10 Job Skills With Growing Demand by 2025 (and How to Cultivate Them)
According to the “Future of Jobs 2020” Report by the World Economic Forum.
Did you know that an average TikTok influencer (13 -18 years old) can make $200 to $20,000 per sponsored video? I was shocked when I learned it.
I was thinking, “Jesus, these young bloggers can earn that much from a single video! I feel like a granny in my 26 having no interest in TikTok.”
This fact made me think about the current job market trends and the rapid changes we all see but are not always ready to predict.
If a 26-year-old marketer asks this question, what can 40-50-year-old people do? Can they remain competitive in the job market when there is no evidence of what tomorrow will look like? Jobs that are popular today might no longer exist tomorrow.
As a young professional, I want to remain competitive and skilled, even though it is challenging to follow the trends and quickly acquire new skills.
In this article, I want to share some ideas of what a young professional or a graduate can do today to become competitive in the job market and secure a bright future.
These tips might not be obvious to everyone, and they are not taught at schools these days.
Top 10 Perceived Skills With Growing Demand by 2025
I’ve recently stumbled upon a “Future of Jobs Report 2020” published by the World Economic Forum in October 2020.
The report has 163 pages, making it a bit boring to read, but some chapters caught my eye, and I felt a need to share my thoughts about it.
According to the report, these are the top skills with a growing demand that young professionals need to cultivate to remain competitive in the next five years:
You might have noticed that most of the skills are about creativity and self-improvement. It is not by chance.
Monotonous, shallow jobs are being automated these days, and the trend will continue growing. Recruiters hunt for bright minds that can come up with innovative, outstanding ideas to create new content, new design, new products, new services, and new demand.
I share a few tips on what you can do to develop these skills and increase your value in the job market.
Develop and Maintain a Habit of an Avid Learner
To stay up to date, people need to learn every day. Those who do not self-improve will eventually be replaced by someone else.
If you know what’s in demand today, you are already one step ahead to be a competitive candidate in the job market.
Even if you do not possess the needed skills yet — you can lean. These days, knowledge is accessible more than ever before. All you need to have is persistence, self-management, and a willingness to learn something new.
Hubspot Academy offers free marketing courses for everyone willing to dive into email marketing, social media, SEO, paid advertisement, etc.
Coursera offers many courses that you can study for free.
You can master Google tools, like Google My Business, Google Analytics, or Google ads via Google Skillshop, and become a certified expert in a few months.
You can also master Facebook advertising with the help of a Facebook blueprint course.
I’ve named just a few options I know and regularly use to keep learning. However, you can literally find free, paid, corporate or individual courses online in seconds.
I am also trying to learn from people who have already achieved a milestone I aim to reach since they can share actual to-do steps. It helps to save valuable time and reach great results faster.
Always listen to and follow the advice from people more experienced than you are.
How to find like-minded people? I use Linkedin groups, Facebook communities (like Digital Nomads Worldwide), and Medium, where great minds hang out every day.
You might not even notice when your online connections become friends and soulmates that will inspire you to change the way you live your life.
Do Not Limit Yourself to a Single Major
I want to share something important with you — do not ever think to stick to a single major you’ve got at a high school!
The world is changing day by day. These changes affect your life in some way; as a result — you are changing.
Instead, seek to understand what else might interest you? What else can you do to make yourself feel happy, fulfilled, and self-actualized? These should be the areas you might focus on to remain competitive in the market and diversify your income sources.
I never imagined myself as a writer until March 2020. I just did it! I published my first post, and it went well.
I see a massive demand for skilled content creators; thus, it makes sense for me to keep developing this skill.
I’ve had a fear of working with individual clients since I thought I am not good enough. This year, I broke through my impostor syndrome and started freelancing, where I can do what I like and get paid for it.
If you feel your life needs changes — then start making these changes now! You are the only one who can do it.
Do not sit and wait for others to steal your piece of the pie. Instead, do it yourself.
The more self-confident and professional you become, the more people will start hunting you with job offers.
This is already another story, which might become a reality for you one day. Hopefully soon!
Often Step Out of Your Comfort Zone
Everything new is scary! Always.
A lot of people prefer being in their comfort zone than to experience stress and new challenges. But this is not about you. If you are reading this article, I assume you want to break through fears and change your life in a better way.
I know this pain; I’ve been through it too.
I knew I did not want to always remain an average marketer at a small agency doing things people ask me to do. I knew I wanted to be location independent and have full control over my life.
To do it, I needed to diversify and upscale the income sources that would enable me to enjoy my work, earn more, and live the life I want.
Here is what I did:
- I started blogging on Medium to develop my writing skills and create a portfolio. In 5 months, I earned $3,000 from a single Medium article and published over 70 articles that I share on social media and show to potential clients.
- I’ve got 1k+ followers on Medium, which helps my profile to look credible.
- I met many exceptional and independent individuals on Medium who I learn from every day. Following others' suggestions, I’ve started developing my freelance account on Upwork, which turned out to be an exciting journey. I’ve got my first dream-client, and it smells like a long-time collaboration.
Why am I sharing all these facts? To show you that success does not come to people who are afraid of trying new things.
Publishing your first piece online, meeting your first client, having a job interview with a camera on, and holding an online webinar — are just a few examples of what you can do to put yourself on the next level.
Working outside of the comfort zone helps develop stress tolerance.
You are forced to learn more to cope with a challenging task; you have to learn how to ask the right questions to get the right answers; you eventually develop professional and persuasive communication skills.
This is crucial to remain competitive in the current and future job market.
Become an Active Social Media User
I used to neglect social media for a long time.
I’ve seen many random questions from random people asking for advice. I did not understand why many people waste their precious time writing in-depth comments for those who did not even dare to spend a second googling answers.
It was frustrating for me, but I completely changed my perspective when I started blogging myself.
I chose LinkedIn as a primary platform to share my content, grow the audience, and socialize with others.
I share my posts on LinkedIn with a few catchy headlines and repost others’ content if I find it worth spreading. I do it 2–3 times a week. Besides, I tend to add 3–5 relevant hashtags to increase the post’s impressions.
To my surprise, LinkedIn users started to like, share, and comment on my posts. I grew from 0 to almost 500 connections without much effort. These days, I often get invites and collaboration requests through LinkedIn.
Social media helps to build authority and trust around your name. People eventually become loyal and follow you for more content and expert opinion.
Social media is no longer a place to post random images only. If your goal is to find a better job one day, increase your paycheck, or simply start freelancing — you can do it with the help of social media.
Social activity helps to prove your expertise and eventually build a personal brand, where recruiters will be coming to you, not vice versa.
Final Thoughts
If you ask your parents how the world looked like a decade ago, you will get a completely different picture: no digital environment, no popular blogging industries, no home office, nothing. But we have it all now.
What will happen in 5, 10 years? No one knows, but everyone strives to be successful, self-actualized, and happy.
React fast, adapt, and keep learning is a short recipe to remain competitive and win in this changing world.
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