If you’re a “Class of 2020” and probably graduated on Zoom (sorry to hear that), you must have scratched your head more often than not in an attempt to figure out how you’re going to climb the ladder up to success in the ‘new normal’. You somehow graduated, attended lectures online in the comfort of your bed, hired the best essay writing service to get yourself an A grade on all those term papers and assignments, even took exams virtually as well, but the business world is a whole different story.
The COVID-19 pandemic had been full of uncertainties – nobody knew for sure where the world was heading or how – but one that had become incredibly certain was the fact that life wasn’t going back to how we were accustomed to, not anytime soon. Because it didn’t seem to come to an end with its mutants showing up every now and then, like Delta and Omicron. But deviating from normal isn’t entirely a bad thing, I mean wasn’t it improvisation that led to the invention of world’s favourite fast food? Yup, you guessed it right! All that cheesy deliciousness is a product of thinking outside the box and working around the prevalent conditions.
Story Time: The soldiers of Darius the Great (521 – 486 BC) were made to go for long marches, where they would bake flat bread upon their shields, cover it with dates and cheese and they were good to go. This was the origination of pizza in its most primitive form. And let’s keep the subsequent timeline for History lessons!
My point was that we can always improvise and who knows we’d also come up with something better? So, the changing of business operations won’t be the worst thing perhaps. Because with constraint comes the opportunity for a massive reset. Now that job opportunities like never before have begun to emerge, what can you do to ensure that you’re a strong candidate whilst navigating through the highly competitive employment world? It is estimated by Deloitte Access Economics that by the year 2030, two-third of the job market will be made of soft-skill based employment, so it is imperative that students start preparing for that as of now and begin with polishing of their skills.
Tech Savviness
The conventional practices pre-COVID were already witnessing a massive digital skills gap worldwide and Omicron – its most recent variant – only seemed to widen it. As a matter of fact, 82% of jobs at present require knowledge of digital skills. With the world going remote, their demand has reached an all time high as the pandemic and lockdowns accelerated the desperate need for employees to be techsavvy so they could pull businesses forward in alignment with today’s myriad of technologies and digitalisation. Being tech savvy doesn’t only mean fixing the broken PC, but equipping yourself with skills that you can offer online, such as providing writing services, graphic designing, web development, or other such service.
Leadership
Leadership isn’t merely a skill that every manager must wear around their neck. Instead, it is a sign of authenticity and self-awareness. It’s a sign of taking ownership; one that can make your career go places when honed correctly. When you take charge, accept your mistakes readily and fix them as well, and when you learn from those mistakes, that’s when your leadership skills are being utilized at maximum capacity. Moreover, when a person projects confidence, clarity and credibility amid a crisis which has become table stakes in the new business world by the way, that’s when they are deemed capable enough of leading.
Emotional Intelligence and Communication Skills
Emotional Intelligence and communication skills go hand in hand and regardless of the job being as dry as crunching numbers or as creative as offering designing services, it still holds a need for empathetic, genuine human connection, which would help understand the job role. Having a sound emotional intelligence means being aware of other people’s emotions and understanding the underlying causes of their behaviours, which is crucial to taking the business relationship forward. Don’t force an employee to submit that report when they’re feeling anxious. Be more empathetic toward them, make them feel understood. Siomilarly, now that people work remotely more often than before, then communication skills need to be sharpened; clarity at virtual meetings and in emails is an essential to taking operations forward.
Flexibility and adaptability towards novel practices
Whether you run your own manufacturing business or offer services as a freelancer, being adaptable isn’t only what Omicron made us do, but it is also a highly pursued skill. Flexibility paves way for other sub-skills in the professional world which is always going through one change or the other. At times it is the workspace that’s changing while at other times it’s the entire JD including job requirements and responsibilities. For instance, you were previously working as the best essay writer on board but now you have to curate social media content. So, you need to show flexibility here. Otherwise, if there is an absence of flexibility, you would find yourself in an additional mess, specifically if you’re too rigid and not ready to bulge.
Strategic and Innovative Minds
In these uncertain times, employers are looking for people who can think outside of the box, come up with innovative solutions to problems, design growth and development strategies and are creative all at once. The demand of those employees who can design strategy and come up with innovative solutions is likely to expand more than any other skill in the next five years. This also includes being efficient at tasks such as data or information analysis, creative thinking, and developing strategies and objectives.
Related:
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Starting A Career As A Financial Advisor
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