Seven skills that will help you survive 2022
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skills job development

The World Economic Forum predicts that by 2025 half of the world's specialists will need retraining. About which skills will help you survive on the other side of the world and find a job - we have collected your insights from the reports of leading companies.

#1. Digital Education

UK's Department of Digital Technologies states that 82% of UK job vacancies mention the importance of digital skills. In addition, the relationship is between the skill mastery level and the offered salary.

The demand for digital skills is growing, and this applies not only to IT companies. However, reinstalling Windows or signing up for LinkedIn is not digital literacy. Nowadays, in addition to knowledge of Microsoft Word, companies require:

  • knowledge of the basic "stuffing" of task managers, such as Trello, Asana, or Wrike
  • knowledge of Adobe Photoshop or its analogs such as Canva, Crello, or Gimp
  • knowledge of social media and social selling — even if you are not engaged in SMM or online sales
  • understanding the basics of cyber security

According to Eurostat, in the Netherlands, a country with a developed economy, only half of the adult population has a high level of digital skills.

#2. Data management

Forbes reports that 95% of companies surveyed say they need to manage unstructured data. These are survey results, support chats, sales reports, etc. The more information accumulates, the more the business needs people who know how to manage it — collect, structure, interpret and visualize.

The competencies of this category include:

  • analytical abilities
  • advanced Microsoft Excel skills
  • knowledge of popular business intelligence (BI) tools
  • knowledge of programs for data visualization, such as Tableau, D3.js, Google Charts, Microsoft Power BI
  • the ability to see the commercial benefit of the company by numbers

It's not just about complex, multi-level reports and graphs. The current request is for a specialist's ability to see numbers and analyze and extract patterns from them. Marketer, copywriter, sales manager, or HR. Today everybody should manage data.

#3. Marketing

Today's consumers want seamless communication with a brand, with 90% expecting consistent interactions across all channels. It is Coursera's research result.

The concept of marketing has long gone beyond 4P. Today, it is a cross-functional direction that includes brand creation and promotion, positioning, communication, customer attraction and retention, content strategy, partnership, etc.

Among the relevant marketing competencies of companies, the following are most often distinguished:

  • basic understanding of SMM
  • content marketing
  • analysis and interpretation of data
  • project management skills
  • thinking out of the box

#4. Project management

It is like a management school:

  • resource assessment
  • planning and organization of the process
  • effective communication
  • delegation
  • the ability to give feedback
  • performance management — both own and team

This skill is crucial not only for large companies. Managing projects shows a person's ability to calculate resources for a task and bring it to an end.

Ukrainian volunteers show a high level of mastery of such skills. It's not for nothing that memes spread on the Internet about their ability to make the impossible possible.

#5. Languages

It is a must-have, regardless of the level and complexity of the vacancy.

The connection is also confirmed by the study on The wage premium from foreign language skills. The results show that knowledge of a foreign language has a positive impact on salary - yes, the highest compensation for those who speak Spanish (32%), French (22%), and Italian (15%). Supplements for proficiency in English and German are lower, 11% and 12%, respectively. The first three languages ​​are much less common among the respondents. 

#6 Critical thinking

Critical thinking is the only way to understand the world in the era of fake news. A report by Hart Research Associates found that 93% of employers value this skill in a candidate even more than a bachelor's degree.

Critical thinking is rationally thinking, understanding the difference between assumptions and facts. 

Without such a skill, a person is subject to suggestion, blind confidence, and unfailing adherence to instructions from above. From February 24, 2022, this became especially noticeable.

#7 Adaptability

In 2015, the World Economic Forum singled out the ability to "listen" and "focus on the client" among the top skills. 

Adaptability includes:

  • stress resistance
  • speed of reaction to what is happening
  • the ability to learn and relearn
  • flexibility of thinking

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