Your professional abilities are an ever-evolving set of skills that will develop, refine, and in some cases, even regress as you continue along in your career. As a job seeker, skills are a vital component of your resume, showcasing your expertise. This section of the resume is carefully analyzed by employers and hiring managers. However, in a fast-changing job market, it’s difficult to remain up-to-date on the most current, in-demand skills.
Regardless of whether or not you’re looking to make a career change, it’s important to pay attention to hiring trends happening around you. Understanding what employers are looking for, even outside of your specialty, will give you a competitive advantage.
One of the biggest areas of growth in the job market today is in tech and digital. Because of this, demonstrating that you are computer savvy can show a hiring manager that you’re adaptable to new resources. As businesses progress and technology continues to advance, your skill set should adjust accordingly.
Today, there are thankfully a number of accessible resources to help you gain knowledge and experience with trending, tech-based skills. Presenting a basic understanding of these skills, even if outside your role, makes you a more well-rounded and marketable candidate.
The Most In-Demand Skills for 2017:
Photo / Video Editing
Instagram has given you a basic idea of how photo filters work, right? Well, simple image editing is an important tool used to grab a consumer’s attention. With the power of communicating through video on the rise, content creation can be used both internally and externally at a company. Look for some photo and video editing 101 courses on platforms like GIMP, Adobe Premier Pro, Illustrator, and Photoshop.
Social Media Management
You probably have a personal account on at least one platform, but social media can also be an extension of your professional portfolio. Use it to showcase your knowledge on growing an audience, building awareness and managing feedback. In addition, leveraging social media through a professional account could be an interesting topic to bring up during an interview. But of course, as always, keep it professional.
Project Management Software
Highlighting your project management skills is valuable across all industries. You can take your resume to the next level by listing some specific project management tools you’ve used. A few of these tools include Zoho, FreshDesk and Asana, among others. Including experience with project management software will not only show your ability to plan and execute a project, but also your proficiency and effectiveness in completing a task.
Coding / HTML
In a start-up heavy market, having some fundamental coding experience will help differentiate you from the competition. Being that the large majority of information about a company is consumed via a company’s website, learning a little more about how a website is set up and how it functions could be very valuable. You’ll also find that unique coding is used within all software platforms you come across and you never know when an opportunity might present itself to offer your knowledge!
Aside from these trending technical skills, check out the Top 4 Soft Skills Needed in 2017.
