By Vivek Ravisankar, CEO and co-founder, HackerRank
Historically, many employers have limited their searches for entry-level technical talent to universities with top-ranked computer science programs. As the world begins to emerge from COVID-19 – with companies hiring in droves and demand for software developers far outweighing supply – it’s an ideal time to rethink that approach. To remain competitive, employers must seek tech talent in new places.
To help them find it, we analyzed more than 1 million certification attempts conducted by university students on HackerRank’s platform, then found which universities around the world have the largest populations of students with these skills–many of which companies are hiring for. This can serve as a guide for companies looking to attract new talent that will power their innovation as global economies reopen.
We started by evaluating student certification success rates in the languages they test themselves on most frequently. Several of these languages – namely JavaScript, Python, Java and Go – are also among the top language skills companies are looking for.
| Student Popularity Rank |
Company Popularity Rank | Skill | Pass Rate |
| 1 | 2 | Python | 61% |
| 2 | - | SQL | 68% |
| 3 | 3 | Java | 71% |
| 4 | 1 | JavaScript | 27% |
| 5 | - | Rest API | 14% |
| 10 | 9 | Go | 28% |
% of certified students globally for the most popular skills.
Python, SQL and Java stay strong; Go goes mainstream: Python is developers’ most preferred language in which to earn certifications, and the second most in-demand by companies. Its versatility means it’s loved by beginner developers and those working on heavy industrial applications alike. SQL skills are crucial for budding data scientists – a role that’s seeing steady growth in demand – and most companies still need these skills to access data stored in a relational database. SQL continues to hold strong among students, and we see similar success with Java certifications. Go is the popular new kid on the block: developed by three Google employees to solve pain points of building with other languages, its speed, lack of huge documentation and concurrency mean it’s gaining traction with big names across the industry including Uber, Dropbox, and (of course) Google.
JavaScript and Rest API skills are less strong among early talent: Despite its widespread use by companies like Netflix, PayPal and Instagram, there is a palpable dislike of JavaScript in the developer community, and its certification success rate hovers at just 27%. Still, it’s the top skill companies are seeking. Meanwhile, companies like Twitter and Slack moving away from REST means developers are less interested in learning it.
As more American companies embrace long-term remote or hybrid work, they have their pick of top tech talent across several U.S. regions – and beyond schools with computer science programs that often top academic rankings, like Carnegie Mellon University or MIT. When we examine practical skills, students at New Jersey Institute of Technology top the charts in four out of five languages, while there are pockets of great talent just outside New York City at State University of New York at Buffalo and Rochester. Moving west, top talent emerges at University of Texas at Arlington and Dallas – notable as some companies open new office spaces in Texas. Oregon State University is another standout.
| Top Universities in the United States
by technical skill
|
|||||
| Rank | Python | Java | JavaScript | SQL | Rest API |
| 1 | New Jersey Institute of Technology New Jersey |
New Jersey Institute of Technology New Jersey |
New Jersey Institute of Technology New Jersey |
University of Texas at Dallas Texas |
New Jersey Institute of Technology New Jersey |
| 2 | University of Texas at Arlington Texas |
University of Texas at Arlington Texas |
Oregon State University Oregon |
State University of New York at Buffalo New York |
Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago Illinois |
| 3 | University of Colorado at Boulder Colorado |
Oregon State University Oregon |
Rochester Institute of Technology New York |
Columbia University New York |
Oregon State University Oregon |
| 4 | University of Maryland at College Park Maryland |
University of Central Florida Florida |
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia |
University of Texas at Arlington Texas |
McGill University Montreal, Canada |
| 5 | Oregon State University Oregon |
University of North Carolina at Charlotte North Carolina |
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Michigan |
University of North Carolina at Charlotte North Carolina |
State University of New York at Buffalo New York |
In India, University of Mumbai leads skilled tech talent pools for Python, Javascript, and REST API, while PICT has the country’s best Java and SQL early talent pools. VIT, Chennai also makes a strong showing across languages. Historically, companies have searched for top tech talent in India only in the IITs, NITs and BITS – especially because hiring managers didn’t have the bandwidth to conduct in-person interviews at more universities in such a large talent market. With the emergence of platforms like HackerRank, this challenge is fading. Now, hiring managers can quickly assess candidates’ skills remotely.
