But thanks to a new survey on the matter, you no longer have to wonder — all of your questions have answers! Keep reading for the scoop on job posting trends that might just help you land your dream job in our nation’s Capital city.
Skills to Highlight on Your Resume
When it comes to job hunting, it’s no secret that the skills you choose to highlight on your resume can drastically increase your chances of landing a great job. But which skills should you actually make it a point to include, you ask? Well, this tends to differ by your field of interest.
For sales, be sure to draw attention to any sales experience you have, as this is one of the most sought after skills for a sales job in D.C. It actually appeared on over 90% of sales job postings in D.C. — so if you’re hoping to work in sales in the D.C. area, be sure to use any sales experience you have to your advantage.
But if you work in another business-related fields, like marketing, sales experience isn’t necessarily the most important skill to note on your resume. Instead, you should opt to make your customer service experience the focal point of your resume, as this skill appeared on 86% of marketing job listings in D.C. Plus, customer service experience is also a huge pro for those trying to work in accounting, given that nearly 82% of accounting job listings in D.C. include customer service as a desired skill.
Other skills worth calling attention to if you’re looking for a job in Washington D.C. include software knowledge for software developers and, not so surprisingly, creativity for graphic designers.
Other Findings
But beyond knowing what skills to include on your resume, what else should job hunters in the D.C. area be aware of? Well, for starters, it doesn’t hurt to know what your prospects are for landing a salaried job. Fortunately, the overwhelming majority of job listings in D.C., 82% to be exact, offer annual salaries rather than hourly wage compensation.
Plus, if you’re looking to get an idea of your starting salary prior to applying, you’re in luck. Whether you’re interested in sales, marketing, graphic design, or software development, about 90% of employers feature the starting salary in job postings.
Additionally, it’s worth noting that while your educational background can open more doors for you — not having a college degree won’t necessarily keep you from landing a job in D.C. Though 30% of job listings in the D.C. area require a Bachelor’s degree or higher, there are still plenty of jobs available to those without a college education. You can use search tools like Indeed, to hunt these jobs down.
Now that you have the scoop on how to land a job, what are you waiting for? D.C. is an undeniably great place to start your career, and there’s no better time than the present to embark on the journey towards your dream job.