Land Almost Any Job With These Skills

Over time, shifts and changes within the job market are expected, but no single year has brought as much rapid change as 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic didn’t just change the way we interact with others, it also shifted the skills employers look for and value most in potential employees.

While gaining the necessary hard skills and technical knowledge to succeed in your chosen career path is essential to landing the initial interview, your soft skills are the key to landing the job. Among the changes the pandemic has brought are the most valuable soft skills, as outlined by Top Resume that employers look for in candidates:

1. Problem Solving: Someone who will accept a challenge and thrive by offering unique ideas for potential solutions.
2. Communication: As communication is now mostly digital, such as emails, chats, video/phone conference calls, the skills to communicate through written and spoken means to get your point across is crucial. 
3. Time Management: Many employers had to take a leap of faith when moving to work from home, meaning they had to trust their employees to manage their time and work efficiently independently.
4. Growth Mindset: A growth mindset is having the motivation to reach success no matter the circumstances.
5. Emotional Intelligence: Emotional Intelligence is the ability to accurately read the emotions of others and respond with compassion. It is also knowing how to control and respond to your own personal emotions.
6. Collaboration: The ability to trust in others and demonstrate a true teamwork mentality is rare. In today’s job market, many are wearing several different hats and taking on extra roles and responsibilities. This is where collaborating with team members is extremely vital.
7. Adaptability: Adaptability means more than being able to adjust to change, it’s about your willingness to learn and utilize new processes and norms, such as advances in technology and communication.
8. Active Listening: It’s easy to get distracted working from home, especially when you’re on the listening side of a conversation. This is where active listening rather than just hearing is important. You have to be able to truly focus and demonstrate to the other person that you are listening and understanding to what they are saying.
9. Leadership: It’s no secret employers are looking for the one who will step up and go above and beyond what is expected. Showing you are willing and able to go beyond your role is a valuable trait.

As the COVID-19 pandemic changed our sense of normal, it also shaped what skill set employers look for in their employees. They no longer just look for technical skills and common soft skills like communication, they need someone who can adapt and thrive when things change unexpectedly.