- Soft Skills
- What Are Soft Skills?
- What Are Leadership Skills?
- What Are What Are Hybrid Skills?
- What Are Teamwork Skills?
- What Are Communication Skills?
- What Are Organizational Skills?
- What Are Personal Skills?
- What Are Interpersonal Skills?
- What Are Decision Making Skills?
- What Are Negotiation Skills?
- What Are Creative Thinking Skills?
- What Are Adaptability Skills?
- What Are Internal Analysis?
- What Are Multitasking Skills?
- What Is Professional Networking?
- What Is Nonverbal Communication?
- What Are Critical Thinking Skills?
- What Is Emotional Intelligence?
- Hard Skills
- What Are Hard Skills?
- What Are Technical Skills?
- What Are What Are Life Skills?
- What Are Social Media Skills Resume?
- What Are Administrative Skills?
- What Are Analytical Skills?
- What Are Research Skills?
- What Are Microsoft Office Skills?
- What Are Transferable Skills?
- What Are Clerical Skills?
- What Are Computer Skills?
- What Are Core Competencies?
- What Are Collaboration Skills?
- What Are Conflict Resolution Skills?
- Whate Are Mathematical Skills?
- Desired Traits
- What Are Skills Employers Look For?
- What Are Inductive Reasoning?
- What Are Problem Solving Skills?
- What Are Active Listening Skills?
- What Are Management Skills?
- What Are Attention To Detail?
- What Are Detail Oriented Skills?
- What Are Domain Knowledge?
- What Is Professionalism?
- What Are Rhetorical Skills?
- What Is Integrity?
- What Are Persuasion Skills?
- How To Start A Conversation
- How To Write A Conclusion For A Research Paper
- Team Player
- Visual Learner
- Specific Skills
- What Is Figurative Language?
- What Are Rhetorical Strategies?
- What Is a Subject Matter Expert and What Do They Do?
- What Is A Differentiation Strategy
- What Is Job Order Costing
- What Is Situational Analysis
- Plan Of Action
- Report Format
- Law Of Diminishing Marginal Returns
- Administrative Duties
- Giving A Presentation
- Deductive Reasoning
- Calculations
- How to Calculate Probability
- How To Find A Percentile
- How To Calculate Weighted Average
- What Is The Sample Mean?
- Hot To Calculate Growth Rate
- Hot To Calculate Inflation Rate
- How To Calculate Marginal Utility
- How To Average Percentages
- Calculate Debt To Asset Ratio
- How To Calculate Percent Yield
- Fixed Cost Formula
Find a Job You Really Want In
- Soft Skills
- What Are Soft Skills?
- What Are Leadership Skills?
- What Are What Are Hybrid Skills?
- What Are Teamwork Skills?
- What Are Communication Skills?
- What Are Organizational Skills?
- What Are Personal Skills?
- What Are Interpersonal Skills?
- What Are Decision Making Skills?
- What Are Negotiation Skills?
- What Are Creative Thinking Skills?
- What Are Adaptability Skills?
- What Are Internal Analysis?
- What Are Multitasking Skills?
- What Is Professional Networking?
- What Is Nonverbal Communication?
- What Are Critical Thinking Skills?
- What Is Emotional Intelligence?
- Hard Skills
- What Are Hard Skills?
- What Are Technical Skills?
- What Are What Are Life Skills?
- What Are Social Media Skills Resume?
- What Are Administrative Skills?
- What Are Analytical Skills?
- What Are Research Skills?
- What Are Microsoft Office Skills?
- What Are Transferable Skills?
- What Are Clerical Skills?
- What Are Computer Skills?
- What Are Core Competencies?
- What Are Collaboration Skills?
- What Are Conflict Resolution Skills?
- Whate Are Mathematical Skills?
- Desired Traits
- What Are Skills Employers Look For?
- What Are Inductive Reasoning?
- What Are Problem Solving Skills?
- What Are Active Listening Skills?
- What Are Management Skills?
- What Are Attention To Detail?
