Are you wondering how to unleash and move forward your career? Achieving some new skills is something you need. Read 8 marketable skills to help you do a better job!
As someone who moved to full-time work from home ten years ago, I can’t rave enough for the benefits of happiness and overall mental health. You can’t commute to work or sell to work to feel like you’re cosplaying like someone else.
But one of the best things about working remotely is the opportunity to spend all the extra time that would have been stuck in traffic to hone your skills to gain better employment opportunities. In just a few years, I have significantly expanded my professional skill set by simply using internet resources to develop the most sought-after skills for my profession.
If you like working from home and feel like you’re staying in a professional rut or want to make more money, here’s a list of marketable skills you can teach yourself.
1. Social Media Marketing
The need for professionals to grasp the social media concept is almost as much given as my ability to answer calls when I first start work. However, social media marketing experience is one of the more advanced skillsets that intersect well with many jobs.
In my job as a resume writer, I have the ability to drive engagement across multiple platforms, including LinkedIn, Twitter (X), Facebook and YouTube, and understanding social media insights will give candidates a competitive edge in retail, administrative assistant roles, and even museum roles. If you have a strong aptitude for social media engagement and creativity in digital marketing, you can also consider building your own social media business from home.
2. Content creation
Before I moved from my home lifestyle to my current job, I worked full-time as an educator with limited experience as a freelance print writer and blogger. I wanted to write full time, so I set out to teach myself the basics of writing online content.
I was hoping to gain insight into the world of online content creation, actively searching for the kind of website I wanted to write about, and see many YouTube creators. Once we felt that we could grasp the format well, we started developing our own samples. To stand out from the ocean of writing inexpensive content mills, I knew I had to make sure my writing exemplifies hard skills such as proofreading, research, and content marketing.
Related Content: How to infiltrate and work remotely in freelance writing
3. Search for engine optimization
If you are involved in any type of content creation or online marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one of the top skills to learn. Simply put, SEO refers to the best practices you need to drive traffic to your website and start your website with search engine rankings. This includes, for example, concepts such as targeted internal links and keywords.
Not only is SEO one of the easiest technical skills to learn, you can also find plenty of free information about SEO best practices from content creators on YouTube and social media websites.
4. Creating a video
When using social media management, video editing is one of the transferable skills that you can lead alongside potential employers. Video editing is also a more advanced skill, but it is also one of the technical skills you pay for development.
If you have no experience in creating video content, you can start by diving Headfirst to a platform like CapCut or checking out online tutorials. You can also find video editing courses available online for free through many public libraries. Or take it a step further and invest in paid online courses.
5. Basic Web Development
You don’t need to graduate with a Visual Design degree to get a basic understanding of website development. Platforms like WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, and more all make it easy to create websites.
As a professional content writer, I often had to interface with WordPress and Wix to complete projects. I have seen this skill be useful for friends in retail and non-profit roles as well. And like video editing, this is definitely an area that can be paid off to invest in paid courses.
6. Project Management Skills
For remote workers looking for a well-paid job, project management is one of the most profitable skills you can invest in. It’s the backbone of remote management jobs like my best friend who works remotely in accounting leadership roles.
Unlike simple things like content creation and other skills, project management involves a wide range of hard and soft skills, including leadership skills, teamwork, emotional intelligence, adaptability, conflict resolution, and resilience that carries the responsibility of the entire project. Coursera offers a variety of paid and free courses in project management if you want to learn more.
7. Artificial Intelligence and Data Analysis
No matter what line of work you are, you cannot fully defend the value of understanding how to integrate and integrate artificial intelligence. My experience as an AI trainer using Data Annotation Tech has provided many job openings based on my background as a freelance writer and data analyst.
My job consists primarily of chatting with bots to help model (or avoid) certain behaviors, but working with AI regularly has helped me understand the large-scale behavior of the Language Model (LLM), including many potential applications and limitations.
Based on my own experiences and conversations I have experienced with my colleagues, more employers are beginning to integrate machine learning as a productivity tool, looking for workers who understand how to use AI carefully in critical thinking to identify misinformation and other issues.
Where to hone your skills
Repeating what I’ve already touched and finding information that will help you narrow down your professional skill set may vary depending on what you are trying to learn. Skills like SEO and content writing can be easily learned through free online courses and YouTube content. There are also many high-income skills suitable for things like paid courses.
Furthermore, we cannot overemphasize the value of watching Tiktok or YouTube videos, which can help you refine soft skills such as problem solving and interpersonal skills.
Marketable skills to strengthen your resume
If you’re not sure where to start on your skill building journey, start with something small and practical. Better yet, try using the recruitment tiles you have to scope out people’s LinkedIn profiles and create your own Employability Skills Career Bucket list. Finally, don’t forget to add all your new skills to your resume and LinkedIn page.
Do you have your favorite DIY professional development tool? Let me know in the comments and have good luck on your professional learning journey!