In order for university graduates from STEM subjects to be able to work productively as IT specialists in a corporate environment as quickly as possible, they should know and be able to use the most common technologies and tools . Below we highlight the most important topics and refer to resources to learn them quickly.
How do new employees quickly become productive?
Companies are currently increasingly looking for IT specialists. In this competitive environment, employees with professional experience who are willing to change jobs are quite rare. At the same time, graduates from universities and technical colleges are entering the market. They have previous experience, but still need a 1-2 month training phase to learn the most relevant techniques and tools from the company environment. At Skillbyte, we have developed a curriculum that university graduates from technical courses go through directly after being hired so that they can quickly work productively in the company environment.
So how do new IT employees – software developers, administrators, DevOps, Big Data, frontend, backend and full-stack developers – become productive as quickly as possible? Which tools do they need to master in order to work effectively with other employees and customers?
In the following, we would like to introduce our Skillbyte curriculum for new IT employees in our multi-part series of articles. On request (blog comment, email to [email protected] or by phone at 02234 – 25 09 040) we also provide training materials and conduct coaching sessions for your employees.
IT Skills Basics
The following terms and topics are basic knowledge in the IT field and are used in almost all IT projects. These topics should be understood in order to be able to analyze problems and develop solutions.
1. SQL – Structured Query Language
SQL is THE standard for creating, maintaining and querying relational databases. SQL is used whenever databases are used and new storage solutions (e.g. Apache Hive – SQL queries on HDFS data structures) often rely on the well-known SQL standard that has been tried and tested for decades.
Resources:
- https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQL
- https://www.udemy.com/the-complete-sql-bootcamp/ (Online course + exercises)
- Book tip: SQL – Short and Sweet (Link to Amazon)
2. GIT – version control
IT professionals often develop source code. This must be stored, merged, secured, shared and managed. The GIT tool is almost ubiquitous in the IT world and the high popularity of Github.com and Gitlab.com has contributed to GIT being used almost everywhere in companies. Therefore, understanding and using GIT is essential for IT professionals to work together with other team members. The basics (checkout, checkin, push) are quickly learned and the more complex functions (branching, merging, gitflow) can be learned on the job with colleagues.
Resources:
- https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Git
- https://www.udemy.com/git-complete/ (Online course + exercises)
- Book tip: Git: Decentralized version management in teams – basics and workflows (link to Amazon)
3. TCP/IP – or how the Internet works
…and the associated terminology such as IP addresses, ports, MAC addresses, switches, routers/gateways, DNS, network address translation, HTTP/S and a basic (!) understanding of packet routing, etc. The functionality of the network of networks and the associated terminology should definitely be part of your IT employee’s vocabulary. This is usually not a problem for computer science and physics students, but career changers often benefit immensely from dealing with this topic. Software and configuration problems are often based on incorrect network settings or can be narrowed down and solved by controlling the flow of communication and packets within the Internet or the company network.
Resources:
- https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet
- https://www.udemy.com/complete-networking-fundamentals-course-ccna-start/ (Online course + exercises)
- Book tip: Computer networks: Basics, functions, applications. For study, training and work (link to Amazon)
4. JSON and CSV – data formats
Similar to SQL, the aim here is to be able to open data in different formats and process them accordingly. Large CSV (comma separated values) or TSV (tab separated values) files are often used for data exchange, especially in the data science field. These can then be opened or imported in various software packages (Excel, Libreoffice, Data Warehouse, Apache Hadoop, SQL / NoSQL databases, Gephi, Tableau, etc.). The JSON format is ubiquitous when exchanging data on the web using REST APIs. These formats should be recognized and the corresponding processing options understood.
Resources:
- https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSV_(file format)
- https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/JavaScript_Object_Notation
- Book tip: Designing Data-Intensive Applications: The Big Ideas Behind Reliable, Scalable, and Maintainable Systems (Link to Amazon)
5. REST API – interfaces between microservices
REST APIs are now offered by almost all components for external communication. Whether it is a web service, SaaS product, server monitoring or even the coffee machine in the office – almost every device has a REST API communication interface through which data can be exchanged. Querying and using REST APIs will therefore play a major role for almost every IT employee.
Resources:
- https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representational_State_Transfer
- Book tip: REST and HTTP: Development and integration according to the architectural style of the web (Link to Amazon)
6. Linux – System structure and use of the command line
Whether you are a developer, administrator, data scientist or data engineer – it is almost certain that everyone will come into contact with Linux as a server operating system. Data must be loaded onto the server and imported, configuration files adjusted or error logs read out. Here, the IT employee should be fluent on the Linux command line (usually BASH) and familiar with the most common tools such as ssh, ls, cp, mv, rm, vi or vim, grep, find, scp, wget, curl, top, sudo, pipe links etc. Navigating in directories, copying, moving and deleting files are part of the basic knowledge. In addition, it often happens that processes have to be automated with a Bash script and automatically triggered cyclically via cron (e.g. a backup of a directory every day at 3:00 a.m.). An additional bonus would be if the employee understands the detailed structure of a Linux system.
Resources:
- https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bash_(Shell)
- https://www.udemy.com/learn-linux-in-5-days/
- Book tip: Bash – short & sweet (Link to Amazon)
7. Cloud computing vs. on-premise data center
Last but not least, an understanding of cloud computing and how it differs from local data centers (on-premises) is part of a company’s basic IT equipment. Cloud services scale well, can often be accessed via REST API and offer a wide range of services out-of-the-box, which can also be booked at very short notice. They are also suitable when certain services or hardware are only needed for a short period of time – for example for a functional test or for the rapid processing of large amounts of data.
On the other hand, legal frameworks often force the use of a local data center that is under the complete control of a company. Even if servers and services are used continuously, it is usually worthwhile to operate in your own data center. Other reasons can be the high volume of data to be processed, low latency or special hardware for certain business processes.
In any case, the differences, risks and opportunities of both concepts should be understood and communicated.
Resources:
In the second part of the series „Tutorial: Basic IT knowledge for DevOps, Big Data, Developer“ we would like to point out the onboarding of new employees with regard to collaboration tools such as ticket and documentation systems.
