Top 10 skills needed to future-proof your career

Having these skills could help you future-proof your career. (Source: Getty) (jacoblund via Getty Images)

Skills are becoming the new buzzword, changing the way employers reward and promote.

LinkedIn has revealed which are the top skills workers need to help them move up in their careers.

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“Instead of who you know or where did you go to school, the question is, ‘what can candidates do?’,” LinkedIn senior director, APAC talent and learning solutions Adam Gregory said.

“Now is a more important time than ever for employees to be keeping skills up to date and learning new ones as the world of work evolves.”

Here are the top skills that can help employees future-proof their careers:

• Customer Service

• Time Management

• Communication

• Sales

• Business Development

• Problem solving

• Interpersonal Skills

• Business Strategy

• Marketing

• Leadership

“We compared the top skills Australian professionals had in 2015 and identified the new skills that rose to the top in 2021,” Gregory said.

Here are the top soft skills professionals added to their profiles:

1. Customer Service

2. Time Management

3. Communication

4. Problem Solving

5. Interpersonal Skills

6. Leadership

Top hard skills professionals added to their profiles:

1. Business Development

2. Sales

3. Business Strategy

4. Marketing

“While hard skills can help you get the attention of a recruiter for a particular role, soft skills are in growing demand across industries,” Gregory said.

“Communication skills, for example, are always the most in-demand skills for employers.”

LinkedIn data found that 45 per cent of all LinkedIn Premium jobs posted within the past 3 months mention the importance of communication skills.

More than 3 in 5 (61 per cent) of professionals said soft skills in the workplace are just as important as hard skills.

“Since the pandemic, these 'people skills' have become more powerful than ever,” Gregory said.

“Hard skills, however, are still the skills employers tend to use to decide whether to call you in for an interview.”

They are also the skills most affected by the constant rapid evolution of technology, Gregory said.

“Change is inevitable and new hard skills will continue to emerge as the workforce evolves,” he said.

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