Today’s marketplace is more competitive than ever. Those who are keeping up with technology are getting paid more while most of us are barely hanging with high inflation and low pay. So learning new skills has become a must to stay demanding in the marketplace as your skills are demanding.
According to the LinkedIn report “the global rate of LinkedIn member job change has flat line for the first time since march 2021”. So no matter what, staying updated and upgrading with demanding skills is a must for staying with fast pacing technology.
Skills can be divided into two sets of skills: hard and soft. Soft skills include communication, leadership, ability to adapt to the new environment, sales, excellence in teamwork etc. Hard skills are those skills which are technical tasks such as data analysis, graphic design, sales, SEO etc. Here we present the most demanding soft and hard skills to learn in 2024:
1. Data analysis
Data are facts or key factors that disclose the information about a company. Data makes it easier to interpret the situation of a company where it stands and helps to point out the area of excellence as well as where it needs to improve. The raw data is just a number that doesn’t give any information so data analysis takes these numbers and creates useful information.
To be a data analyst, you need a degree in IT, mathematics or statistics. As a data analyst, you will be responsible for observing data and giving remarks to make the favorable decision for the company through management. As it is linked directly to the company’s achievement, companies are willingly pay higher wages for the data analyst.
2. Computer programming
All these fascinating apps, artificial intelligence, robot systems and the internet are possible only through computer programming, hence you know the importance in daily life. All these innovations are created through the codes that are used to communicate with computers.
A programming language consists of a certain type of language that is understood by computers to make a particular task successful . The most popular programming languages are javascript, python, java, go swift etc. Among them javascript, c++ and python are in high demand right now.
Computer programming covers simple task like to run calculation to complex programs for eg. Running video games. Programmer’s job is to understand test code for the programs and apps, to fix bugs through software updation , rewrite existing code to move from one programming language to another etc.
3. SEO
Search engine optimization is the process of driving quality and organic traffic to the website. Most of the blogs or videos that appear in the first ranking or top page of google receive 95% of the all search traffic. That’s why people and businesses want to rank higher in search engines, and the area of SEO is expanding and many companies are focusing on SEO for success.
Becoming an expert in SEO requires a lot more than just mastering fundamentals of it. You need a lot more knowledge like user experience, on page SEO, off page SEO, tags, link building, project management etc. if you are going with trends then there are a lot of opportunities you can find like having a high paying job and gaining knowledge of different areas of subject.
As per Forbes “The market of global market size is expected to reach USD 122.11 billion by 2028 and register a CAGR OF 9.6 % “. So there is no doubt that the future of SEO is expanding and this is the right time to start learning.
4. social media marketing
marketing provides an image of a product or service about how a consumer perceives. Nowadays everyone is on social media and I cannot tell how much this world has gone to digitalization. Usually companies used to do marketing through television, hoarding boards but in the digitalization age they are using online platforms more and more.
Now the most effective way of advertising and marketing are done through social media. For social media marketing you need to have great content related to the product which is very important. It creates brand awareness to the customers and helps to target specific markets which helps to create traffic to the website.
Also it is a high profitable niche as well and it provides flexible working hours as well which is great. As marketing is already a highly demanded job in every industry and in the digitalized age the demand for social media marketing is rising.
5. Copywriting
Copywriting is a composition of the text that is written for advertising or marketing to create brand awareness. Copywriting is everything for an established brand. Creativity is must for copywriting because it is what makes stand out in the pool of similar businesses. If you’re into creative writing then it can be a lucrative way of income and you can even make millions a year.
But how does this copywriting work? Well, first things first, copywriters understand the core market of the audience and what kind of people are being targeted and what they want to feel using their product or services. Based on finding, they create slogans or copywriting that compel customers to think or see differently about their service or product.
It has only a few words to see, but these words can be so powerful that it’s like a call to action. It plays with human emotion and makes a memorable impact making people believe that they need this product. Creating a good lead to the product or services and persuading them to take an action is the power of copywriting.
6. Sales
Sales refers to a company’s income generated from the sell of the products or services and most of the business, success is measured by how much sales was made in a month or year. Skill to sale anything is the greatest skill to learn.
A career in sales can provide you with benefits like networking, work life balance, high income generation even without a degree etc. but to sell anything to anyone is not a cup of tea for anyone. Communication, confidence, creativity and ability to active listening all these component is what makes you a great salesperson.
Based on how you represent your sales or services impacts the consumer, whether they buy or deny. So if you’re interested in sales you can start training in different programs of sales or try from a beginner level sales position in the company that you’re interested in. Once you get the grip of how to sell, you can enjoy the benefits from being a salesperson.
7. Cyber security
With every vast use of the internet and social media, most of the personal things, important data and information are posted online. But with every post and more use of the internet we are becoming more vulnerable.
As a result the high rates of cyber crime and theft are rising too. That’s why cyber security personnel are hired by companies and the government. They spent a lot of money just to make sure that their secrecy is well protected from being disclosed. This helps to build trust with customers and citizens by protecting their data and personal information. It prevents or reduces the risk of attack and minimizes damage by possible attack.
To be a cyber security person you need a degree in cyber security or other subjects like information technology or computer science. Then through training and working in the cyber security area you can pave for a successful career being dedicated and hardworking.
8. Graphic design
Graphic design is the way of creating visual content for interacting and optimizing user experience. Graphic designers usually apply images, colors and typography to make post more appealing. They use hands or computer software to communicate ideas to the consumer. So, to make the solid brand foundation and make memorable impact on consumers companies need graphic designer.
They work to enhance beauty using the brand’s font, colors and making connections between logos and every company’s brochures, advertisements, and slowly building recognizable images to the audience. If you’re into art and technology this might be the greatest option for you.
There are many types of graphic design like brand design, web design, marketing design, product and packaging design etc. you can choose your expertise on the area of you like the most.
9. video editing filming
What are the best and quickest ways to learn? Most of you guessed it right; through video. All the methods out there and video content are vastly used and mostly leave a great impact on the viewers. That’s why more and more companies are creating video content to increase brand awareness. As a result the demand for skilled video editors is increasing.
Video editing is the process of cutting and adding parts of videos to make it more interesting. The seamless flow of the video and being specific of what a brand wants to convey about their service or product helps attract consumers and make the brand more believing. More than 70% of consumers decide to buy a certain product or service after seeing a brand’s video. This shows how it is important for brand building.
If you are interested in the video editing process and want to make a career out of it you need to take a course. What’s more interesting is that for a job, you may start this job even before you get your degree. After taking the course you can do freelancing or be associated with companies for further work.
10. artificial intelligent
right now the AI or artificial intelligent are creating news for their amazing power. Artificial intelligent is the stimulation of human intelligence displayed by the machine or computers. In other words computers being able to think and act like human all thanks to deep learning and machine learning. People think that AI is bad and they will take the jobs of human.
But in reality, every advancement is done for the sake of the human. Machines have limits about what and how much they can do. If we can utilize the advancement of AI we can do a lot more work without the assistance of humans in a short period of time. So learning ai is future proof skill. You can enter the area of AI having a degree in information technology(IT), data science and computer engineering.
Overall, learning a high demanding skill and keeping it up to date helps to stand out in a crowd of people. You never know that these skills might be the way to your way to success. Keep believing in yourself and always push yourself for growth.