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With the world changing with every passing day, it is only understandable that the industry needs regarding the skills required for jobs have also evolved and changed. Globalization at such a massive scale has had its impact on the industry dynamics and the kind of jobs that are demanded internationally and domestically. Graduates are often taught in-depth about their chosen subjects during their degrees, but usually, when they go out looking for employment in the working world – things seem to be very different. 

There tends to be a gap between what the young job seekers have learned and what is required in the jobs that they are seeking. This phenomenon is known as the “skills gap,” and this is one that is often heard over the news media. It is often difficult to identify what skills we are supposed to learn once we embark on this strenuous process of finding the right job for ourselves. There is a lack of agreement on specifically what skills are needed and which ones are short in supply. But there are specific skills that one can bundle upon so that the new job seekers can take to make sure they are out of any possible trouble in the future.  

It is essential to distinguish between two kinds of skills for the new graduates; softs skills and hard skills. 

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Soft Skills

Soft skills are essential for a person no matter what job industry they step into and more subjective. The most important soft skills that are required in the 21st Century job industry include:

Communication Skills

There is a range of communication skills that are crucial for anyone to survive their jobs. These skills are often overlooked and not taken seriously, for, e.g., one’s ability to be a good listener. It is challenging to communicate with someone who doesn’t have the patience to listen. Your body language is also a form of communication that is considered secondary by most people, even though it can make or break the game for you. 

Leadership Skills

Leadership skills are what usually make you stand out among the crowd and are visible when you can put others before yourself, all the while motivating them. Employees who can forecast problems and come through them with a positive attitude are the leaders that every executive is seeking in their organization.

Problem Solving Abilities 

As the name suggests, this includes the ability for an individual to have the creative skills to be able to come up with solutions to problems within the workplace that may seem daunting at arrival. Somebody with an analytical approach and an aptitude for critical thinking would be good at problem-solving and also be someone that organizations leap at hiring!

Time Management

It is a skill that we, ourselves, tend to keep at the lower end of our priorities. The ability to be able to work within set deadlines and make the optimal use of the time we have on our jobs is not collective among many employees. Those who are efficiently managing time tend to be the employees that create the maximum revenue and thus are a valuable resource to the organization. 

 Flexibility 

Proactive employees tend to have a higher chance of moving up the hierarchy of the organization than those who are rigid and not up for taking up tasks that challenge them! Flexible employees are ones that do everything in their capacity to make sure that the jobs are done on time. 

In addition to soft skills, hard skills are also something that is important for fresh graduates to know beforehand. These skills increase their chances of getting a job and looking better than their peers as candidates. 

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Hard Skills: 

Hard Skills are the ones that require training and learning modules for you to be able to ace them even though the demand for hard skills tend to vary from each industry that you are aiming for but even then, there are specific skills that help your CV look better than many if acquired. The following hard skills are the most in-demand:

Artificial Intelligence

AI has been seen to be taking over the world by a storm. In recent years, AI specialists have seen a boost in their demand and that it is only set to increase as the world moves towards more digital operations!

Machine Learning 

This skill is also again in demand as the technology revolution is only advancing over time, and innovation and creativity in the said field is the only way forward. Technologies like Siri and Alex are all a product of this skill, and that is only a tiny chunk of what you can achieve from this futuristic technology!

Data Science and Analytics

With the data sets increasing due to more and more of the world digitizing itself, it is only fair that the need for Data Science, management, and analytics will be an immediate requirement. It is expected that the revenue from the Big Data Market will increase from $5.3B in 2018 to $19.4B in 2026! These statistics are proof that if you have acquired this skill set, you will be earning some hefty revenues in the future!

Data Engineering 

Data Engineering, even though it sounds similar to Data Science, is slightly different. The existence of the former allows the latter to be there at all. Data engineers are responsible for creating the grounds and tools for the data scientists need to get their work done. Thus, due to the transitive property and the nature of the two jobs, this one is also in for a huge jump!

Data Visualization 

Data visualization is thus also a by-product of the data accumulation that is taking place at such a massive scale. The need to visually present the data being collected in heaps is also the need of the hour and the future. 

Some other hard skills that are in demand are Cybersecurity Management, Cloud Computing, Blockchain, Robotics, Sales & CRM, and Programming Languages in General.

Conclusion 

It is easy to identify that most of the in-demand skills are based on knowing the basics of computer science, and thus while choosing the majors for our degrees, it will be wise to see if they have any practical applications in the real world or not.

Having acquired the mentioned soft and hard skills, one can be sure that they will be among the more likely candidates to get the job they are chasing!