The Most Sought-After Skills To Develop In 2022

Self-growth is the key to career success no matter what industry you work in. Many businesses offer continuing education to aid their employees in this growth, whether through seminars, training programs, or even education assistance. But if you really want to succeed in your career journey, you need to take the initiative and develop necessary skills on your own time.

But what skills will give you the most “bang for your buck” in terms of relevancy and versatility? Erika Andersen of Harvard Business Review wrote that the best skills are at the intersection of organizational needs and personal satisfaction.

“Given all the ways in which organizations and jobs are changing, figuring out which new skills to develop and when to develop them can be hard. The key is to focus on skills that will propel your organization forward, that play to your strengths, and that you feel passionate about learning.”- Erika Andersen

The pandemic changed the professional world at all levels, and new needs must be accounted for. Regardless of industry, certain soft skills are more important than ever. We’ve looked to various experts and found these soft skills to be the most desired in this new age.

Communication

Communication often comes up as a buzzword, but it is a tricky skill set to develop. Communication covers a wide array of skills, including active listening, public speaking, writing ability, observing, empathy, and providing feedback. So many other soft skills require a foundation based on strong communication skills, making this a great place to start.

Forbes’ William Arruda reminds us that employees are people first. Employees face their own private challenges, and those are even more magnified in today’s troubled times. Knowing how to open a transparent and encouraging dialogue is crucial in connecting with your team, and good communication skills increase morale, productivity, and focus. Good leadership is first built on good communication.

In addition, the remote landscape has changed where communication takes place altogether. With less opportunity for in-person conversation and meetings, leveling up your written communication skills is crucial. ApplyBoard reminds us to use technology to check-in and keep the dialogue going.

“Whether it’s a quick Slack message, an engineering blueprint, or a formal whitepaper, new grads who can communicate key messages clearly and convincingly will see their team thrive.” –ApplyBoard

Problem-solving

Tying back to remote work, working out of the office means you won’t have immediate access to support staff or a direct connection to managers. You’ll often be left to your own devices, paving a need to develop independent problem-solving skills.

In their top-five most in-demand skills for 2022, Star Outico has problem-solving skills as the most frequent subcategory. Four of their top five skills fall under this category, including:

•Analytical thinking and innovation

•Complex problem-solving

•Critical thinking and analysis

•Creativity, originality, and initiative

IT Resources highlights how desirable these traits are to employers, who want well-rounded employees capable of going beyond their job description.

“Employers prefer hiring candidates who show no fear of taking on a challenge. Therefore, when answering questions in your interview, describe how you solved problems. Hiring managers look for innovative solutions rather than a no-brainer.” –IT Resources

Adaptability

The pandemic has thrown a lot at all of us, and the ability to adapt has been necessary at all levels. In terms of our professional lives, adaptability is one of the most sought-after skills by employers. A stable 9-to-5 at the office is a rarity anymore, so those who can thrive in the face of chaos and come out on top are the priority candidates in any industry.

“Whether an employee needs to alter their workload as the business re-staffs or expands, or if the location of their job changes, being adaptable is always an asset. This shows employees that you are willing to roll with the punches to achieve success.” – Michael Page

ApplyBoard deduces adaptability also means being able to cope with not only your own evolving challenges but those of your team as well. Keeping a cool head and being accepting of others’ needs fall under the adaptability umbrella.

Time management

Part of adaptability is knowing how to prioritize your time. With less overhead while working from home, you need to be a master of self-management and time management.

Understanding the needs of your organization and how to prioritize those needs is directly tied to your success. If you have five tasks you need to complete, how do you know which to tackle first? And how do you balance these tasks without becoming overwhelmed?

GrowthSpace’s Sarah Vonnegut discusses the myriad of ways to develop this particular skill, including using software packages, practicing psychological methodologies, or creating simple routines that help.

Wrap up

It always pays to sharpen your skills but choosing what skills to master can often be overwhelming. In the pandemic landscape, soft skills like communication, problem-solving, adaptability, and time management are more important than ever, thanks to new challenges emerging every day. These skills are extremely versatile and can help advance or start your career no matter what field you’re in.

