Freelancing in the field of technology is not unheard of. However, in recent times, there is a high surge in the demand for freelancers. Sincere thanks to the skilled labor void created after lay-offs at Big Tech (FAANG i.e. Facebook (now Meta Platforms), Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google)  as well as other companies. It is noteworthy that only people with meticulous skill sets can fill up this void. Freelancers, today, take up both short-term as well as long-term contracts. In order to make good money and keep up with the demands of the clientele, it is imperative to keep polishing your skills. Along the same lines, Cybertech brings to you a list of spectacular seven most in-demand tech skills for the freelancers out there. You can find a comprehensive list of the most demanded 10 digital skills tech companies on our website. But before that, let’s understand what’s in this blog for freelancers. So, without any further ado, let’s get started.

1. Web design

Web designers build websites, creating the appropriate functionality and look using the most in demand programming languages like HTML and JavaScript and graphic design software like Adobe Photoshop. The responsibilities of a freelancer practicing web design are enumerated below:

• Creating website designs. 

• Producing sample sites. 

• Meeting with clients to discuss requirements and/or project progress.

• Demonstrating and receiving feedback about draft sites.

• Keeping up to date with recent technological and software developments.

• Developing skills and expertise in appropriate software for the most in demand programming language such as HTML and Javascript.

• Creating products that are user-friendly, effective, and appealing.

• Digital retouching and image editing.

• Working as part of a multidisciplinary team. 

Sounds great, no? Well, web designers are paid generously well compared to other freelancers engaged in a variety of domains. In addition, you get to tap into the creative side of your brain. 

2. UX/UI design

You get to feed your creative side. From graphics to color schemes, UX/UI design jobs let you use artistic skills in your day-to-day work. If you have an excellent aesthetic sense and are detail-oriented in your design approach, then doing freelance in the domain of web design might be a good match. Plus, UX/UI designers who work for agencies rarely get bored, because most projects require something new. Best of all, being a UX/UI designer enables you to not only work with websites every day but also to shape the way people interact with the web. Plus, these days, a customer's first impression of a company is often through its website rather than print materials such as business cards or marketing mailings. You get to work in a growing industry with sophisticated technological tools. 

3. Full-stack development

It refers to end-to-end application software development, including the front end and back end. Herein, the front end consists of the user interface, and the back end takes care of the business logic and application workflows. Full-stack development with HTML, CSS, and Javascript as the front-end components. For back-end components, we have Django, Java, Python, Node.js, and PHP. 

Full-stack developers must have knowledge of an entire technology stack, i.e., the set of technologies that are used to build an end-to-end application quickly and efficiently. Full-stack developers are trained in building both the front and back end of a website. For example, if they want to build an application using the MEAN stack, they should know how to work with MongoDB, Express, Angular, and Node. Full-stack developers should be able to judge whether the selected technologies are the right choice for their project during the early phases. Some responsibilities of a full stack developer are to:

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• Help in choosing the right technologies for the project development and testing both on the front end and the back end.

• Write clean code across the stack by following the best practices of the tools used.

• Be up to date with the latest technologies and tools to make the best technology usage decisions.

Now, the question arises why should you learn this skill? Well, if you’re a fresher looking to break into your tech career or a mid-career professional looking to enter the world of tech as a freelancer from a non-tech profession, full-stack development can open up a multi-faceted scope for growth. This is because companies no longer want specialists. Their preference is towards full-stack developers who are multi-faceted and cultivate a mindset to constantly upskill themselves. This has made full-stack development one of the most rewarding freelance jobs. Best of all, this skill can help you cultivate versatility. 

4. CMS Development

Content management system (CMS) development is needed to create intuitive, customizable, scalable, and SEO-oriented solutions for handling corporate content. CMS development by Science Soft helps companies ensure prompt and cost-effective web content management and encourage website lead generation. Being into CMS development comes with a lot of perks. Firstly, making maintenance changes and updating software is much easier with CMS as it makes the changes across the whole website a lot quicker. Along the same lines, the implementation of design changes is far more seamless than would have been otherwise. This is all because of the wide range of templates and plugins available. Best of all, the content management systems cut down on the amount of time spent working on a single website giving a developer more time to focus on a number of different client accounts. 

5. Mobile app development

A mobile app developer is a software engineer who specializes in creating apps for smartphones, tablets, and computers. They know coding languages, fix any bugs that arise in the software, and work with graphic designers and data scientists to build their apps. The responsibilities of a freelance engaged in mobile app development are:

• Developing new features and user interfaces from wireframe models.

• Ensuring the best performance and user experience of the application.

• Fixing bugs and performance problems.

• Writing clean, readable, and testable code.

• Cooperating with back-end developers, designers, and the rest of the team to deliver well-architected and high-quality solutions.

In addition to that, a freelancer who is engaged in mobile app development is paid really well. Mobile app development is one of the lucrative ways to widen your scope of learning. Knowing how to create innovative digital solutions to unique problems is a brilliant skill that you can apply to your problems at home. Feeling uninspired by the productivity apps out there? Create your own calendar app design for your iPhone that uses machine learning to schedule your tasks according to your past activity. Hence, it is fulfilling and fun to freelance as a mobile app developer.

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6. Manual testing

These professionals test the functionality of the software without the help of automated tools. They ensure the software works correctly in various scenarios and note any bugs or issues along the way. A freelance manual tester has to engage himself in the following:

• Analyzing the technical characteristics of equipment systems. 

• Evaluating written code to ensure it meets project specifications. 

• Developing quality assurance strategies and organizing phased testing with QA engineers.

• Monitoring errors in the system and discussing them with other colleagues.

• Helping with bug detection and fixing.

• Conducting product testing after its presentation.

• Testing and analyzing the results.

• Collaborating on quality assurance within a team.

There are a plethora of perks to being a freelance manual tester. We know that using automated tests to emulate every single scenario related to a feature can be time-consuming. Manual testing allows testers to spend less time concentrating on emulating each unique user path possible and more time thinking about edge cases for complex features and functions. However, you can often use datasets to reuse the same automated test script to try different test cases without having to rewrite every single line of code. By engaging yourself in this domain, you get to detect errors in your code. In addition to that, it will enhance your knowledge as a tester.

7. Script and automation

Automation scripts are a list of commands for software that helps automate tasks like sending an email to a customer. Specialists write them in coding languages such as Python and JavaScript. With script and automation as your domain, you get to increase the depth and scope of tests to help improve software quality. Lengthy tests that are often avoided during manual testing can be run unattended. They can even be run on multiple computers with different configurations. Automated software testing can look inside an application and see memory contents, data tables, file contents, and internal program states to determine if the product is behaving as expected. Test automation can easily execute thousands of different complex test cases during every test run providing coverage that is impossible with manual tests.

So, these were the spectacular seven in-demand skills that every freelancer should cultivate to broaden his scope in the field of information technology. After all, these lay-offs, what can be expected next is the hiring of these expert freelancers by companies including Big Tech. So, what’s stopping you? Polish your skillset now with these must-have seven skills and get to work on some of the most exciting projects.