The Best New Tech Talent May Not Be Where You Think: A Guide to Hiring from Universities in 2021

Written By Vivek Ravisankar | July 22, 2021

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.

What are students’ strongest language skills?

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.

Around the world, which universities do students with these skills attend?

Technical Talent Is Dispersed Across the U.S.

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

University of Mumbai and PICT Take the Lead in India

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

Students in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Sri Lanka Shine

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

From Ireland to Turkey: University Talent Rises Across EMEA

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.

Methodology:

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.