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How To Become An Enthralling Storyteller

At my last job, I was a senior assistant at a finance company. The boss, Mr. Gould, was tall, kinda short. Lightish-dark hair. I remember he had this little dog he would bring into the office named Horton. Or was it Morton? Anyway, I’m sorry, what was the question?

If you’ve made it past this nonsensical anecdote, bravo! A well-told story can leave an impression on your audience and create personal investment. But a poorly-told story, like the one above, incites confusion and boredom. Bestselling author Kindra Hall believes good storytellers are able to build a connection and differentiate themselves from the competition.

“Given a choice between listening to statistics or facts or listening to a story, people will always choose a story. And stories stick with them longer.” -Kindra Hall

Whether you’re interviewing for a new job or becoming a leader in your field, the ability to be a good storyteller is crucial to succeeding in the business world. If you’re looking to enhance your oratory skills with a sense of eloquence and excitement, follow these storytelling cues.

Have a point

A good story leaves an imprint because it has a purpose. No matter how elegant you tell your tale, no one will be interested if the story doesn’t have meaning. The time you found the last bag of oyster crackers at Aldi won’t hold up next to the Iliad.

Skillshare Blog believes there should be a payoff for the listener, not just the storyteller. Even if it isn’t known to the audience until the end of the tale, make sure there is a central message somewhere in your story.

Cut the bloat

Think of a time someone bored you with a story you weren’t interested in. Chances are, the story droned on, and on, and on. One of the classic blunders used by less-proficient storytellers is bogging the story down with too many unnecessary details. In the example story at the top of this article, my story about a previous job focused far too much energy on the boss’ appearance and little details about his life.

Forbes Lisa Christen reminds us of the classic sad short story “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” In just six words, we have a full story. Let every individual word drive the story forward while trusting the audience to be able to fill in the blanks. Your audience is smart but uninformed; they’ll be able to understand your meanings.

While some background information is required, keep it to the necessary bits only, reminds Anett Grant of Fast Company.

“[S]et the scene for your audience in the most concise way possible, telling them only what they need to know to comprehend your key takeaway.” -Anett Grant

Hit emotional beats

If your chronicle is going to stay in the audiences’ mind, it needs to be more than hard facts. The reason you tell a story is to foster a connection, and simply providing the who/what/where/when doesn’t cut it.

Kindra Hall believes a successful story has four components: an identifiable character, authentic emotion, a moment, and specific (relevant!) details. This character (often you!) should experience real emotions and have a defining moment, ie the purpose of the story.

Think in terms of an interviewer asking you a challenge you’ve overcome in the workplace. You’ll leave a long-lasting impression if the story is personal and authentic. Don’t just hit the bullet points; really try to highlight the conflict and how you overcame it. Skillshare Blog points out that the conflict is what keeps an audience engaged.

“An easy and linear path to the finish line isn’t going to keep your audience engaged. Instead, you want your characters to face obstacles—and a decent amount of drama—as they journey on their path.”- Skillshare Blog

You’ll be much more likely to get a follow-up call if your story resonates with the hiring managers.

Keep it simple

Tying back to the idea your story should have a point, once you’ve made that point it’s okay to end the story. Anett Grant reminds us that humans have a short attention span; they say to keep the story like a shot clock in basketball. Get your points across and move on. There is no faster way to lose your audience than to ramble on and have them zone out and forget the point you were making.

Practice

While storytelling may not be the same as public speaking, a fear of many, many of the principles remain the same. Practice your delivery at home while following the above advice. Repetition leads to comfort and confidence. Whether your audience is one person or one hundred, you’ll be able to self-scout and recognize what is and isn’t working.

Skillshare Blog further recommends looking to those who have mastered the art of storytelling to improve. Think of your favorite storytellers and read or listen to their tales. Ask yourself why the story works and how you can adapt those techniques yourself.

Wrap up

Storytelling is a vital skill to master for your professional career. As a job seeker, it will allow you to stick in the hiring manager’s mind after the interview, leading to more follow-ups. As a leader, you’ll find yourself connecting with your team and inspiring them to new heights. It can allow you to resonate with customers, leading to more sales and satisfied clients. Some people are natural storytellers, but with a little effort, anyone can become a masterful storyteller.

