IT skills for jobs in South Africa – No 1 All-inclusive

IT skills guide

Both hard and soft IT skills need to appear on your resume in order for a hiring manager to get a better picture of you, what you can do (hard skills) and how you will do it (soft skills), as discussed in this IT skills guide.

What you learn through education, training and work experience is called hard skills. These capabilities are specifically relating to the job and can be taught or trained.

For instance, the IT Technician will have experience working with LAN & WAN connectivity and maintenance. This individual is also a problem-solver, decisive and good at managing time (soft IT skills).

The soft skills that are almost always required, in any job ad, include problem solving, teamwork, communication (mostly written) and leadership.

The following IT positions are discussed lower down with all their most required hard and soft skills:

IT specialist
IT Technician
Computer technician
IT project management
Software engineer
Desktop Support
Web developer

Computer technician

Computer technicians are responsible for the installation, repair or maintenance, plus troubleshooting of soft and hardware for businesses and organizations.

Computer technician hard IT skills:

Training
Troubleshooting
Systems analysis
Data collection
Server maintenance
Network architecture
Network security
Installation and configuration
Hardware and software maintenance
Computer technician soft skills:
Customer Support
Communication, written and speech
Manages time well
Analytical

Desktop support

Desktop support technicians advise and guide colleagues to solve problems of desktop computers in their organization, or at the designated remote site.

They troubleshoot and identify, log, and fix technical problems with software applications or network systems to maintain system functionality to be in line with business goals.

Desktop support technicians install or work on installed, PCs, networks, telephone systems and peripherals and they maintain them routinely.

Desktop support hard IT skills:

Troubleshooting
Mac OS
NTP, SMTP, SNMP
DNS, IPv4, TCP
ICMP, UDP
Troubleshooting Networks
Software Support
Software Upgrades
MS Office
Windows OS
Linux OS

Desktop support soft skills:

Efficient
Analytical
Perceptive
Interpersonal
Communication
Problem-solver
Active listening
Collaborates easy
Manages time well

IT Technician

IT technicians install, maintain and repair the software and hardware components of company computers. IT technicians may work onsite, through remote access or site visits.

IT Technician hard IT skills:

IT troubleshooting
Technical support, onsite or remote
Inspection of equipment and related materials
Diagnosis of software bugs
Computer operating systems
LAN & WAN connectivity and maintenance
Enterprise Computer Systems
Technical and hardware components
Project Management
Coding languages, such as: JavaScript, Python, HTML5, CSS, PHP, SQL, C++, Ruby, .NET.
Operating systems, such as: iOS and Linux, Windows, masOS, or Android.
Application and desktop software development, such as: Android/iOS Software Development Kit, Angular, Android/iOS UX and UI, SQL, Xcode development, Github, React.js.
Network security, such as: Cloud security, malware analysis, intrusion detection, secude code development, data and file encryption, CEH, OSCP, CISA, GCIH,
Cloud computing, such as: Oracle or Azure, Google Cloud, Amazon Web, Kamatera or AWS,.
eCommerce Platforms, such as: Shopify or OpenCart, WooCommerce, BigCommerce or Magento.
Data analysis, such as: OLAP, data queries, data cube technology, raw data processing and integration, data structures and algorithms, Tableau.
AI integration and application, machine learning, and / or natural language processing.

IT Technician soft skills:

Social and friendly
Team player
Conceptual
Communication
Problem-solver
Decisiveness
Time Management
Leadership
Communication
Interpersonal
Active listening
Organizational
Creative thinking
Critical thinking
Project management

IT specialist

The functionality, efficiency, security and diagnostics of systems are reviewed and assessed by IT specialists and these specialists also support colleagues and company staff with computer challenges.

IT specialist technical hard IT skills:

UI / UX
Scripting
Security
Access Management
Network Architecture
Cloud Management
Data Synchronization
Agile Development
Database Administration
Programming Languages
DevOps Debugger 5000 Use
Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator
Front-End & Back-End Development
MS Office e.g. Powerpoint, Excel, Word, Outlook, Access, OneNote.
Google Drive e.g. Slides, Docs, Sheets and Forms.
Writing, including Yoast, SEO, WordPress, journalism, technical writing and ghostwriting.
Spreadsheets e.g. Google Sheets, OpenOffice, Excel, comparative analyses, vertical lookups, macros, pivot tables, link to database, giveaways, customer interaction.
Productivity, such as Zapier or Basecamp, Slack or Trello, Asana or Todoist.
Quickbooks.
Graphical, including Acrobat and Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign,, Free Hand or Corel Draw.
Web. HTML, WordPress, Content Management Systems (CMS), CSS, Javascript.
Enterprise Systems e.g. payment processing and automated billing, enterprise resource planning (such as like SAP, Oracle), customer relationship management such as Oracle Netsuite or Salesforce and business continuity planning.
Mathematics
Research
Computer: PowerPoint, MS Office, Google Drive, spreadsheets and databases,, email and social media.
Programming :QL, Java, C++, HTML, JavaScript, XML, C, Perl, Python, PHP, Objective-C, AJAX, ASP.NET, Ruby ( either a focus on Java, and Python).
Project management
Video creation

IT specialist technical soft skills:

Time management
Creative Thinking
Critical thinking
Data analysis
Problem Solver
Decisiveness
Team player

IT project management

In IT project management jobs in South Africa, the information technology project manager will plan, by coordinating production releases and roll-outs, organizing and seeing through technical projects, by delegating tasks to the necessary employees.

IT project manager hard IT skills:

Managing risk and quality
Budget and cost control
Programming languages
IT architecture
IT project manager soft skills:
Decisiveness
Negotiation
Leads well
Coaching
Problem solver
Interpersonal
Management
Project management
Organizational skills
Computer skills
Manages time well
Communication, written and speech

Software engineer

Software engineers focus on applying the principles of engineering to software development.

Using software programming languages, software engineers analyze and modify software and design, construct and test end-user applications that meet user needs. Software engineering is a side-branch of computer science.

Software engineers use these hard skills:

AI
IoT
Coding
Technical
Computer
Debugging
Cybersecurity
App development
Project management
Machine learning
Agile development methodologies
Object-oriented programming
Programming Languages:
Java
Python
C, C++
SQL
R
Go
PHP
Kotlin
Solidity
JavaScript

Software engineers use these soft skills:

Manages time well
Organizational
Leadership
Conceptual
Creative
Teamwork
Decisiveness
Problem solver
Communication

Web developer

Web developers design and build websites. They are responsible for a website that will meet the brief in terms of good visual design, performing specific services, while also running smoothly on all devices.

Web developers need these hard skills: