Marketable Skills

More Marketable Skills = More Employable

The more relevant and effective skills we have, the more versatile, resilient, and employable we will be.

What Skills Are Needed

Figure out what skills will be required or preferred in occupations you are interested in by reviewing and comparing information in the following resources.

 Occupation Research

Use the following resources to find out what skills are needed for the occupations you are most interested in.

  • Career Assessments that focus on skills, can help you identify current skill set(s) and find jobs that match them.
  • Occupational Mobility Explorer – This tool helps people identify how current skills can transfer into another field which is similar but higher paying.
  • Occupation Research – Use occupation research tools to find out what skills are associated with careers or industries you are interested in.
  • Job Postings – Review the qualifications regional employers include in their job postings.
  • ChatGPT and Google Gemini – The free and paid version of these AI tools can be used to gather information. However, all information should be compared to legitimate and current sources of information.

Marketable Skill Sets

Review skills sets that are relevant to most work places, as well as those required or valued within specific industries or sectors.

To increase your career readiness, notice the skills you have and the ones that you need to develop. Then identify how and when you will develop the skills you’ll need to qualify for positions you are most interested in.

Click on the toggles below to find out more. 

Hard & Soft Skills

Soft/Employability Skills

Soft skills are a set of skills, which most employers value tremendously.  Individuals are ultimately responsible to develop, maintain, and strengthen these skills, in order to get hired, meet basic workplace expectations, and succeed in the world of work.

In this region, soft skills are often referred to as “employability skills”, because people can’t get or stay employed without them. Sometimes, they are also referred to as essential (workplace) skills,  foundational skills, and durable skills.

Text reads: What exactly are soft skills? Soft skills are presonal attributes needed for success on the job. Time management, teamwork, networking, creative thinking, conflict resolution

Hard/Technical Skills

Text reads: What are hard skills? Acquired through formal education and training. Job sucess requires both hard and soft skills

Career Assessments to Gain Objectivity

Career assessments will help you identify your current skill set(s) and identify occupations that match them.

However, don’t limit yourself to the jobs you are currently qualified for, if these jobs do not represent your ultimate career goal. Instead, look for jobs that you could get now that would help you gain the skills and experience needed to qualify for better and higher-level jobs later. Having relevant skills and experience opens the path to more satisfying and supportive job opportunities.

Documenting Your Skills

Taking assessments and reflecting on what you have done likely helped you become aware of skills you haven’t documented before. Whenever you remember or gain a skill, consider taking a moment to write it down – in a list format or resume.  Then this information will be easier to retrieve, when you need it – for the job search, job evaluations, networking pitch development, etc.

Resumes

Create and continually update your resume. In the future, you will be very glad to have these details on file, especially when you are applying for internships, jobs, or a college/university.

Electronic Portfolio / Profile

At minimum, take the time to create a LinkedIn profile – whether you are actively searching for a job or not.

In addition to using social media (like LinkedIn) to engage in the job search, we can use it to create important professional connections, learn about cutting edge developments in fields of interest, learn about professional development (PD) opportunities, and more.  A well-written profile will serve as the foundation for communication that happens through social media platforms that are designed for professional networking.

Additional Relevant Resources