spealized the work. Be ready for the future

1. Cultivate a Growth Mindset

Cultivating a growth mindset includes skills to stay relevant, be curious, continuously learn and grow and adapt to change. Role descriptions and tasks often change, especially as digital technologies continually alter the way we work. Your employer will want to know that you’ll be able to pick up new tasks and that you wouldn’t get frustrated when something is difficult or doesn’t work straight away. This includes being resilient and aiming high, being curious and open to new opportunities and feedback.

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2. Learn to Earn

Learn to Earn skills include the ability to find successfully, apply and interview for a job and to operate effectively within the workforce. These skills are used in many jobs on a day to day basis and include skills such as numeracy, literacy, time management and organisation.

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3. Build Tech Know-How

In almost every job, you have to use digital devices or technologies in one way or another. Your employer will want to know that you can learn how to use them on the job. A basic understanding of data is also important as more companies want to gain insights to improve their business, so they need their employees to be able to draw conclusions from data. For example, you could find out where customers typically buy their products. If a company knows this, they can target their advertisements better and sell more. This also includes skills in identifying pieces of content suitable for a specific channel or audience, such as for a blog.

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4. Apply We’Q (Emotional Intelligence)

You will almost certainly be working together with other people at some point. Your employer wants to know that you’ll be able to talk to others, present and process information effectively and take on responsibility, this is emotional intelligence. This is especially important as we have more opportunities to collaborate because of digital technologies. Skills include communication (listening and presenting), teamwork, leadership and self-awareness - knowing your strengths and weaknesses.

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5. Creative Problem-Solving

No matter what job you do, there will always come a time when there’s a problem and somebody needs to fix it. As machines take over repetitive tasks, the problems that people need to solve will become more complex as well – that’s why we need to think creatively and critically to solve them. These skills will involve creativity and problem solving.

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6. Specialise for Work

This could be anything from knowing how to handle an industrial crane to performing heart surgery. These skills will be specific to the job or sector, and you will have to learn them on a specialised course, or on the job.

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A dynamic mix of these 6 skills families is important to secure a job or start a business, and will be needed to retain a job, grow a business or navigate to the next opportunity. However, it is important to note that you don’t need to have all the skills under a skill family to be successful!

Once you know what you’re interested in, it’s worth researching more about it. Make use of online resources such as training courses, video tutorials, podcasts or blogs wherever possible. A mentor or job advisor could also help you identify the best ways to learn your relevant specialised skills.