Top 25 skills employers need in 2019 include creativity, persuasion, AI: LinkedIn data
The Associated Press
The U.S. economy continues to pump out jobs, adding more than 300,000 of them in December and holding the unemployment rate under 4 percent. Yet many jobs remain highly competitive.
So how do you get your CV to the top of the stack in 2019? LinkedIn mined its user data to create a list of skills and experience that will improve your odds.
The social-media employment and networking service came up with its ranking "by looking at skills that are in high demand relative to their supply. Demand is measured by identifying the skills listed on the LinkedIn profiles of people who are getting hired at the highest rates."
Below are the Top 20 "hard skills" and the Top 5 "soft" skills, according to LinkedIn.
Top hard skills:
20. Competitive strategies
Business Dictionary definition: "Long-term action plan that is devised to help a company gain a competitive advantage over its rival."
19. Industrial design
"Industrial designers not only focus on the appearance of a product," writes the Industrial Designers Society of America, "but also on how it functions, is manufactured and ultimately the value and experience it provides for users."
18. Digital marketing
Business Dictionary definition: "The promotion of products or brands via one or more forms of electronic media."
17. Journalism
Fake news? Apparently not. Says LinkedIn: "Once a dwindling skill, journalism isn't just for journalists anymore as marketing and content teams alike vie for people who can tell compelling stories."
16. Business analysis
Business Dictionary definition: "Investigation into the operations of a business to expose the causes behind the results achieved, and the effects of those results on the business."
15. Animation
Surprised to see this particular skill in the Top 20? You shouldn't be, says LinkedIn, "considering the surge of video traffic and the increasing prevalence of the GIF."
14. Social media marketing
This subcategory of digital marketing is highly in demand.
13. Game development
This shouldn't be confused with game designing, points out GameDesigning.com. The website explains: "a video game developer is a person or more often a group of people that convert the ideas and objectives of the design team into the actual game."
12. Scientific computing
Using computers to solve or understand problems (such as climate change) has been called the "'third pillar of science,' standing right next to theoretical analysis and experiments for scientific discovery."
11. Natural language processing
Forbes describes it as "a form of artificial intelligence that focuses on analyzing the human language to draw insights, create advertisements, help you text (yes, really) and more."
10. Audio production
"Behind every recording," writes the Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences, "there are thousands of puzzle pieces that need to be put together to paint our aural picture."
9. Translation
It's a big, interconnected world. And have you noticed that Google Translate isn't as smooth as you'd like it to be?
8. Sales leadership
Some things never go out of style. "Sales," writes LinkedIn, "is one of those skills that's always in demand, and great sales leaders are only becoming harder and harder to find."
7. Video production
While you read this, a lot of other people are watching a video.
6. Mobile application development
"Mobile application development," writes the Essential Guide, "is the set of processes and procedures involved in writing software for small, wireless computing devices such as smartphones or tablets."
5. UX design
"A UX designer's role," writes the Adobe Blog, "is directly involved in the process of making a product useful, usable and enjoyable for its users."
4. People management
We're all introverted tech geeks now, so the ability to "coach and empower," writes LinkedIn, "[is] a difficult skillset few professionals possess."
3. Analytical reasoning
"In short," writes The Classroom, "analytical reasoning is the ability to recognize and determine the meaning of patterns in a variety of information."
2. Artificial intelligence
In the context of jobs for humans, AI refers to the "theory and development of computer systems to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, decision-making, and translation between languages."
1. Cloud computing
Amazon, a leader in the field, describes it as "the on-demand delivery of compute power, database storage, applications, and other IT resources ... via the internet."
Top soft skills:
5. Time management
4. Adaptability
3. Collaboration
2. Persuasion
1. Creativity
