BrainStation Releases Results From 2019 Digital Skills Survey

By BrainStation February 11, 2019
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Toward the end of 2018, BrainStation surveyed a wide range of professionals and industry leaders to better understand their day-to-day experience, and to spot trends and shifts in the digital sector. Mission accomplished on both fronts.

We’ll look at some key findings from each discipline below, but you can click here to see the full report.

The Digital Skills Survey covered six professional disciplines and functions:

Digital Skills Survey

These were then broken down further into four areas:

  1. Work experience
  2. Skills and tools
  3. Professional development
  4. Future trends

There were some general findings that were consistent across all disciplines:

  • The majority of digital professionals are working in small teams (fewer than 10).
  • Jira and Trello were the most popular project management platforms.
  • Slack and email remain the most popular forms of workplace communication.
  • Hootsuite is the most commonly used tool for social media management.

Now let’s take a closer look at some of the key findings within each discipline:

Data

Data science courses at BrainStation

  • 79 percent did not start their career in data.
  • Excel was the most widely used tool, at close to 81 percent.
  • Professionals with the title Data Scientist, however, were more likely to use Python.
  • The primary use of data was the optimization of existing platforms and products.
  • 77 percent say they do not work with artificial intelligence.

Click here to read more insights from data professionals.

Design

UX design courses at brainStation

  • 63 percent of Designers began their career in design.
  • 84 percent of Designers design primarily for the web.
  • Sketch and Illustrator were the most popular tools for wireframing.
  • InVision was the most popular tool for prototyping.
  • 89 percent have not yet worked on projects involved voice-based interfaces, and 85 percent have yet to design for the AR/VR space.

Click here to read more about the current design landscape.

Development

Development courses at BrainStation

  • 55 percent of respondents began their career in a field other than development.
  • 8 percent have been programming for five years or less.
  • JavaScript was the most widely used programming language.
  • JavaScript and Python were the languages Developers most enjoy using.
  • 78 percent believe that machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) will have the most impact in the next five to 10 years, but 83 percent have not developed for AI platforms.

Click here to find out more about the day-to-day experiences of Developers.

Marketing

Marketing courses at BrainStation

  • 79 percent of digital marketers use a content marketing channel.  
  • MailChimp was by far the most widely used email marketing platform.
  • 89 percent use Google Analytics to measure their campaign performance.
  • Salesforce is the most popular customer relationship management platform.
  • 68 percent of marketing professionals are using WordPress.
  • 65 percent of Marketers do not work at companies that sell products online.

Click here to read insights from our Marketing respondents.

Product Management

Product management courses at BrainStation

  • 88 percent started their careers in a different field.
  • Over 80 percent are working in an intermediate or higher position level.
  • Data was cited as the most important secondary skill for a Product Manager.
  • 83 percent have not participated in any projects involving voice-based experiences.
  • 87 percent have not been involved in the augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR).
  • 51 percent of respondents believe the internet-of-things will have a significant impact in the next five to 10 years.

Click here for more from our Product respondents.

Executive

Executive training at BrainStation

  • 74 percent said their organization was involved in digital transformation activities.
  • 63 percent said that their digital investments are growing.
  • 89 percent said there are elements of their products and services that did not exist five years earlier.
  • 52 percent said they were looking to invest or currently investing in an online sales platform.
  • 50 percent said they’ll be doing the most hiring in development.
  • 41 percent, however, found development the hardest function to hire for.

Click here for more insights from our Executive respondents.

The survey was extremely well received, and we are very grateful to our Ecosystem Partners, and all the professionals who took the time to complete the Digital Skills Survey.  Thank you.

Digital Skills Survey Partners

Stay tuned for the 2020 edition!