With the new year comes new chances to grow one’s career. This can mean going after a promotion, applying for a more rewarding position in a new workplace, or building yourself up so you’re more prepared for these opportunities should they arise. The good news is that it’s not too difficult to find better career options for internet-savvy professionals. If your current workplace no longer suits your career goals, you can easily look for companies with job hiring in Manila and apply for a job that’s aligned with your vision for yourself.

Hard Skills

If 2021 for you is a year for improving your skills, then you’re spoiled for choice. There are plenty of websites that offer free and paid classes for in-demand hard skills, and you can use the certifications at the end of each course to advance your career and improve your professional branding. The question now is which skills will prove to be more useful to you as a professional? Which courses will look more attractive on your resume and bring you closer to the position or job that you want? Below, we’re taking a look at some of the most marketable skills that professionals can learn this 2021:

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing skills are a must at a time when many businesses are exploring remote work arrangements and hosting their different processes on the cloud. Many enterprises are looking for people who have the skills and experience needed to develop and manage cloud computing systems, perform migrations, negotiate with cloud service providers, assist teams that are making the shift to cloud-based work environments, and ensure that the company is adhering to best practices in data security.

Critical Analysis

Regardless of the position you are applying for, adding critical analysis to your list of skills will certainly be to your advantage. This informs your would-be employer that you are someone who is capable of analyzing problems and that you can find solutions and take action to resolve the issues that your team is facing. At the same time, this type of skill is quite useful in analyzing data and translating it into information that can be used in making business decisions.

Artificial Intelligence Development

There’s also no shortage of courses online that teach basic and advanced levels of artificial intelligence development, and for good reason. Many industries, such as banking, insurance, and real estate, now turn to AI to streamline their processes and provide better service to their clients, among other functions. Professionals who are knowledgeable in AI are often tasked with building, testing, and implementing AI models, as well as maintaining the AI infrastructure that supports their company’s processes.

Sales Skills

The ability to close business deals and coach people to do the same remains to be in-demand among employers. A leadership position in sales requires skills such as the ability to find and address issues that prevent the team from maximizing their revenue. People who want to take on this role need a lot of soft skills, such as communication and coaching skills, so that they can perform well.

Soft Skills

Who said soft skills can’t be learned? Soft skills come naturally to some people, but it’s not impossible to learn these in the workplace or in a class. In fact, there are online courses that focus particularly on imparting soft skills to their students. The term soft skills, to put it simply, refers to non-technical skills that one needs in order to interact effectively and harmoniously with others. These skills may not necessarily take the center stage in your resume, but they affect your performance in the workplace and how well you’ll work and get along with the members of your team.

Many employers look for the following soft skills when hiring new employees:

Communication

Communication skills remain a must-have for any job. It’s an essential skill for those who need to face clients, customers, colleagues, vendors, and other people in their work. Take time to enhance your speaking and writing skills and how you communicate through various media. It’s important to learn how to be a good listener as well. Among the particular communication skills that can be quite in-demand this year are negotiating, writing skills, and visual communication.

Creativity

The ability to think outside the box can help a person solve problems, come up with new ways to perform tasks, and rise up to challenges that they may face down the road. There are different ways to enhance one’s creativity. For example, you can choose to shadow a creative person for a day or two or you can invite them for an interview and find out about their creative process.

Collaboration

Working with others to complete a task is still an extremely important skill, especially now that many offices use remote work setups. A collaborative employee is able to balance their personal goals with that of their team and find ways to work with their colleagues to fulfill their individual and group tasks.

Flexibility

People who are highly skilled in adapting to new situations show their prospective employers that they can embrace change, make judgement calls, and manage their team even in an unfamiliar environment. This is a skill that companies look for in people who are gunning for leadership positions.

Highlighting these skills in your resume, interview, or application can greatly improve your chances of getting hired in your next workplace or earning a new promotion. If you find yourself lacking in these areas, the internet offers plenty of learning retargets that can introduce you to these skills or enhance your current skill level.