Using artificial intelligence, LinkedIn narrowed down the top 5 skills that trended in the profiles of people who were hired at the highest rate, so if you’re on the job market at the moment, I’d recommend paying attention.

You might even thinking about listing these skills in your profile, provided you can honestly say you demonstrate them. Don’t tell fibs, think seriously about whether you possess any of these skills and make sure you can back them up with hard evidence or it could work against you. No one likes to hire a phony, trust me on that.

Scroll to watch 5-minute episode and learn what will make your career sparkle in the future!

1. Creativity

Coming in at number 1 and holding onto its top position since 2018, is Creativity.

What sets this soft skill apart as the most in-demand?

I checked some research on what perks you get if you hire a creative.

People who are creative are proven to demonstrate more:

• Openness to change

• Self-direction

• Benevolence values (meaning they’ll give value to cooperation and concern for other’s wellbeing).

Your ability to demonstrate that you can come up with new and ingenious solutions to problems can set you up as an expert in your field.

And lower creativity linked closer to self-seeking individuals who were driven by self-protection and the desire for a stable and predictable environment (Lebedva, Schwartz, Van de Vijver et. al, 2019).

Creative individuals seem to be more motivated by cooperative work with colleagues due to the higher value they place on benevolence.

That creative arts degree or your macrame making obsession which everyone laughed at, is definitely going to pay off in the end!

We can classify creativity under 6 Core Domains.

Take some time to brainstorm which areas you might have evidence you can share from in your Resume or Job interview.

Crafts:

Decorative activities, costume design, flower arrangements, seamstress skills, cake decorating, food styling

Visual Arts:

Fine arts, painting, drawing, sculpture, interior design

Performance: 

Instrumental performance, choral singing, dancing performance

Theatre:

Acting, stage singing, direction, choreography, film and tv performance

Product for work:

Activities that developed new and novel solutions, products. Software creation, machine design.

Machine graphics: 

Graphic design skills, typesetting, movie editing

If you’re not creative, don’t push it.

It’s vital to be honest in interviews when promoting yourself. A square peg will never fit a round hole- don’t forget that!

Wondering how to demonstrate benevolence in a job interview?

Consider that your benevolence value refers to how much you care for others.

If you value benevolence you’ll focus on developing supportive and cooperative social relationships. You’ll also feel more fulfilled watching out for your organisation’s goals and the well being of your colleagues.

Providing information about a time you advocated for someone or a greater purpose to benefit others. You might also include information on volunteer activities you have done recently. Be specific with this and if you can show ongoing commitment and outcomes achieved for others from the volunteer pursuit that will make your benevolent value more believable.

But only give this information if it’s truthful.

2. Persuasion

Persuasion held onto its position in 2020 as the second most in-demand soft skill that correlated to higher employability.

If you can demonstrate solid persuasion skills you’ll definitely stand out from the back.

 

These principles are not just for brand marketing. Remember, your professional success will be determined by how well you market yourself to push your career forward, so it’s good to work on your persuasion skills. 

3. Collaboration

If you want to push your career forward you want to build on your collaborative skills and it was interesting to see this soft skill hold onto its third position for another year. 

Reid Hoffman famously declared,

4. Adaptability

Do we need much more explanation?

If you’re not coping with the changes the world is throwing at you in 2020, put your seatbelt on because I’m pretty sure change is going to feature on the agenda solidly in your immediate future.

It’s not going away any time soon.

Your ability to cope with and adapt to change will set you up for leadership success. Focus on developing your mindset to be being solution-focused, rather than problem-focused. Recruiters, prospective bosses and even your colleagues will notice the difference!

5. Emotional Intelligence

I strongly encourage you to work on your abilities to understand and use your emotions positively to manage conflict, pressure, stress and enhance your communication and dealing with others.

In particular, take care to Communicate with More Empathy.

We’ve got a mini-tutorial on that which you should definitely check out!