| Top Universities in India
by technical skill
|
|||||
| Rank | Python | Java | JavaScript | SQL | Rest API |
| 1 | University of Mumbai Maharashtra |
PICT, Pune (Pune Institute of Computer Technology) Maharashtra |
University of Mumbai Maharashtra |
PICT, Pune (Pune Institute of Computer Technology) Maharashtra |
University of Mumbai Maharashtra |
| 2 | VIT, Chennai (Vellore Institute of Technology) Tamil Nadu |
VIT, Chennai (Vellore Institute of Technology) Tamil Nadu |
Anna University Tamil Nadu |
University of Mumbai Maharashtra |
Anna University Tamil Nadu |
| 3 | VIT, Vellore (Vellore Institute of Technology) Tamil Nadu |
VIT, Vellore (Vellore Institute of Technology) Tamil Nadu |
MSRIT, Bangalore (MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology) Karnataka |
MAIT, Delhi (Maharaja Agrasen Institute Of Technology) Delhi |
VIT, Chennai (Vellore Institute of Technology) Tamil Nadu |
| 4 | SRM University, Chennai (SRM Institute Of Science & Technology) Tamil Nadu |
LPU, Jalandhar (Lovely Professional University) Punjab |
Savitribai Phule Pune University (formery University of Pune) Maharashtra |
KIIT, Bhubaneswar (Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology) Odisha |
JIIT, Noida (Jaypee Institute of Information Technology) Uttar Pradesh |
| 5 | KIET, Ghaziabad (Krishna Institute of Engineering and Technology) Uttar Pradesh |
University of Mumbai Maharashtra |
VIT, Chennai (Vellore Institute of Technology) Tamil Nadu |
VIT, Chennai (Vellore Institute of Technology) Tamil Nadu |
MSRIT, Bangalore (MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology) Karnataka |
Companies seeking tech talent across other countries in APAC can find highly skilled students in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, at schools including Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology, Binus University and University of Peradeniya. Strong tech talent will likely continue to emerge in this region over the coming years: Indonesia is now among the top ten countries with the most billion-dollar startups, while the young labor forces in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are growing.
| Top Universities in APAC (outside of India)
by technical skill
|
|||||
| Rank | Python | Java | JavaScript | SQL | Rest API |
| 1 | Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology Bangladesh |
Jahangirnagar University Bangladesh |
American International University Bangladesh |
University of Dhaka Bangladesh |
Rajshahi University of Engineering And Technology Bangladesh |
| 2 | University of Peradeniya Sri Lanka |
University of Peradeniya Sri Lanka |
Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology Sri Lanka |
Telkom University Indonesia |
Binus University Indonesia |
| 3 | Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology Bangladesh |
Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology Sri Lanka |
Universitas Gadjah Mada Indonesia |
Institut Teknologi Bandung Indonesia |
University of the Philippines Diliman Philippines |
| 4 | University of Sydney Australia |
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong |
University of Karachi Pakistan |
University of Melbourne Australia |
The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong |
| 5 | The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong |
Shahjalal University of Science and Technology Bangladesh |
Binus University Indonesia |
University of Sydney Australia |
University of Karachi Pakistan |
While traditionally highly-ranked European computer science programs like the University of Oxford and ETH Zurich make appearances, the distribution of early tech talent in Europe is much more widespread than many traditional rankings suggest. Universities in Switzerland, Ireland, Germany and England hold the top honors for students with Python and Rest API skills. For companies looking to expand outside high cost countries, several schools in Egypt, Turkey and Poland offer students with Java and SQL chops.
| Top Universities in EMEA
by technical skill
|
|||||
| Rank | Python | Java | JavaScript | SQL | Rest API |
| 1 | ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Switzerland |
Technical University of Munich Germany |
Alexandria University Egypt |
University of Warsaw Poland |
University College Dublin Ireland |
| 2 | Technical University of Munich Germany |
Istanbul University Turkey |
Helwan University Egypt |
Cairo University Egypt |
Technical University of Munich Germany |
| 3 | University of Oxford England |
Istanbul Technical University Turkey |
University of Bucharest Romania |
University College Dublin Ireland |
ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Switzerland |
| 4 | University College London England |
AGH University of Science and Technology, Cracow Poland |
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm Sweden |
Ain Shams University Egypt |
Sakarya University Turkey |
| 5 | The University of Edinburgh Scotland |
Hacettepe University Turkey |
Ain Shams University Egypt |
AGH University of Science and Technology, Cracow Poland |
The University of Manchester England |
These findings build upon our 2019 analysis of university students’ skills, showcasing the wealth of global tech talent beyond traditional high-ranking programs. Now more than ever, it’s critical for companies to quickly find, attract and hire that talent as they strive to innovate in a digital- and remote-first world.
Between January 2020 and April 2021, HackerRank reviewed more than 1 million certification attempts in 14 skills made by university students. This included 1149 universities from 102 different countries. We included universities with only statistically significant volumes of attempts, including (but not limited to) those like MIT, Stanford University, Harvard University, CalTech and the University of Illinois. From this data, we established a performance-based University ranking for different skills.