When searching for a job, it is crucial for an individual to be aware of their skill set. By being self-aware, one can present their skill set to appeal to potential employers. It is important for individuals to spend time understanding the skill sets they possess, and present them clearly in their resume and cover letter. During an interview, candidates must be able to exhibit and state the skill sets they have so that recruiters know more about the candidate’s skills. So what are skill sets? Why are skill sets important and how can we develop them? We will be elaborating on this topic in this article so read on to find out more!

• What are skill sets?
• Why are they important?
• How to develop skill sets?
• Skill sets that recruiters look for

What are skill sets?

According to the balance careers, a skill set is the possession of the ability, experience and knowledge to carry out a certain task. Some examples can include accounting, leadership, programming and many more. Skill sets are acquired through experiences and learning. There are two types of skills, mainly soft skills and hard skills.

Soft skills refer to non-technical skills that relate to your working style. They normally cannot be quantified and are associated to an individual’s personality and working ability. Some important and highly sought after soft skills include interpersonal skills, leadership skills, critical thinking and more.

Hard skills are more technical skills that can be quantified and taught. They are the technical knowledge and expertise needed for a job. Some hard skills include accounting, programming, engineering and others.

Why are skill sets important in today’s job and career context?

Skills are what define you and makes you stand out from the crowd. In the perspective of hard skills, each job scope have a set of skill sets required to qualify for the job. If you don’t have that skill set you would suffer, and wouldn’t be able to complete your tasks. That would be the basic when recruiters are looking for candidates. Nowadays, more companies focus more on soft skills as it is more difficult to cultivate.

They like people with leadership and good communication skills. Jobs are no longer fully based on academics anymore. Thus, it is important for you to know your skill sets and to present it to employers to depict yourself as suitable for the role.

More than ever, there is a very evident shift of focus from academics to technical in today’s technological and digital world. Many companies used to recruit depending on academics. However, the times have changed. Now, recruiters search more candidates who have more technical skills that can be applied to the working world rather than just being able to study well.

In the Global Recruiting Trends Report by LinkedIn, the assessment of soft skills are one of the top trends reshaping the industry in the upcoming years according to 35 percent of recruiters. This is evidence that soft skills are becoming prominently required when searching for a job.

How to develop skill sets?

To develop skill sets is mostly through practice and experience.

1.Get experience/training

Grasp as many opportunities you have to join activities. Take up a leadership position, or join competitions. Only by participating in more activities will you be able to learn more through experience. All these opportunities will allow you to meet more people, and you will be able to learn from interacting with many different types of people. So make good use of your time and use it to gain experience in many important soft and hard skills to hone your skill sets.

To hone your hard skills, you can sign up for courses and technical schools to gain more technical skills. Singapore has SkillsFuture as well which is great for those who want to upgrade their technical skills. Taking courses like Coursera and HubSpot will help you further hone your hard skills as well.

2. Practice

After learning skills, put them to good use by practicing them in your daily life. It is important to keep practicing and honing whatever skill sets you have to constantly improve. You can do this by taking up more internship or work positions. Work on both your soft and hard skills since both are equally important in the workplace.

Skill sets that recruiters look for

Soft skills

• Leadership
• Communication
• Problem Solving
• Adaptability
• Creativity
• Analytical

Hard skills

• Copywriting
• Data analysis
• SEO
• Programming
• Event planning and management
• Accounting
• Graphic design

Skill sets are extremely crucial for candidates to stand out to recruiters. After being aware of your skill sets, you can search for jobs that need candidates with your set of skills. For easy job searching, 9cv9 matches candidates’ skill sets to job requirements, so candidates can seamlessly apply for jobs that best suits to their skill sets. Head on over to 9cv9 to find a remote job best suited for you now!

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