Regardless of your chosen career field, having certain professional skills makes you a valuable entity in today’s job market. You need to demonstrate to potential future employers you have what it takes to keep them competitive given the complex technological, economic and social forces that impact their business.
It all boils down to developing a hybrid skill set of technical, social media and interpersonal strengths that are critical to getting ahead. Find the right balance, and then target the specific qualities most valued for the role you are seeking.
Traits in the highest demand include:
Technical Skills
Myriad opportunities are available to tech-savvy job seekers. According to a recent analysis of 54 million employee profiles across 350 industries and 15,000 job titles, the following tech skills have the best potential payoff in today’s workforce:
- Big data capabilities, including data mining and modeling
- Cloud skills
- Mobile development
- Technical support strengths
- Web development
- Database administration
- Project management
For instance, more than a third of companies surveyed said they were actively focused on building their data analysis teams. And technology is reshaping the financial industry, with demand rising for software operations specialists, application developers and business intelligence specialists.
Soft Skills
Often influenced more by a candidate’s personality than their education or training, soft skills remain a high priority among hiring managers. As noted in a recent LinkedIn survey, these interpersonal qualities rank high as companies make hiring decisions:
- Communications
- Teamwork
- Punctuality
- Critical thinking
Also important to employers are:
- Problem solving
- Creativity
- Willingness to learn
- Marketing savvy
- Leadership
- Time management
- Attention to detail
To succeed – both as a job seeker and throughout your career – you can’t remain stagnant. Always strive to be advancing and learning something new. Whether it’s mastering big data, keeping abreast of social media trends or taking a course in effective communications, it can only improve your chances of standing out from the competition during your next round of job interviews.
In the Fresno market and beyond, turn to the pros at PrideStaff to make your summer job search as successful and productive as possible. Our vast client network and market intelligence can help ensure you won’t just search. You’ll succeed. Read our related posts or contact us today to learn more.