In a previous post, we discussed Paul Petrone’s recent LinkedIn research, which focused on the skills companies need most in 2019. He splits them into two categories; soft skills and hard skills.
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Previously, we looked at the five soft skills that were most sought: creativity, persuasion, collaboration, adaptability, and time management.
Interestingly, despite much focus on the critical nature of soft skills, Petrone’s list is heavy on the hard skills side. He lists 25 of them in his post.
In the interest of space, we’ll just list them here, but his findings include a quick blurb on why each is important as well as some recommended resources for those interested in diving into some of these skills in more detail.
Here’s the list:
- Cloud Computing
- Artificial Intelligence
- Analytical Reasoning
- People Management
- UX Design
- Mobile Application Development
- Video Production
- Sales Leadership
- Translation
- Audio Production
- Natural Language Processing
- Scientific Computing
- Game Development
- Social Media Marketing
- Animation
- Business Analysis
- Journalism
- Digital Marketing
- Industrial Design
- Competitive Strategies
- Customer Service Systems
- Software Testing
- Data Science
- Computer Graphics
- Corporate Communications
One trend should stand out when reading through this list: the vast majority are technical and computer-related. That should come as no surprise in an increasingly digitized and computerized world. Another group of skills—people management, translation, journalism, corporate communications—could be categorized as communication skills, reflecting the importance of communication and cooperation in today’s business environment.
According to Petrone’s research, there are over 50,000 professional skills in the world. It’s impossible for anyone to focus on all of them. So, it makes sense to prioritize those that bosses are looking for in their employees.
We’ve discussed what are seen as some of the top soft and hard skills. Which represent your areas of strength? Which represent areas of opportunity for improvement?
Self-reflection, as well as discussion with team members and staff, can help to identify the skills most needed among staff members, pointing the way toward training and development opportunities.