No one can deny times are changing, and very rapidly. In the not so far past, people could make do, live rather well, and achieve something in their career with a few skills or with an academic diploma. It wasn’t often for employers to ask ‘what skills’ or ‘what other skills do you have?’ Many skills we hear about now were not needed or even been heard of before.
Whatever basic skills you have now might not be enough to get you into the career you want. Alongside that, thousands of people aren’t satisfied with their job and consider making career changes or add other skills to work part-time and make more cash with a second job.
Learning a new skill can seriously improve not just your employment chances, but also the variety of jobs you can pick from. It’s also worth mentioning that learning a new skill is fun, motivating, and rewarding, not forgetting that it gives you a sense of satisfaction that you’re putting in time and energy into something worth it.
So, here’s our list of the best 5 skills you could learn in 2019.
1. Cloud computing
It’s definitely been the buzzword the past few years and still buzzing. Cloud computing is the new way of using computers in business, education, hospitals, military, aeronautics, and communication, among others. It’s impacting businesses heavily. But cloud computing is too generic a term. Which aspect of cloud computing would you like to learn? Architecture, security, programming, and user experience are different functions of cloud computing, with very different skill sets. Decide which aspect you like the most, and then investigate its implementation in the cloud, and see if that interests you.
2. Social Media Marketing
Social media platforms are still going strong and are one of the main ways business owners in all industries communicate with their customers. You might think it’s just all fun and games to post and get some followers, but for businesses, it’s much deeper than that and involves learning a strategy to plan, execute, and manage the online pages of businesses on these platforms. When you consider that approximately one-third of the world uses social media, this should give you a big clue how important it is for businesses.
3. Writing
Yes, it’s a skill to learn. While print might be dying slowly in some fields of writing, there are other areas where writing is much needed. Content writing, copywriting, technical writing, blogging, and academic writing are some to mention. The good thing about writing is that age isn’t a factor to be considered. So maybe you’re still studying but have no time to do both, say copywriting and your own academic writing. You simply have to look for the best essay writing service that will help you with your own essays so you have more time to write other things on the side.
4. People management
The first 3 skills mentioned are hard skills, but you might be more interested in soft skills. If you are, people management is very popular these days because the performance and attitude of employees can make or break a business. If you like people and also want to help manage them, this is your skill to learn. It’s the practice of managing a group or team of people. This involves managing both their professional as well as personal goals in a way that enables them to perform their best. According to Linkedin, it’s the 4th most needed skill of 2019.
5. Video production and editing
Video streaming now represents 70% of all consumer traffic on the net. You yourself access videos as much as anyone else. Videos have a powerful impact, from those wanting to get a message across to those wanting to promote a product. There is always new software, devices, and gadgets coming out, so it’s important to stay in the loop. Marketers, photographers, event organizers, realtors, wedding videos, etc., all need and use videos. Finding a job won’t be a problem. It’s not that difficult to learn but it involves a lot of different competencies and knowledge to actually stand out from the rest.
The best thing about learning a new skill is that the internet has never made it easier. There are thousands of online courses where you can learn at your own pace from home or from anywhere. With open learning, you can also find free courses. There’s simply no reason why not to add a new skill to your CV that employers will appreciate and make you stand out from the crowd.