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How To Successfully Navigate Workplace Conflict

You’ll spend a significant amount of time at work seeing the same people every day. Ideally, you enjoy spending time with your workplace acquaintances, and you can work together well. But even the strongest relationships have frayed ends, and you (usually!) don’t get to choose the people you work with. Eventually, there will be conflict.

A hectic project may bring out the choler, or your teammate may have a contradictory work style to yours. Maybe you and your boss don’t see eye-to-eye on your salary negotiation, or maybe someone simply keeps eating your lunch. No matter what form it may appear in, workplace conflict is unavoidable.

However, conflict is not always something negative. Conflict can be a catalyst for growth. According to organizational communication scholars Stanley Deetz and Sheryl Stevenson:

“(a) conflict is natural; (b) conflict is good and necessary; and (c) most conflicts are based on real differences” -Deetz and Stevenson (1986)

With help from leadership and workplace experts across the globe, we’ll examine the nature of conflict, recognize that conflict doesn’t have to be hostile, and learn how to effectively navigate the murky waters of workplace conflict.

Conflict itself isn’t a bad thing

As the aforementioned communication scholars have noted, conflict is both natural and necessary. It’s impossible to imagine a group of people in any setting that won’t eventually have a difference of opinion and clash.

“As with any place full of interpersonal relationships, a workplace can be rife with a wide range of conflicts. There are the work-specific problems related to promotions, salary disparity, lack of recognition for achievement, or shared responsibility among a team. There are also more general issues with personal space and privacy; and then there are plain old personality conflicts.” –Rita Friedman, Career Coach

The first instinct many have is to avoid the conflict and hope it passes so as not to create a hostile environment. Yet this denies an opportunity for growth and understanding. By leaving the cause of a conflict in the dark, a solution can never come to light. Imagine a colleague always talks over you in meetings, leaving your ideas on the sidelines. By staying silent, you may never get your chance to have your voice heard.

Libby Calaby believes without a strong leader willing to step in as an unbiased adjudicator, a team will eventually tear itself apart. A third party can help, but an understanding that conflict is necessary and that it doesn’t need to be antagonistic can empower you to take charge.

Conflict doesn’t have to be hostile

The biggest myth of conflict is that conflict is always a hostile act. You don’t need to call your coworker out in front of everyone and put them on the spot or come up with some elaborate revenge plot.

Think of conflict simply as a disagreement. A conflict may sound severe but we have disagreements all the time, right? If I want to go out for tacos but you’d rather get a pizza, that’s not such a big deal, is it? We may have a little debate about the merits of each, and ultimately both of us won’t get our way, but that’s not something cataclysmic.

Putting conflict into this perspective makes it easier to handle conversations a bit more easily. Nexxt’s Alexander Richardson offers the example of negotiations with your boss. You may want something from your boss, a raise, or a day off, and assume your boss is against you. You may believe yourself to be in conflict with your boss, and you may be right, but that doesn’t mean you’re at odds. Think of the opportunity as negotiation and you’ll get the best results.

How to handle workplace conflicts

With a better understanding that conflict is necessary for growth and that it doesn’t need to be aggressive, how can we handle workplace conflicts in a respectful manner? The experts at Small Biz Viewpoints, Robert Half, and Advanced Leadership Consulting each have their ideas on how to handle the process. These tips fall into three broad categories to get you started.

1. Be proactive

Don’t let a conflict fester or snowball out of control. You can often stop conflict before it happens by checking in with your peers and asking for simple feedback, writes Carl Robinson of Advanced Leadership Consulting.

He adds that, while recognizing conflict is inevitable, you want to establish conflict resolution procedures in advance. “Think of the procedures as ground rules for behavior within and outside the team. Don’t wait for the conflict to happen before establishing ground rules for navigating conflict.”

2. Be respectful

Stick to the facts and don’t make a conflict feel personal. Keep the argument on the issue at hand. This prevents the other party from immediately feeling defensive or attacked, and they’ll be far more willing to listen to what you have to say.

