The job market continues to be aggressively competitive. So what can you do to make yourself more marketable in 2020? Should you be brushing up your technical skills or should you be taking certification courses?
The answer lies in a World Economic Forum Report. WEF conducted a survey interviewing 350 recruitment executives across 15 countries to find out the most desirable skills to put on a resume.
The job market today is dominated by buzz words such as big data science, artificial intelligence, blockchain, etc.; however, as per the WEF report, recruiters are seeking more than just technical proficiency in their potential employees.
Here is the list of top 12 resume skills that will bolster your profile in 2020:
Cognitive Flexibility
It involves logical reasoning, problem solving, and creativity. It also means being adaptable as per the situation and the people you are dealing with.
Employers want you to have cognitive flexibility when you talk to different people. In a competitive environment where you’re expected to interface with a diverse set of stakeholders, it helps if you are not rattling off the same thing everywhere.
The ability to understand the situation, what it expects from you, and what you should be doing to deliver it, is a critical skill that cannot be taught. This is why it features in the top 10 list of skills most prized by recruiters.
Service Orientation
Organizations today starve for people who can excel in a collaborative environment. Service orientation means the will and ability to help others. How much can you help your team members, your subordinates, or your superiors?
Are you the type to just get done with your work and move on? Or do you stick back and help your peers? That determines the kind of employee, leader, and the person you’ll eventually become.
Complex Problem-Solving
With the advent of technology, everything has become easy and it is said that technology is replacing humans. Technology, however, cannot replace humans when it comes to solving ill-defined problems.
An ill-defined problem is a problem that cannot be solved by routine actions; it needs a different approach or strategy.
This is where your complex problem-solving ability is useful. In the year 2020, complex problem-solving is projected to become one of the most demanded skills to put on a resume.
Sure, you have complex data models and machine learning algorithms to help you solve problems that the previous generation would have taken years to solve. But the ability of a machine to think for itself is limited by the data you feed it. That’s still the last standing bastion where humans can triumph a machine every single time.
Negotiation
An ability to negotiate is needed in every industry. Negotiation skills will be in demand in domains like mathematics, development, and data analytics, etc.
It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do – there are a dozen instances every day in all our lives where we’re faced with negotiation. How you handle that determines how your life will eventually shape up during the course of your career.
Judgment and Decision-Making
Gone are the days when your superiors wanted you to follow you blindly. Now organizations have started to prefer people with decision-making and judgment abilities for executive roles.
Good judgment means the ability to make informed decisions based on a thoughtful and objective analysis of data & research. It also means how to deal with a client or make a suggestion to your manager even if it disagrees with the original plan.
Blind followers are a dime a dozen. Companies need independent individuals who can think for themselves.
Emotional Intelligence
This is greatly in demand and not everyone possesses it. Emotional intelligence is an imperative tool to deal not only with the people around you but it is also seen as a desirable skills in professionals as it helps them resolve their inner conflicts.
How you get a job done collaboratively despite personal and professional disagreements, is what employers will seek in 2020.
Do you have what it takes to look at the bigger picture? Are you mature enough to let go of your personal opinions and let the organizational vision drive your decisions? If so, recruiters will be looking for you in 2020.
Coordination
It seems like a social skill but goes a long way in as this helps you adjust with people and be sensitive to their needs. You spend the majority of your time with your teammates; you should be able to get along with them well.
All employers want their subordinates to create a positive working environment irrespective of their emotional differences.
How well you gel with others not only determines how much of a cultural fit you are, but also how you’ll execute critical projects in a team.
Creativity
With unprecedented exposure to new ideas, technologies and images, an ability to come up with a new perspective is an instrumental skill. While some of us are born creative and it comes to us naturally, others have to work for it.
Your creativity will be high in demand in 2020.
Time Management
Time Management has always been an important tool but in the upcoming years, it’s importance is bound to increase. Your efficiency is not only defined by your output, but your ability to multitask and dip your toes in a wide range of different roles while keeping your productivity on-par.
Point is, you need to be able to manage your time effectively without anyone looking over your shoulder.
This demands that you are excellent at time management.
Digital Media
Digital and social media knowledge is an added advantage for any professional working in any industry.
There are a plethora of new social media platforms in the market today besides Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Find out what’s out there and what kind of audience it enjoys.
Critical Thinking
Most of the processes have become automated and with that, the need for people with reasoning & logic has also increased. The machines also need supervision to work optimally and ethically. Therefore, organizations are always on the lookout for people with critical minds to evaluate the use of technology.
People Management
Forget about management positions, even at an executive level, you are expected to direct, help and coordinate people for task completions. At senior positions, you are expected to motivate your employees and enhance their talents.
People management will be an important skill to make your resume stand-out in 2020.
If you think you lack some of these skills, it is time to start working on the same.
In the upcoming year, job markets are going to get super-competitive. In that case, owning technical expertise solely will not cut it.
Article by Aditya Sharma. On a quest to help professionals across the world land their dream jobs, Aditya lives and breathes Hiration — an AI-powered online resume builder and platform to help job-seekers find their way in the treacherous job market — where he’s a Co-Founder and the unofficial CPO (Chief Problem-solving Officer). He likes to code away his days and nights when he’s not busy disrupting the career space.
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