The expertise you need to land a job varies from one place to another, but there are several key skills that are prevalent among most industries today. Using a combination of LinkedIn data and results from surveys, here are the skills most in demand for 2018.
Before we dive in, let’s define what soft and hard skills are. Soft skills relate to your ability to communicate, be flexible to demands, and how well you get along with other people in your workplace. On the other hand, hard skills are specific, teachable abilities. For example, a graphic designer’s soft skills would be their ability to communicate with clients and get work done on time, and their hard skills are their mastery of design tools and software programs. Anything that can be measured is considered a hard skill.
Soft Skills
Business leaders surveyed by LinkedIn say these are soft skills they require their employees to learn:
- Leadership
- Communication
- Collaboration
- Time Management
While it may seem as though soft skills are not as integral as hard skills, 57 percent of leaders say they’re much more important and needed in the workplace.
Read this blog post to find out what the most in demand jobs in the U.S. are!
Hard Skills
It’s no surprise tech skills dominate our workplace ecosystem. Fortunately, for those who aren’t techies, there’s still plenty of skills you can learn that will help you make the most of the job opportunities in 2018. Data from LinkedIn’s network of 500+ million members shows below are the identified skills employers are working the hardest to obtain.
According to LinkedIn, these are the skills employers frequently request:
- Cloud and Distributed Computing
- Statistical Analysis and Data Mining
- Middleware and Integration Software
- Web Architecture and Development Framework
- User Interface Design
- Software Revision Control Systems
- Data Presentation
- SEO/SEM Marketing
- Mobile Development
- Network and Information Security
If there’s one thing we can take away from this data, it’s that our tech and business industries are changing. Take, for example, some of the top hard skills required in 2014, which included knowing microsoft office and basic web development coding. But as the world shifts—and our needs too—updating your expertise to some of these more technical and refined skills will absolutely put you on the inside track of attracting the most in-demand jobs in 2018.
Wonder what the most in-demand jobs are in Canada for 2018? Click here and find out!
Studying abroad teaches you a wide range of skills. These can be used to enhance your resume and set you apart from other competition. Read “how international studies can boost your resume” to learn more.
