Abstract. The present paper has two parts. The first part is a trend analysis from the period 1990– 2004 and the second part is a cross-sectional analysis from the year 2004. In both parts, the purpose was to find the most common technical skills sought in American job advertisements for software developer positions. Unlike in previous researches, also distributed technology skills were analyzed thoroughly because as a consequence of World Wide Web technology, these skills are required now more often than ten years ago. According to the trend analysis, the mean of the number of required technical skills increased from 3.6 to 7.7, and the technical requirements have changed as more versatile. The proportion of distributed technology skills increased very strongly: from 0 % in 1990 to 65.1 % in 2004. According to the cross-sectional analysis, the top five skills sought in 2004 were Windows, Java, C++, SQL, and Unix. In addition, implications to computer science education are considered. Key words: content analysis of job advertisements, need assessment, software developer, technical skills. 1.