Just about every web developer must now be comfortable at least consuming APIs, if not creating them. This trend now shows itself in job titles including "API" and "mashup," and more often in the requirements and experience section of job listings.
Consider growth in the number of mashup jobs listed on job search site Indeed. Then compare it to the trends we noted in early 2007.
Some recent examples:
- Mashup software provider JackBe has a listing for an Enterprise Mashup Engineer (which strangely includes no mention of "API")
- A Fortune 500 company wants an API Technical Writer, showing the importance of documentation
- In June we covered the new job requirement: experience building RESTful APIs
At a time when marketers are discovering APIs, it's safe to say the interest in moving beyond developers. But it's still a highly technical requirement, which means those with the skills are in demand. Just look at the glut of job listings for Amazon Web Services.
[...] for a developer ecosystem building around it. It is a win for developers, too, since we are seeing more jobs requiring API experience. Participating in beta programs like this can give one a firsthand account of the process in [...]