Python has to be included. The scripting folks will almost certainly want perl. Since we are in an area saturated with higher education, a Lisp/Scheme category might be a good idea. C/C++ is also needed. Internationalization and translation. Performance analysis. Object modeling. XML/XSL/XSLT/XHTML/FOP/RDF/OWL/etc. Parser and grammar development. Zope/Plone/DTML/ZPT. Apache. UI design. UI construction (SWT/Swing/wx/QT). Testing/QA/coverage development/analysis. Almost all of those technologies/skills are ones that we currently use in some form, or that we will likely be needing in the future. I'm not so sure a rigid set of 10/20/30 skills is useful; I'd rather have a 100-plus array of checkboxes, plus free-form fields available for people to specify skills that are unlisted elsewhere. For example, if there's a great hacker out there who really shines in Haskell, and there's a company that's receptive to such skills, there's no reason we shouldn't allow such things to be indicated. Beyond that, being able to see peoples' full range of capabilities helps to narrow the field when recruiting. Having a skills directory where 90% of the crowd has Java or .NET checked off isn't so helpful. Being able to look over a skills directory and see that there's one Java gal who's also into Ruby will indicate to me that she's capable of growth and seeks to improve her repertoire in the search for technical excellence and elegance. So, even if I'm hiring for a mostly-Java position, I'll prefer her because of her breadth and ability to adapt, learn, and grow. That sort of correlation will not come if there's a limited set of possible skills that can be indicated. I hope this is helpful; I don't mean to be a backseat driver here, just giving my perspective as a (hopefully soon-to-be) employer. Chas Emerick 413.519.6365 | cemerick at snowtide.com Snowtide Informatics Systems PDFTextStream: fast PDF text extraction for Java apps and Lucene http://snowtide.com/home/PDFTextStream/ On Dec 14, 2004, at 10:34 AM, A - Z International wrote: > Hi all, > > We are fast developing an on line skills survey for the membership and > would like some input for the computer programming skills section so > you aren't scanning 20-plus specialties on a pull-down chart. What we > need to know is what YOU consider to be the most prevalent skills in > demand by the software industry today so that if a company was seeking > programmers to hire from Hidden-Tech they would see we have the > skilled people here. > > Here are two examples of skills we know are in demand for programmers > -- Java and .NET. > > Any others? I'm collecting the top five or so. > > You can post to the list or email me directly at > az at a-zinternational.com. > > best, > > Amy Zuckerman