It is a skills labor-based market - that means getting jobs are highly dependent on the skills you have to contribute to a company. In this digital world, a lot of that ends up in coding, scripting, and cloud computing - cue big tech words related to engineering and algorithms.
Many Millennials feel like they are the last ones who don't know how to code, but here are a few things to put your mind at rest: you can still learn if you want to, it is never too late to learn a skill and second there are still a ton of other important skills in the market.
Outside of things directly related to tech, IT and computers there is a huge demand for project managers, leaders, analytical reasoning, content creation, etc, etc.
Check out these 10 hard skills to add to your resume ASAP - whether you decide to refine them with a course or deepen your knowledge of a skill through your current position.
10 Coding & Scripting
There is a difference between coding and scripting - coding is telling a program what to do whereas scripting is building something from the ground up. This is an important distinction that can lead to long-term job stability.
Of course, to pursue a job related to tech that is based on computer languages, you really need to learn them, refine them and get experience working in them. This isn't a skill you can add today, but it is one that will get you lots of jobs after you work on developing it.
9 Analytical
Analytical reasoning is a vital skill in any workplace, and something you can put on your resume today if you have had a job that requires you to look at the facts, information and data and then make a decision.
This is a skill that can be refined through team management, and project management and ultimately informs decision-making in critical situations. To strengthen this skill, do keep learning about interpreting data and results.
8 Project Management
Project management is a broad skill, and it is also a job title in many offices and companies for seeing through various projects and campaigns. The skill is broad in creating a project, a plan for implementation and seeing it through, but of course, the specifics range between fields of work.
7 IT Skills
IT is not the same as coding, it refers to your ability to troubleshoot technology when things go wrong and know what to do to reset technical issues. Most companies have an IT department, but the more you can do for yourself when an issue arises, the faster you can get back to work and be self-sufficient at work.
6 Marketing
Marketing is a skill that will always have value, it drives traffic to a company and improves business, plus through marketing research entirely new jobs are created to inform companies, make improvements and up the business.
Having skills in marketing means keeping up with the digital age, how to use digital marketing tools and evaluating feedback to improve campaigns and sales.
5 Consulting
To be a consultant is honestly the dream because you get to learn about something you love and then work for companies that are interested in your knowledge. A big area of consulting might come from having experience in education and teaching in a classroom and using that knowledge to inform educational programs, resources and materials.
That is just one example, what hands-on experience do you have that can be used to inform the market?
4 Content Creation
If you have social media, you have the basic skills in content creation and more than likely have experience scrolling through various content. So you know what is interesting, what is trending and how to ride that.
Creating content is something anyone can get into whether it be on social media, or creating written content for websites, what kind of content do you want to create?
3 Management & Leadership
What leadership experience do you have that can be directly translated to management skills? If you have strong emotional intelligence, you would make a great manager by being someone who can listen, support and help others thrive.
Use your leadership experience and apply it to roles in management to lead teams, and make the call.
2 Website Design & Maintenence
You don't have to be a website designer to have skills related to maintaining and updating websites. While scripting a website is an entire job position, maintaining and updating is a skill you can get good at in no time.
Play around with this skill and add it to your resume to add another asset to your toolbelt.
1 Writing
Good writers are hard to come by, yes anyone can do it, but can everything think of a clear, concise and creative way to communicate what needs to be said?
Having clear written content and communications will always be a valued skill for any workplace. Don't just say you have writing experience, show it by backing it up with your accomplishments.
