requirements and turning them into tasks for a software development team. Business analysts also perform strategic analysis with key project stakeholders to devise a development strategy for new functionality or updating the existing one. Also, BAs work on documentation and sometimes create prototypes to communicate the business idea to a development team. A typical working day is filled with communication with stakeholders, product owners, developers, UX designers, and other team members.

Recently, we shared the extra skills for a business analyst that'll help you stay competitive in the job market. Also, we'd like you to check out some of the helpful resources:

• EPAM's Business Analysis Community with meetups and workshops, personal mentoring sessions, and initiatives that boost the BA community all around the globe.
• Strategic Business Analysis specialization on Coursera for senior-level BAs that teaches forecasting, calculating lifetime value of customers, and more.
• Business and Data Analysis Skills course that teaches how to use spreadsheets for analytics and effective visual presentation.

Do you want to work as a freelancer on a full-time basis, get perks and bonuses of in-house EPAM specialists, and maintain a perfect work-life balance? We're always upon the look for T-shaped software engineers and IT specialists willing to bring their expertise to our projects.

Join EPAM Anywhere as a full-time freelancer to work on worldwide projects in versatile industries: from retail and informational technologies to insurance and FinTech industries.