By Prodigy Labs on Aug 3, 2018 8:23:45 AM
Just last year, CNN Money claimed that mobile app development was one of the fastest-growing career tracks with an expected 10-year growth rate of 19% and a median annual salary of $97,100. Sound like the kind of job you'd like to be killin' it in? With the market demand being what it is, you could have it. However, it's important that you know what kind of skills and experience are needed to land your dream mobile app development job and how to get around those requirements if you don't have them through on-the-job experience. Here's a quick overview to help get you started.
What are the most important skills to get an iOS or Android developer job?
Whether you're picking out courses to update your resume or are simply brushing up your skills to step up to better career options, it's important to know what's in demand. But what are the most relevant jobs that virtually every company is looking for? If you take the time to make sure that you're up-to-date on these skills, you can make sure that you'll be able to land that dream job because you'll have the most in-demand skills ready to go. Here's a quick roundup of which skills are most needed for iOS and Android app development jobs.
To rock your next job interview for an iOS mobile app development position, you'll want to make sure you're ready to talk shop about error handling, basic syntax, control flow (if and switch statements), Swift, Objective-C, MVC and Core Data. By knowing these particular aspects of the app development process, you'll be able to talk problem-solving and theory to impress your interviewers, especially given iOS' closed environment.
But if you're considering working in Android mobile app development, there is a much different set of skills you need to develop and brush up on to ensure you're ready to deal with any questions an interviewer throws your way. You'll need to be ready to talk Java, Android Studio, Android SDK, expertise in cross-platform solutions, APIs and a solid understanding of design details.
How many years of experience are necessary to be considered an intermediate or senior developer?
Though you can break into app development with a bachelor's degree or equivalent experience, many developers wonder how long it will take them to break into the big bucks and be considered for promotion into an intermediate or senior developer position. You can expect to enter the market at about $30-45 per hour, with higher levels of education, such as a master's degree, or a few years' experience leading to intermediate levels paying approximately $55-70 per hour and senior developers topping out approaching $80-100 per hour. You'll need several years of experience to reach this point in your career. Not being paid what you're worth? Talk to Darryl, our HR consultant, and see what you could really be bringing home regularly.
What to do if you don't have the required mobile development experience?
There is one thing that can get in the way of your dream job - not having enough work experience on your resume. Fortunately, with the high demand for mobile app developers, there are ways of getting around having an extensive background in a corporate environment. You have a number of other opportunities available to build experience on your resume. Have you tried participating in coding challenges? What about working on an open source project? Have you taken some additional coursework that you can document, such as through MOOCs course certificates or continuing education classes? What about work you've done through people you've networked with? All of these resources are excellent resume builders.
When you make sure you have the right experience and skills for working as a mobile app developer, landing your dream job is easy, but finding that job takes having the right connections with development companies to really make it happen. Ready to get started? Prodigy Labs is ready to help you realize your full potential. Discover more about our company and check out the development jobs we have available.
