If you’re feeling as though you’ve got stuck in a rut with your job, then you may be worrying for nothing. Although each role has its own specific skill set, employers are increasingly looking for candidates who can learn on the job, but who have a particular set of ‘soft’ or transferable skills.

According to The Future of Jobs, a document produced by the World Economic Forum after interviewing 350 executives in 9 different industries, the world of work is going to change, driven mostly by technological change. With AI and machine learning picking up on the more routine jobs, employers will be looking for candidates who can demonstrate skills such as:

 

Time Management

As flexible working becomes more normal, companies will be looking for staff who can reliably work without direct supervision. Time Management is a big part of that, and something you can demonstrate by talking about how you organise your workload and ensure that tasks don’t get forgotten.

Flexibility

Although the saying may be that nothing is certain but death and taxes, the truth is that change is a certainty and especially in the modern business environment. With new technology disrupting the old ways of doing things, staff who can adapt well will be prized. To showcase this to an employer, use an example of how things have changed in your current role, and how you responded.

Planning & Organisation

As with time management, technology is likely to make workers more autonomous which means being able to show that you can make long and short-term plans and carry them out effectively. Finding examples of planning from your work experience to raise at interview will help you here.

Written Communication

As face-to-face and voice calls give way to chat rooms and text messages, being able to express yourself clearly and concisely in writing is vital. Your cover letter and CV are the perfect way to show that you have this ability to your prospective employer.

Drive

It isn’t just about being able to plan your time, it’s about making sure that things get done. If you have any examples of your personal efforts to push a project to completion, that will help your employer to understand that you have the necessary drive to see things through.

Self-motivation

If there’s no one watching, do you slack off or crack on? Needless to say, being able to prove that you do the latter will offer a much better chance of securing a job in a remote working world.

Problem Solving

Employers are looking for staff who can see things from a different perspective, not those who throw in the towel at the first sign of difficulty. Being able to share your experience of when things got tough can help show your interviewer that you have this skill.

Commercial Sense

Your employer runs a business and understanding that and where you fit into the business machine is vital. It can also help to show that you are service oriented; looking to give customers the best possible service whenever possible to build loyalty and continued custom.

Team Players

Very few jobs let you actually work alone, even if you are working from home you’ll have contact with colleagues. How well do you work with others? Team sports are the obvious example outside of the working world but talking about your team members in a positive light will show this clearly too.

Verbal Communication

How well do you talk the talk? Coming across well in conversation, while delivering presentations or just chatting via video conference are all important for the future of work. Again, this is a skill that you can demonstrate really well by practising good verbal communication during your interview.

So, if you’re looking at your CV and worrying about the future, don’t. The world of work is changing and those soft and transferable skills are getting to be more valuable than ever!

Sarah Dixon writes for Inspiring Interns, which specialises in sourcing candidates for internships and graduate jobs.