These are things everyone needs to master, regardless of their roles.
Listening: This is one of the foundation skills most of us never really master. Listening is fundamental to learning and maintaining relationships. 8 Ways to Master the Art of Effective Listening
Observation: How good are you in paying a close attention to the world around you? Knowledge relies on observation. Without a keen sense of observation, it is hard to move up in any career path. Gain an edge by improving your observation skills
Writing: Most often people send me resumes and cover letters with horrible structure. They get instantly tossed out. It is sad that while 12 years of schooling stress so much on writing, most of us still don’t pay attention to mastering it.
Networking: Building a network of effective relationships is an amazing skill. Networking is not about partying with a whole lot of classmates. It is about building a professional relationship with a diverse group of people & making meaningful connections. It involves understanding people, remembering their needs and connecting them with the right people. Networking Is Not Working: Stop Collecting Business Cards and Start Making Meaningful Connections.
Read & follow instructions: This is another skill that we seem to be completely losing. Can you read a manual and follow instructions?
Specialized Skills
Sales: Are you the kind of person who can understand a product, connect with the right customer, build trust and convince them to do the right thing? Sales is an amazing skill to have [and a high paying one too] and the master entrepreneurs — Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were fine salesmen. If you are still in college, start selling something. Keep refining this art.
Design: Can you design things in a way it makes things logical as well as aesthetically pleasing? If you have an eye for design, you could learn User Interface. At a time when companies are competing on design and delivery, it would be an amazing thing to have.
Systems Engineering: Are you very hands-on in IT and can fix things? Do you have the patience to read through the manual and try out different solutions? Enterprise IT departments are always hiring.
There are hundreds of such skills — ranging from physical therapy to financial analysis that still pay a lot. Start from this page: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Use the controls at the top and play around with the parameters. Click through specific career paths. Although the jobs are US centric, the skill sets are broadly applicable.
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