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.
7. Software Construction and Analytics
| Label | KSAC Description | Bloom's Taxonomy Level | |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | Identify and evaluate the key components, including data privacy and ethical considerations, of a use-case or similar description of some behavior that is required for a system using the requirements-gathering process. | knowledge | 2 |
| b | Describe the requirements engineering process to elicit and validate behavioral requirements. | knowledge | 2 |
| c | Interpret a use-case or similar requirements model for a simple software system. | skill | 2 |
| d | Identify both functional and non-functional requirements in a given requirements specification for a software system. | skill | 2 |
| e | Apply key elements and common methods for elicitation and analysis to produce a set of software requirements for a small-sized software system. | skill | 3 |
| f | Describe the relative advantages and disadvantages among several major process models (e.g., waterfall, iterative, and agile). | knowledge | 1 |
| g | Describe the different practices that are key components of various process models. | knowledge | 2 |
| h | Differentiate among the phases of software development and understand associated roles and responsibilities of teammates for each. | knowledge | 2 |
| i | Ability to executive phases of software development in iterative and agile manner. | ability | 3 |
| j | Understand how programming in the large differs from individual efforts including a large code base, code reading, builds, context and the documentation of changes. | knowledge | 2 |
| k | Ability to participate in an agile software development team. | ability | 3 |
| l | Ability to work on a team; responsibilities of how each role and how they fit together. | ability | 3 |
| m | Knowledge of the Agile manifesto. | knowledge | 2 |
| n | Understanding the meaning of minimum viable product. | knowledge | 2 |
| o | Knowledge of DevOps. | knowledge | 2 |
| p | Ability to contextualize, modernize, and optimize both legacy and emerging software systems. | ability | 2 |
| q | Apply reverse engineering skills to understand unfamiliar software. | ability | 2 |
| r | Understand product metrics, analytics instrumentation, and event logging. | knowledge | 1 |
| s | Understand MVP thinking in agile product delivery. | knowledge | 1 |
| t | Apply requirements in iterative cycles rather than linear processes. | ability | 2 |
Credentials
- N/A