“Be mindful during the resolution process, you should use neutral terms and display open body language with all of the employees involved. For this reason, you should focus on the events and behaviors instead of the personalities.” -Small Biz Viewpoints

3. Compromise

Chances are, you won’t reach a perfect solution for both parties involved. Learning how to compromise is key. While it may feel like you’re conceding or giving up, learning how to give and take is vital for growth and to move past a disagreement. Robert Half believes “[D]iplomacy is based on tradeoffs and finding an acceptable middle ground. Aim to create a win-win situation where both parties walk away gaining something.”

Wrap up

Even in the best company culture, even if you adore your coworkers, conflicts will happen. Keeping perspective in these conflicts is necessary to gain an understanding and come to an amicable solution. You may not always “win” your conflicts, but by realizing that conflict is necessary and can be positive, and understanding how to handle conflicts, you’ll come away without losing or damaging your workplace relationships. But either way, don’t eat your coworkers’ lunch. That’s just impolite.

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Making The Most Of Your Holiday Job Search

With Thanksgiving and various winter holidays approaching, it may seem that the professional world is entering hibernation mode. It is a common belief that as the calendar year ends, hiring slows to an icy crawl as well. But just because the weather is getting cold, does that mean there is a hiring freeze as well?

There doesn’t seem to be a clear consensus on this myth, at least, according to the experts. CareerSideKick believes November and December are the two worst months to apply for jobs (though you should keep trying anyway!) as new hiring budgets come into play into the new year and fewer employees are on vacation in January.

TheBalanceCareers believes the opposite to be true. With less competition (often due to job seekers assuming companies aren’t hiring) and more holiday networking opportunities abound, the holidays are a superb time to find a new position. There may be hidden benefits as well, like potential holiday time off and extra money for the holidays themselves.

TopResume found many of the holiday hiring myths factual, but just as many to be fictional. Companies may be too busy to hire due to end-of-the-year commitments and deadlines and a lack of applicants. However, philosophically there is no reason to wait until spring to make a new hire, and there aren’t too many temporary hires that a permanent worker won’t be hired.

“After looking at all of the evidence, the jury cannot decide. On one hand, temporary hiring speeds up tremendously during the holidays — upwards of 100,000 temporary jobs are available at major corporations. On the other hand, there are fewer qualified candidates and less incentive for hiring managers to fill their open positions, so some may wait until the new year to resume their search for candidates.” -TopResume

Nevertheless, all the experts agree on one aspect: keep applying! There are still jobs out there, and as previously mentioned, fewer individuals apply at this time of year. If you’re determined to use the holiday season to your advantage, here are some of the most valuable tips:

Networking

It seems obvious, but networking is a year-round job in and of itself. But the holiday season actually offers plenty of seasonal options to make the process easier.

Have holiday parties coming up? Use those to your advantage! The holidays are one of the busiest seasons for social gatherings, and even just mentioning to your peers you’re looking for a job can start the process. Accept any invites you may get to maximize the number of contacts you can get in touch with. No matter what holidays you celebrate, generosity is a common theme.

This is also the perfect time of year to send holiday cards. Firsthand’s Jane Hurst had this to say:

“Everyone loves to receive handwritten notes—and they make strong and lasting impressions—so take the extra time to write notes to old friends you haven’t spoken with in a while, ex-colleagues, even relatives. You never know who might lead you to your next job interview.” -Hurst

Clean up your documents

Even if you believe your job search will slow down, there are ways to keep busy. The end of the year is the perfect time to tweak your important documents—no need to wait for spring cleaning.

Go over your resume and cover letters to make sure everything is up to date. Have you acquired any new skills or certifications but forgotten to add them thanks to the daily grind? This is the ideal time to add them to your resume. Make sure to tidy up any errors or misspellings as well, and do your best to keep the language action-oriented and show tangible results.

This is also a great time to reconnect with your references and make sure you have their information up to date (as well as their permission!).

“It’s both considerate and professional to ask to use someone as a reference—and important to let him or her know what you’ve been up to.” -The Muse’s Stacey Lastoe

Will you use the holidays to volunteer or find temporary work? Now is the time to add those experiences to your documents. Even if you aren’t actively looking and applying in November and December, you’ll be ready to hit the ground running in January and February.

