Some people might regard summer as a time to relax, reflect, and schedule a few vacations. For many technologists, however, the drive to adopt new skills and projects never stops. Given the massive commitment of resources and time necessary to learn new skills, technologists are usually curious about which ones are truly in demand by employers.

To answer that question, we turn (as we so often do) to Burning Glass, which collects and analyzes millions of blog postings from across the country. Based on data from the past 90 days, it’s clear that employers during this quasi-post-pandemic period are hungrier than ever for technologists who can manage projects, databases (via SQL), and the software development process as a whole:

Project management is always a useful skill to learn; project managers with a good deal of experience can easily earn six-figure salaries, making it a lucrative skill, as well. However, it’s potentially lucrative because it demands a good deal of knowledge; you need to master the technical aspects of projects, as well as possess the soft skills (such as empathy and communication) to make teams function smoothly.

During any interview for a project-management job, keep in mind that project manager interview questions about soft skills and hard skills will crop up. It always pays to prepare a few stories that show how you managed your way through project challenges, including inter-team conflict. When designing your project manager résumé, your experience section should highlight your accomplishments utilizing these skills, as well.

Project management is also one of those technology professions where certifications can potentially come in useful. For example, the Project Management Professional (PMP) pops up in job postings with fair frequency. Keep that in mind if you’re debating whether to embark on this management career path.