Explore KSACs by Pathway
In late 2025, the Partnership pulled together members of industry from across tech to share how the in-demand skillsets for entry-level roles in their fields have changed in the last two years. The Knowledge, Skills & Abilities and Credentials (KSACs) below reflect their feedback on entry-level expectations, especially in a tech workplace increasingly shaped by AI.
1. Database, Networking, Distributed System Fundamentals
| Label | KSAC Description | Bloom's Taxonomy Level | |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | Ability to normalize a database through 3rd normal form. | ability | 3 |
| b | Define various types of databases | knowledge | 3 |
| c | Ability to perform database schema design. | ability | 3 |
| d | Apply SQL data manipulation language such as Select (From), Insert, Update, Delete, JOIN (inner, outer, full, left, right), Where, Group By, Order By, etc. | ability | 3 |
| e | Knowledge of HTTP, HTTPS, SSL. | knowledge | 3 |
| f | Describe Infrastructure as code. | knowledge | 2 |
| g | Demonstrate an understanding of cloud architecture and the capabilities of services such as AWS, Azure, IBM, Oracle and Google. | knowledge | 2 |
| h | Ability to install and configure software. | ability | 3 |
| i | Knowledge of computer hardware how compute resources, storage, and networking interact in cloud and on-prem environments. | knowledge | 2 |
| l | Explain data security in terms of authentication, authorization, access and auditing. | knowledge | 3 |
| n | Identify and apply modern transport patterns, secure communication, and API calls. | skill | 2 |
| o | Identify and differentiate structured vs unstructured data. | knowledge | 2 |
| p | Explain how modern distributed systems (microservices, event-driven systems) operate. | knowledge | 1 |
| q | Explain API communication patterns (REST, GraphQL, gRPC). | knowledge | 1 |
| r | Describe cloud-native application design (functions-as-a-service, containers, serverless). | knowledge | 1 |
| s | Explain tradeoffs between relational, NoSQL, and vector databases. | knowledge | 1 |
| t | Describe system observability concepts (metrics, logs, traces). | knowledge | 1 |
| u | Explain data privacy requirements (PII handling, data minimization). | knowledge | 1 |
Credentials
- N/A