Research and prepare contacts

The coming new year is always a time for introspection, and this applies to your career search as well. Take time to think about what experiences you’ve liked in your career journey and what you want in your next adventure. Take the time to brainstorm and come up with a plan.

The truth is many hiring managers will either be on vacation or busy with end-of-the-year tasks during the holiday season. That may make it hard to get in touch with the right people if you’re looking for your dream job. But there is plenty of work to be done that can get you in touch with the right people.

The Muse’s Stacey Lastoe believes this is a great time to get the ball rolling. Take the time to research the organizations you’d like to apply for and find the best people to get in touch with. Spend some time on LinkedIn and company websites to find the right people to connect with and start preparing your emails or direct messages.

Wrap up

The holidays are a great time to take some time to yourself and enjoy the company of friends and family while resetting your mental health, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be proactive in your job search. Many companies are still hiring, and with less competition around, you may get more opportunities thanks to your diligence. The holidays provide an ideal chance to prepare yourself for the next stage of your career, whether that’s an active search, finding a temporary opportunity, or simply setting yourself up for success in the spring.

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Finish The Year Strong With These Guiding Principles

Like many of the New Year’s resolutions set this past January, unforeseen circumstances likely made your goals much more difficult to achieve. For many, objectives were shifted around and some plans had to take a backseat. However, we do not have to allow one setback to control us. What adjustments have you made to find success in your new schedule?

Look Back on The Goals You Set in January

No one could predict the many twists and turns Covid-19 brought to workplaces across the country, but there are still measurable aspects to assess. Picture yourself at the finish line. Are you proud of the adaptability you’ve shown? Things won’t always go the way we plan, so we must be ready to adjust to maintain momentum.

When looking back, you can learn what worked best, what came short of expectations, and what adjustments can be had. If you had your goals and resolutions written down, take time to assess the significant challenges and key lessons you’ve learned. Were your goals realistic or improbable? Maybe you didn’t meet every expectation, but there are likely still reasons to celebrate.

“Every task, goal, race and year comes to an end…therefore, make it a habit to FINISH STRONG.” — Gary Ryan Blair

Don’t Delay the Future

Perseverance is one of the most common qualities exhibited by today’s top entrepreneurs. If you want to be one of the best, you must think and act like the best. Quit hitting snooze on your career objectives. There are some things you don’t have to wait until next year to get started on.

What are you putting off that you can be acting on now? Are there any tough conversations you need to have by the end of the year? Now is the time. Maybe you are running point on a new project that does not yet have a timeline. Getting started today can limit the stress ahead in the new year.

Gather Your Thoughts & Recommit

Whether the year led to you working from home or to a new job entirely, there are likely significant takeaways you can find from this past year. The massive work-from-order perhaps allowed us a ‘look’ into the future. How would you rate your productivity? No matter how your performance shakes out, you need to dedicate time to reset and recharge.

A critical first step to renewing your energy and clarity is clearing out the thoughts in the back of your mind, even if they are not career-related. Don’t allow your mind to get ‘bottled up’ with household chores, or trips to the grocery store/bank that you have to make. I have experienced this firsthand when I know there is a sink full of dishes or a hamper full of laundry. These are avoidable distractions. If you don’t check them off your list today, they will cross your mind and instill dread at the most inopportune times.

Do you have positive, uplifting individuals in your circle (people that will challenge you but also provide relevant advice)? Remove those around you that do not serve your goals. Shake off the negative thoughts and people, kick out the bad habits, and identify a clear vision.

“No matter who you are or what you do, embrace the challenge to first start with the goal to finish strong.” – Andy Andrews

Wrap Up

Prepare for the New Year, but allow your goals for this year and next year to coincide. While it’s key to focus on your tasks at hand and remain proactive in your goals, there are bound to be objectives you cannot tackle until the new year. Amidst the chaos, take time to ensure orderliness for the year ahead. Preparing now will provide peace of mind and allow you to build momentum in the new quarter quickly. Set a brainstorming session and layout a plan of action within your department.

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