Focus on Skills, Instead of a Profession →

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Focus on your skills rather than on your profession or even your industry. With an uncertain job market, you must take a skill inventory to understand your soft and hard skills, as well as transferable skills. Some of your skills will likely need to be polished and updated, and if you have studied your industry, including the competitors, suppliers, customers, and trends, it will be clear that some new skills will need to be added.

Hard skills are those that will be needed when you make a job change. These skills are teachable, if not through on-the-job training, then through study and training.

Some examples of Hard Skills:

Computer Technology, Data Analysis.

Certifications and Licenses. Writing

Marketing, Accounting

Project Management, Legal

Design & Cloud Computing.

Soft skills are the abilities that make you a good employee, such as etiquette, communication, listening, and getting along with other people. Calling these skills “soft” suggests that they are natural and can not be learned, but that isn’t true. They can be taught and are essential skills.

Examples of Soft Skills:

Communication Skills.

Problem Solving Skills.

Leadership Skills, Teamwork.

Emotional Intelligence.

Adaptability & Work Ethic.

Transferable Skills help make industry changes.

Transferable skills are skills you acquire during your education, internships, or work experience and bring with you to future employment settings. They offer candidates and employers the following benefits: flexibility, diversity, portability, and employability.

Including transferable skills on a resume is especially important for individuals who are changing job titles or who are moving to different fields altogether. It is also critical for recent college graduates. Soft skills can also be included with transferable skills.

Transferable Skills Examples

             Computer experience, Management experience

Language Proficiency, Typing, Customer service

Written and verbal, Communication, Problem-solving

Organizational skills, Speaking Effectively

Writing concisely, Listening attentively

Expressing ideas, Facilitating group discussion

Negotiating and understanding nonverbal messages

Persuading others, Reporting information, Interviewing

Editing, Research, and Planning.

Human Relations, Management and Leadership

Work Ethic, Data experience, Creativity

Having a job is critical, but things change, and often, a job cannot be counted on. Skills are usually transferable to the next job, and because of that, they may be more critical over the long run than the job or industry you have always relied on.

Everyone brings some skills to the job, but now is always the right time to consider preparing for the next layoff, the next job, and the impact of the economic changes.

Skills development involves identifying your skill gaps and developing and honing these skills. Focusing on this will be essential to making the most of the shifting times ahead in the job market because your skills determine your ability to make job changes when needed and to execute your plans successfully.

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