Study: 5 skills give young people an advantage in labor market ‎

As recession fears and layoffs make headlines, fresh graduates may find themselves floundering in an uncertain job market.

Career readiness:

A recent survey of 1,000 US graduates between the ages of 18 and 54 in the last 12 months indicated that many are concerned about their “career readiness.” According to CNBC, nearly half of recent graduates said: They did not apply for jobs because they felt unqualified, according to the survey which represents a greater challenge for those new to the labor market.

For his part, Pooja Chhabria, a professional expert on LinkedIn, said that one of the challenges that young workers may face is the lack of experience when entering the labor market.

Job growth:

While Gen Z workers — those between the ages of 18 and 24 — may worry about their inexperience, some industries are hiring “aggressively,” according to LinkedIn. For example, job postings on the platform grew year on year in October 2022 for sectors such as government administration – which reported growth of 52% in Australia and 88% in Singapore.

Jobs in the retail sector grew by 114% in Australia and 49% in India, while employment in logistics and supply chain grew by 41% in Singapore. These jobs may be from different industries, but they have one thing in common – a focus on specific skills, which Chhabria confirmed are valued across multiple sectors and functions.

New approach:

Chhabria said companies have shifted from a “traditional experience-based” hiring approach to a skills-first hiring approach. Considering that this is due to the “rapid pace of change and disruption” that industries are going through, skill-based recruitment helps employers recruit talent that matches the evolving needs of companies.

87% of job advertisers believe skills are essential when they screen candidates. While a skills-based approach also creates a much broader talent pool, talent diversity is essential to staying competitive in today’s market.” The LinkedIn expert said: “The entities reveal that across the Asia-Pacific region, a skills-based approach to employability would increase the proportion of skills in Generation Z by 10.8 times in Australia, 14.1 times in India and 7 times in Singapore.”

While hard skills remain essential to securing a job, soft skills can help candidates stand out from the crowd

Hard skills are defined as part of the skill set required for a job. It includes the expertise necessary for the individual to carry out the job successfully

“Hard skills can help you get noticed by employers, but soft skills can help you get the job,” Chhabria added. “Hard skills are the technical skills required to do your job. For example, if you are applying to become a sales professional, you need to know the sales processes and how to use a basic CRM system, which is an approach to managing a company’s interaction with current and future customers. This approach analyzes customer history data with the company in order to improve better business relationships with customers, with a special focus on customer retention, in order to drive sales growth.

But you also need soft skills such as presentation skills to deliver a great sales pitch to your clients or communication skills so you can communicate confidently with your team and the customer.

According to the study, these are the top 5 personal skills that young people entering the labor market should focus on:

1. Communication: Being able to communicate your thoughts, opinions, and opinions succinctly so that people can understand what you’re sharing.
2. Time Management: With the advent of remote work, time management has become more important to build trust with the employer and show the value you add to the team.
3. Critical thinking: the ability to understand and process a situation based on all available facts and information
4. Problem Solving: Coming up with solutions and looking for new ways to solve problems. 5. Interpersonal skills: In a post-pandemic workplace, the ability to build relationships and collaborate with teams globally is an important skill.