- What Are Detail Oriented Skills?
- What Are Domain Knowledge?
- What Is Professionalism?
- What Are Rhetorical Skills?
- What Is Integrity?
- What Are Persuasion Skills?
- How To Start A Conversation
- How To Write A Conclusion For A Research Paper
- Team Player
- Visual Learner
- Specific Skills
- What Is Figurative Language?
- What Are Rhetorical Strategies?
- What Is a Subject Matter Expert and What Do They Do?
- What Is A Differentiation Strategy
- What Is Job Order Costing
- What Is Situational Analysis
- Plan Of Action
- Report Format
- Law Of Diminishing Marginal Returns
- Administrative Duties
- Giving A Presentation
- Deductive Reasoning
- Calculations
- How to Calculate Probability
- How To Find A Percentile
- How To Calculate Weighted Average
- What Is The Sample Mean?
- Hot To Calculate Growth Rate
- Hot To Calculate Inflation Rate
- How To Calculate Marginal Utility
- How To Average Percentages
- Calculate Debt To Asset Ratio
- How To Calculate Percent Yield
- Fixed Cost Formula
The skills necessary to find a job in a field in software development, project management, or information-technology typically require applicants to have a good understanding of domain knowledge. Domain knowledge is a broad term so it can be challenging to understand exactly what it means. In this article, we go into detail on domain knowledge and how it can aid you in job exploration, in landing the job you want, and how to best highlight your abilities in your resume or cover letter.
What is domain knowledge?
Domain knowledge is defined as the knowledge of a specific, specialized discipline, profession, or activity, in contrast to general knowledge. In other words, the term domain knowledge is used to describe the knowledge of specialists or experts in a particular field. For example, in software engineering, domain knowledge can apply to specific knowledge about a particular environment in which the target system operates.
Typically, those with domain knowledge work in a specialized field. When developing software for any given industry, it’s important to recognize the significant differences between industries. For example, software for a finance company will look drastically different than software for a pharmaceutical company. Finance companies need to worry about the numbers, tracking finances and ensuring payments and transfers are done appropriately. Pharmaceutical companies might need to focus on appropriate legal, medical, and regulatory reviews and the software they used must take that into consideration for quality purposes.
Domain knowledge is significant and valuable to organizations because it is usually a targeted skill learned from software developers. When a specialist has domain knowledge and can translate that knowledge into computer programs and active data, it can transform software and ensure it is specialized for a particular field, making it extremely valuable for end users. With the type of technology available in the market these days, ensuring software is specifically tailored for your audience can make all the difference against competitors. That’s why domain knowledge if such a valuable and sought-after asset.
Domain knowledge can be used to describe a variety of fields, but some of the most popular domains are finance, retail, telecom, legal, medical, sports, education, and more.
The value of domain knowledge and how to improve
Domain knowledge is a niche skill that can bring you an abundance of value, if used properly. The first way you can use domain knowledge to your benefit is using it when negotiating a job offer. Domain knowledge can be a skill you didn’t even think you had. I you have significant experience or knowledge about how a certain industry operates, it can often be translated into a job in the same industry. For example, if you have worked in the finance sector for any amount of time, then apply for a job providing software to a finance audience, your work experience insight could be invaluable for software development. You will know the ins and outs of the process and what the audience you’re targeting is looking for. You’ll be able to articulate the pain points this audience experiences and what they really want to see when they’re using a specific type of software. Be sure to prioritize and use this to your advantage when you negotiate your employee contract.
Since this is a valuable skill it’s important to know the ways of how to build domain knowledge to the best of your ability in an industry of your choosing. These tips can be applicable for an industry you’re already familiar with or an industry entirely new to you.
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Research the specific knowledge that is most beneficial to build. Planning is the most important part of this process to ensure you have a targeted plan to build your knowledge efficiently. Thanks to the digital era, there is a wide variety of knowledge to consume and it’s easy to become overwhelmed. Make a short list of questions or topics you’d like to dive into further, which will allow you to build knowledge in a structured way. When you do your research, be sure you are looking at legitimate websites that offer up-to-date and trustworthy information. Even better, go straight to a personal source, if at all possible.
