What do employers really want from candidates in 2020?

COVID19 has affected the way most of us work, so there’s no doubt recruiting trends are changing now that we’re slowly coming out of lockdown. Businesses are quickly adapting and innovating, in order to keep up with this fast-pace job market you need to highlight skills that hiring managers really want in a post-lockdown world.

To help you land your dream job, we’ve put together a list of the most in demand skills in 2020.

Soft Skills

1. Self Motivation – Working from home means you prospective manager needs to trust you to be proactive and get on with work without constant supervision. Provide examples to back up your claims of extreme motivation such as; a time you solved a problem without being asked, or when you stayed late to ensure targets were hit.
2. Adaptability – The only way a business can adapt and get through a turbulent time like 2020, is if their team are able to. You will be an asset to any business if you can show that you think on your feet and don’t shy away from fast-pace change.
3. Communication – This key skill allows you to motivate others, efficiently problem solve and provide valuable feedback. Show your potential employer that you’re an excellent communicator by giving an example of a time you help a particularly difficult customer or a colleague who struggled to pick up a new skill. These days communication doesn’t just mean face to face conversations, you need to be capable of creating and maintaining open levels of communication through the phone, over email and video.
4. Collaboration – Team work is critical in all organisations, the ability to build internal relationships is key to employers. When putting together your CV or in an interview it’s actually counterproductive to suggest that you’ve had significant achievements alone, be sure to include examples that showed a collaborative approach.
5. Time Management – With flexible working becoming more and more common employers need to trust that you are able to manage your time independently. Whether you live by your Outlook Calendar or keep a diary, find the method that works for you and stick to it!
6. Continuous development – Are you happy doing the same thing day in day out? Or are you always looking to learn new skills and improve on your current skill set? If it’s the latter employers will be keen to bring you and your outlook onboard to ensure you will progress in their business without needing constant support.
7. Emotional Intelligence – Critical for managers, the ability to perceive, evaluate, and respond to your emotions and the emotions of others.
8. Creativity – Thinking outside the box comes naturally to some, but that doesn’t mean you can’t flex your creative muscles to help them grown. There are a number of courses online to help you bring new ideas and ways of thinking to your next employer.

Soft skills shouldn’t simply be listed on your resume, they should be incorporated into it with context. Of course everyone likes to think they’re motivated and adaptable with great communication skills but hiring managers see hundreds of CV’s so to stand out you will need to back up your claims with examples and achievements.

Hard Skills

1. Blockchain – New to the list of most in demand skills this year, so don’t worry if you haven’t heard of it. Blockchain is a new technology that is typically used to support cryptocurrencies.
2. Cloud computing – Everything is in the cloud these days, so it’s no surprise this is on the list. Talented cloud computing professionals will create the architecture, design and delivery of a cloud system.
3. Analytical Reasoning – Businesses have HUGE amounts of data, analytical reasoning is the method that aims to make sense of all of it and put it into practice.
4. Artificial Intelligence – Many jobs are being replaced by AI today. The power of AI is harnessed to ensure businesses offer relevant, personalised, and innovative products and services.
5. UX Design – Professionals in UX ensure that innovative technology is ‘human-centric’ so we can use all of these new products with ease and intuition.

Your hard skills should be listed in you CV, ideally near the top, so that a hiring manager can quickly see that you’re perfect for their role!

For free advice send your CV to sara@peopleforcerecruitment.com