Agile Skills

All about Agile

What is Agile?

“Agile Methodologies” or “Agile skills” describe an iterative approach to software development or other projects. Often adopted as an alternative to waterfall and other traditional sequential development practices. It is meant to help teams work quickly to incorporate feedback and learning through incremental, iterative work.

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What to use Agile skills for

Software Development Projects: Agile is ideal for software development projects of all sizes and complexities, including web applications, mobile apps, desktop software, and enterprise systems, providing a flexible and adaptive approach to managing project scope, schedule, and resources.
Product Development: Agile is used for product development, enabling teams to deliver value to customers faster and more frequently by focusing on delivering working software in short iterations and prioritizing features based on customer feedback and business value.
Team Collaboration: Agile fosters collaboration and communication within development teams and between teams and stakeholders, promoting transparency, trust, and shared ownership of project goals and outcomes.
Risk Management: Agile helps mitigate project risks by breaking down work into small, manageable increments, allowing teams to identify and address issues early and to adapt to changing circumstances quickly and effectively.
Continuous Improvement: Agile promotes a culture of continuous improvement, encouraging teams to reflect on their processes and practices, identify areas for improvement, and experiment with new ideas and techniques to optimize their performance and deliver better results.

What is an Agile developer?

Software Development Professional: An Agile developer is a software development professional who embraces the principles and practices of Agile methodology to deliver high-quality software that meets customer needs and business objectives.
Collaborative Team Member: An Agile developer is a collaborative team member who works closely with other team members, stakeholders, and customers to understand requirements, prioritize tasks, and deliver value iteratively and incrementally.
Adaptive and Flexible: An Agile developer is adaptive and flexible, able to respond quickly to changes in requirements, priorities, and technology, and to continuously improve their skills, processes, and practices to deliver better software more efficiently.
Customer-Focused: An Agile developer is customer-focused, actively seeking feedback and input from stakeholders and customers to ensure that the delivered software meets their needs and expectations and delivers value to the business.
Continuous Learner: An Agile developer is a lifelong learner who stays updated with the latest advancements in software development, including new technologies, tools, and practices, and who actively seeks opportunities for learning and growth to stay competitive in the field.

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Agile skills salaries

Curious about Agile developer salaries? Check out Hired’s Salary Calculator and our most recent tech compensation data report.

Most important Agile skills for tech talent in 2024

Agile Principles and Practices: Mastery of Agile principles and practices, including the Agile Manifesto, Scrum, Kanban, Lean, and other Agile methodologies and frameworks, enabling developers to effectively apply Agile principles and practices to software development projects and teams.
Collaboration and Communication: Strong collaboration and communication skills for working effectively within Agile teams and with stakeholders, including active listening, clear and concise communication, constructive feedback, and conflict resolution, to foster trust, transparency, and shared ownership of project goals and outcomes.
Technical Proficiency: Proficiency in software development tools and technologies, including programming languages, development frameworks, version control systems, build and deployment tools, and testing frameworks, enabling developers to deliver high-quality software that meets technical requirements and industry standards.
Problem-Solving and Adaptability: Strong problem-solving and adaptability skills for identifying and addressing issues and challenges in Agile projects, including critical thinking, creativity, resourcefulness, and resilience, to overcome obstacles and deliver value to customers more effectively.
Continuous Improvement: Commitment to continuous improvement and learning, including reflection, experimentation, and feedback, to optimize team performance, streamline processes, and deliver better software more efficiently and effectively.

Why should you embrace Agile skills?

Flexibility and Adaptability: Agile enables you to respond quickly to changes in requirements, priorities, and technology, and to deliver value to customers faster and more frequently by embracing flexibility and adaptability throughout the development process.
Customer Collaboration: Agile promotes collaboration and communication with customers and stakeholders, ensuring that the delivered software meets their needs and expectations and delivers value to the business.
Cross-Functional Teams: Agile encourages collaboration and teamwork within cross-functional teams, enabling you to leverage the diverse skills and expertise of team members to deliver high-quality software more efficiently and effectively.
Continuous Improvement: Agile fosters a culture of continuous improvement, encouraging teams to reflect on their processes and practices, identify areas for improvement, and experiment with new ideas and techniques to optimize their performance and deliver better results.
Business Value Delivery: Agile focuses on delivering value to customers and stakeholders through working software, prioritizing features based on customer feedback and business value, and continuously iterating and improving to maximize the return on investment and achieve business goals.

Assess tech candidates for Agile skills

Looking for candidates skilled in Agile methods? Technical assessments are a multi-pronged solution. They allow you to streamline the hiring process and reduce bias with tech skill-focused benchmarks.

Hired Assessments offers a library of hundreds of questions and customizable coding challenge campaigns tailored to technical preferences. Centralize and standardize your evaluation process as you surface top talent with specific, hard-to-find skills.

See how Mastercard and Axon used Hired Assessments to vet top candidates. More Customer Success Stories

Are you interested in a new tech job using Agile skills?

After passing Hired skills assessments, candidates have the chance to showcase their skills to employers. They can opt to present an ‘Assessments’ badge on their profile. Candidates may take various assessments including Programming Skills, Full Stack, Backend, Frontend, iOS, Android, Debugging, Dev Ops Generalist, and Dev Ops AWS.