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Ask a lot of questions. Knowing theright questions to ask is a skill in itself. As you dive into your research, write questions down as they come. Once you have all of your questions written down, go over them and condense. Some questions might have been answered as you continue your research, but others may not be clear. Then, see if you can find someone in the industry or field of your choosing to ask. Questions can be important to clarify what you’re learning or how certain processes work.
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Extend your studies by taking classes. One of the most efficient way to improve domain knowledge is to sign up for a class. This class can be for general learning like a course at a local community college, or you can take a more specializzed class that may result in a specific certifications which you can add to your resume for additional credentials. Your decision will be impacted by where you are in your domain knowledge journey and what knowledge you’re looking to obtain. Taking a course will also put you in a classroom with a knowledgable profession to whom you can ask questions, as well as like-minded students that may have similar ambitions as you.
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Network and attend industry events. There are plenty of in-person or online industry events you can register for and attend. These events can range from free to paid, but depending on which you choose, will give you a plethora of knowledge to choose from. Attending an event gives you the opportunity to sit in on specialist-led sessions that can build your knowledge in short bursts and typically provide you with content you can reference after the fact. It also gives you the ability to network with like-minded professionals and hopefully build a network of people you can tap for additional knowledge once the event is over.
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Organize your research. As you continue on your knowledge building journey, it’s important to stay organized. Building a knowledge base for yourself that you can refer back to and continuously update is one of the best ways to keep your information organized and easily accessible. A knowledge base doesn’t need to be fancy or complicated. Opening up a spreadsheet and putting everything in there can work just fine. Printing out your information and putting it into a binder is another method you can consider. Whatever your method, be sure you organize your information so that it’s easily accessible later.
Domain knowledge in the workplace
Domain knowledge can sometimes be an underrated skill for programmers, so it’s important to use it wisely in the workplace. Domain expertise can be hard to come by. True domain expertise requires both a considerable amount of study and experience. You can use your domain knowledge to heighten your expertise and value within any organization.
One way to do this is to volunteer to train new employees. You can compile the high level points of your domain knowledge in a presentation which can be used to train new members of your team or educate others across the organization who may not have the specific knowledge you do. It can also be valuable as a written resource, like a playbook or general FAQs that you can share company-wide.
Offering up your knowledge in an accessible way not only highlights you as the credentialed expert in the field, but it can tap you in ways you might have not considered. For example, marketing may want to interview you for your knowledge for a content piece to post on the website. Executives might reach out to you for your insight and expertise in a specific topic. Developers may want you to test ideas they are discussing to make sure it will meet the needs of the specific industry you’re targeting.
Highlight domain knowledge on your resume or cover letter
In order to make your resume stand out, especially now that we are in the digital age, it’s imperative that you upskill yourself and arm yourself with as much domain knowledge as you can. Once you’ve acquired this type of knowledge, it’s equally as important to articulate it on your resume and cover letter for potential job opportunities, even if it’s an entry-level position. It might be tempting to rate yourself on a scale, but it’s actually far more effective to describe what you can actually do and what you do at your current position. You can easily articulate this in the description of your positions.
Wrote scripts (in JavaScript) to stand up the initial foundation of the current software sold globally to six of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies.
Remember that this is a chance to sell yourself, but ensure you’re selling yourself appropriately and not undervaluing yourself or promising skills you may not be able to attain for the position you’re applying for. It’s okay to keep things high-level if there is a lot of detailed associated with any given project. This will give you an opportunity to discuss your technical skills in further detail during your interview.
Domain expertise and knowledge is a critical skills for many careers and industries. Having the understanding of the inner workings, processes, procedures, and other key aspects of any business is incredibly valuable. Having that insider knowledge puts you in an optimal spot to succeed in job opportunities, in the workplace, and throughout the remainder of your career.
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