LONDON(Parliament Politics Magazine): The networking site LinkedIn mapped out the most in-demand hard and soft skills at the moment. It based this on the nearly 600 million members that appear on the platform and the associated jobs. The most in-demand skills were linked together in terms of supply and demand.
Hard skills refer to an employee’s ability to complete certain tasks. The five most in-demand hard skills are mainly related to specialised (IT) knowledge and technical skills: blockchain , cloud computing , analytics , artificial intelligence and user experience design .
In addition, there are also soft skills . They are more about our behaviour, thinking, personal characteristics and cognitive skills. They tend to be more difficult to measure but they can help you thrive in a variety of roles and industries. These five soft skills appear to be very popular in companies today.
1. Creativity
In a business world that is increasingly dominated by automation, (human) creativity still seems very important. This soft skill was also at the top of the similar survey that the network site conducted last year. It is a skill that comes in handy in every branch or department of an organisation.
2. Persuasiveness
Companies and managers also attach great importance to persuasion. This involves the ability to communicate your ideas efficiently and purposefully and to win colleagues and others over to your cause.
3. Collaboration
In third place is collaboration, a skill that, like creativity and persuasion, is in the same position as in last year’s survey. In many companies, projects and teamwork are central so employees who work well together are of great importance to an organisation. Collaboration is also the skill that has appeared the longest on this list and has therefore also scored highly in recent years.
4. Adaptability
In view of the corona crisis, this seems to be an increasingly important soft skill. There is a good chance that the duties of a certain employee will look completely different in a few years’ time. Employees will have to embrace change and deal with it smartly.
5. Emotional Intelligence
This is new to the list, even though the term dates back to the last century. Although emotional intelligence has various meanings and many interpret this concept in their own way. But Daniel Goleman, author of the seminal 1995 book “Emotional Intelligence,” points to a mix of self-awareness, self-regulation, social skills, empathy and motivation. Others talk about the ability to recognise emotions both in yourself and in others.
Because of all this, of course, emotional intelligence is not only important in those who are recruited. It is also a crucial skill for recruiters themselves.