Where does this data come from?

From public applicant-tracking job boards (such as Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, Workday, and Teamtailor) — the skills, tools, certifications, and company names that appear in real job postings. It is a dated, sampled hiring signal, not total market demand, not a salary, and not a return-on-investment figure. RoleMath never scrapes job-board salary or publishes demand counts.

Do I need a certification to get a tech job?

It depends heavily on the role, and the data shows it. In our sample, network-administrator postings named CCNA dozens of times and help-desk postings named Security+ and CompTIA A+ often — so for infrastructure and support roles, named certs are common. AI/ML postings, by contrast, named no certifications at all, and software-developer postings named very few — these roles list demonstrable skills (Python, machine learning, AWS, Kubernetes) instead. Use the per-role breakdown above rather than a blanket "yes" or "no."

Does a bigger posting count mean more jobs are available?

No. The posting count is a sample-size disclosure — how many public postings RoleMath collected for that role in this window — not a measure of total openings or market demand. A larger sample means a more stable signal, nothing more.

Employer hiring signal, cited

What tech employers actually ask for

Not a salary guess, and not a demand stat — the skills, tools, and certifications employers actually name in public job postings, by role. Across 22 tech roles we read 3,728 public postings (June 2026)and counted what they ask for. It’s a dated sample, disclosed as one — never scraped salary, never a count of “open jobs.”

The cert question, answered with data

Do employers actually name certifications? It depends on the role.

Of 22 roles, employers named at least one certification in 18 and named none in 4. Infrastructure and support roles lean on named certs; AI/ML and software-development postings lean on demonstrable skills instead.

Roles that name certs most	Top cert (mentions)
Network Administrator	CCNA (42)
Project Coordinator	PMP (39)
Help Desk Technician	Security+ (21)
Technical Support Engineer	Security+ (16)
IT Security Operations Specialist	Security+ (16)
Cloud Engineer	Security+ (11)

Named no certifications in this sample: AI Specialist, Sustainability Technology Specialist, Business Applications Consultant, Cloud Support Associate— here employers listed skills, not certs. (See AI titles for the AI/ML detail.)

By role — with the sample behind it

What employers name, role by role

Software Developer

1,112 postings

Skills & tools named

Python · 467AWS · 387Kubernetes · 344Software development · 320TypeScript · 318React · 275Java · 266API · 239Azure · 195GCP · 192GitHub · 190JavaScript · 177

Certifications named

Security+ · 4

Example companies in the pool (alphabetical): 1Password, Affirm, Airbnb, Anthropic, AnyDesk, Asana, Automox, Aviatrix

What tech employers actually ask for

Do employers actually name certifications? It depends on the role.

What employers name, role by role

Software Developer

AI Specialist

Technology Customer Success Manager

Cloud Engineer

Technical Support Engineer

IT Security Operations Specialist

Project Coordinator

Data Analyst

Network Administrator

Incident Response Analyst

SOC Analyst

Help Desk Technician

Junior Systems Administrator

Cybersecurity Analyst

Field Network Technician

IT Support Specialist

Sustainability Technology Specialist

Threat Intelligence Analyst

Business Applications Consultant

Network Security Engineer

Network Automation Engineer

Cloud Support Associate

The hiring signal, answered honestly

Turn the signal into a plan