No one knows what the world will exactly look like after the coronavirus pandemic. The new normal brought the biggest change in the global economy, and it caused a shift of demands in the job market. According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report, 50% of all employees will need reskilling or upskilling by 2025.

Do you want to know where you should focus on improving if you want to have the career of your dreams, grow your business, or do both? In this article, we have listed a mix of soft skills and hard skills that you absolutely need to succeed in a post-pandemic world. Read on.

Soft skills

Since the world continues to adopt technological advances, the post-pandemic world sees the need for humans to exhibit what machines can’t replace yet: thinking out of the box, interpreting emotions, decision-making, among others. A Deloitte Access Economics report also predicts that two-thirds of all jobs by 2030 will be made up of soft-skill-intensive occupations. Check out these skills to make your resume look more appealing.

Leadership Skills

Leadership skills are already fundamental in the workplace, but nowadays, they are no longer limited to supervisors and managers. Knowing how to be a good leader enables you to confidently express yourself and your beliefs. It means that your actions are aimed to benefit the whole organization.

It also means that you can also empathize with your colleagues and encourage them to become better employees. These skills are relevant as companies work towards achieving a workplace environment where everyone can thrive and feel included.

Emotional intelligence

The challenges that the coronavirus brought us are especially difficult for everyone’s emotional and mental health. To succeed in a post-pandemic world, you have to have better control and awareness of your emotions.

One way to improve your emotional intelligence is to healthily express your feelings and understand what causes them.

Flexibility and adaptability

Many companies started adapting a remote work setup. It’s likely that this new way of working will last post-pandemic, too.

A post-pandemic world needs you to be responsive to workplace changes and be able to continuously upskill yourself in anticipation of the future changes in the job market.

Communication skills

When the pandemic hit, and we all had to stay home, remote channels such as video conferences, phone and written communications became the primary way of talking to our colleagues.

People had to adjust from speaking in front of a live audience to a remote one. Becoming proficient in electronic communication tools such as ZOOM, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams has become even more critical as we adapt to a work-from-home setup.

Creative and innovative skills

What sets us apart from machines is our ability to think out of the box. Contrary to what most people believe, creativity is not only crucial for creative professions. Originality and innovation help us stand out from the crowd regardless of our field.

Plus, we saw how businesses that more quickly came up with innovative ways to deliver their services or were able to shift to products people demand during lockdowns were able to survive the COVID crisis better. This will, in turn, make employers want to seek people who have the skills that could help them weather similar challenges in the future.

Hard skills

Hard skills are the important foundation of any career you choose to focus on. Learning or improving these skills help guarantee you a higher-paying job or help you hold an advantage against your competitors in a business.

These skills might be a little harder to learn and may take longer to master, but they would pay you off for a long time.

Programming Skills

All companies are getting involved in the technical revolution nowadays. Even our food and transportation are becoming more dependent on different technologies. This caused the job market to open more opportunities for professionals with programming skills.

Programming languages such as Java, Python, and C# are some of the most in-demand coding skills you can start learning today. The good thing is that learning tools are very accessible and even free on the internet nowadays.

Digital marketing skills

Digital marketing skills combine a set of soft and hard skills. Traditional marketing involves communicating with possible customers, understanding their needs, and building their trust.

From these needs, you then bring solutions that you know will be valuable for them. Digital marketing has these same principles, with the only difference being the use of different electronic platforms.

The demand for digital marketing specialists drastically increased since businesses could only communicate with customers through digital platforms during the pandemic. Some of the digital marketing skills you might want to start learning about are social media marketing, search engine optimisation (SEO), among others.

Content Creation Skills

All the digital advertisements you see on the internet are a product of content creation skills. The same goes for every business website and blogs. These skills include copywriting and SEO mastery, graphic design, video editing, and research skills, and many more.

Every company is starting to incorporate technology at the core of its business, and they are searching for outstanding individuals that can bring them high-quality content.

Other Technology-related Skills

The best way to prepare for the post-pandemic world is to gain technology-related skills. Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning, the Internet of Things, virtual and augmented reality (AR and VR), software development, and data analytics will not only make businesses future-proof but also make them stronger against possible future challenges similar to the COVID crisis.

Working in the new normal

Many old approaches in the business world will be abandoned in the near future. Embracing the technological changes that have already started is our best chance to stay afloat.

Commit to a lifetime of learning and adapt to the ever-changing demands of the job market. Focus on improving one of these in-demand skills, and it will help you get more opportunities regardless if it’s for career or business growth.