5 Tech Roles That You Should Be Thinking About

By Xccelerate

​The massive push to the technology sector by the Hong Kong government has resulted in a huge proliferation of tech startups. The traditional industries in the city like banking, finance, trade, and real estate are being disrupted by such rapid technological changes.  Of course, technology is a very broad sector and encompasses many different skills, roles, and interest areas. Another critical feature of the tech industry is that it keeps evolving swiftly. As a result, new skills are always coming into the picture even as old skills become obsolete. And the need of the hour is constant skills update and learning!  Also, a lot of the new skills are easy to pick up only if you already have a related skill set. Therefore, it’s important to constantly be aware of how the industry is evolving. It’s also important to be open to learning at any time in your tech career.

Xccelerate are well placed in the tech and startup ecosystem to know which of the roles and areas are currently top of the list of tech careers in Hong Kong in 2019.  We recommend you check out their comprehensive breakdown of the overall employment scenario in Hong Kong, the potential for tech in the city, and the top tech jobs in Hong Kong that are on the boom in 2019.  

​Here we’ve picked five exciting tech jobs that you should be thinking about to future proof your career.

fintech

Hong Kong has long been known as a hub for finance. It is now positioning itself as an ideal destination for FinTech startups. FinTech refers to the application of cutting-edge technology to the world of financial services. It includes things like digital wallets, cryptocurrencies, payment banks, and more.

The Hong Kong government has set aside an HK$500 million fund for developing financial services, especially FinTech. Hong Kong’s reputation as a financial hub, its strong laws, and its financial regulations are likely to give it a competitive advantage as an investment destination for major FinTech startups. In fact, last year investment in Hong Kong-based FinTech startups doubled to US$546 million.

FinTech is an excellent option for people who have a background in traditional finance companies but would like to move to the tech industry. They can leverage their knowledge of finance to join exciting FinTech startups.

Data Science & Analytics

Data Science is one of the most upcoming areas in the tech industry. According to a KPMG survey, 81% of enterprises now rely on analytics to improve their understanding of customers. For example, 92% of C-level executives use analytics to get better marketing insights.

Most companies have realised that robust analytics can help them make better decisions. However, analytics is one of those areas where you can generate meaningful insights only when you have the right talent. Companies need people who have a solid problem-solving ability as well as technical knowledge of analytics tools like Tableau, R, and Visual Analytics. That’s why analytics is one of the most sought after tech careers today.
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Data scientists are in demand not just in technology companies but even more traditional sectors like supply chain, finance, and real estate. Therefore, Hong Kong, with its strong services sector, is hiring data scientists and analysts on overdrive.
To get started, we recommend taking on a powerful yet accessible coding language: Python.

TIP: Interested in getting started with Python?  Xccelerate have multiple course offerings - from Python Fundamentals to Intro to Python for Finance.  Check out their full course list here.

UI/UX designer

Technology has now become a big part of people’s lives with apps and websites for daily tasks being a major part of the everyday routine of most people. It’s now more important for companies to keep these apps and websites as simple and easy to use as possible.

That’s the job of UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience) designers to understand how users engage with tech products. They then design products which give customers the simplest yet most attractive layout and the smoothest experience. As all tech companies are competing with many others that offer a similar service, having an intuitive UI/UX has become critical.

Cybersecurity

In today’s day and age, companies across the globe spend over $100 billion on security products. Cyber attacks are increasing in number and becoming more sophisticated. The hacked data is either sold for very high prices in the black market or encrypted for ransom.

Since cyber attacks are becoming more custom and complex, cybersecurity is becoming a major concern for companies. Cybersecurity is evolving very quickly, and companies need to have in-house teams with the right expertise.

As a result, there is a major shortage of cybersecurity experts. According to research, there will be an estimated 3.5 million unfilled positions in the cybersecurity industry by 2021. Hong Kong is no exception to this, with several industries like healthcare and finance which have very precious customer data.  As this data has moved online, it is becoming increasingly vulnerable to cyber threats. As a result, all these industries are hiring cybersecurity experts who are up to date with the latest cyber security trends and tools.

Cloud Specialist

Legacy systems based on proprietary servers are now becoming outdated. They operate on logic which is fast becoming obsolete. Cloud-based servers are much safer, more efficient, and easier to use. They also come up with lesser upfront costs and more scalability.

As a result, many companies in healthcare, banking and finance, and real estate are now moving to cloud-based infrastructure. Many of these companies have customer data which is extremely confidential and prone to cyber attacks.

Therefore, many companies are looking for engineers who have the expertise to migrate from hardware servers to cloud-based servers. These engineers not only migrate the software but also help maintain it. They can also build and operate a system on a cloud-based server from scratch. Since Hong Kong is home to so many services-based companies, the colossal demand for cloud specialists is going to be evergreen.

Inspired to learn more?  Check out the full Xccelerate article for more insights, and contact them for course details!  

Xccelerate

Xccelerate enables students and companies to acquire the skills they need in Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and Software Engineering.  At their campuses in Hong Kong, Xccelerate has trained 700+ professionals and boasts a 91% hiring success rate in their immersive programs.