Posted by Malaysia’s employment situation has remained generally stable since the start of this year and the 2022 Malaysia general election (GE15).
According to DOSM, the Department of Statistics Malaysia, the number of unemployed persons in July 2022 which was 620.7 thousand persons, remained on a downward trend with a decreased of 1.6 per cent or equivalent to 9.9 thousand persons (June 2022: 630.6 thousand persons). In the meantime, the number of unemployed persons fell by 0.4 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms. Accordingly, a lower unemployment rate was recorded during the month at 3.7 per cent, a decrease of 0.1 percentage points as compared to June 2022 (3.8%). Meanwhile, seasonally adjusted estimates for the unemployment rate remained at 3.6 per cent.
But, work as we know it is changing in 2023. The hiring game has completely changed. Skills that used to be prioritized in job interviews, such as the technical skills found on a résumé, are no longer the most appealing traits that employers are seeking.
In approaching 2023, it’s important to assess the best skills that will make you more employable. What trends are taking over and how is this changing the way we work? What are employers going to value most in the coming year? How can you position yourself best to take advantage of this?
Research from Jobstore shows that by having these five behavioral skills as a foundation, individuals can acquire new skills and talents and continue to utilize them throughout their careers:
Best skills for the 2023 workforce
- Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is a way of marketing that uses digital technologies to reach and engage customers. It often involves using various online and offline channels, such as search engine marketing (SEO), content marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, and mobile marketing.
These days the use of digital marketing extends beyond typical marketing roles to HR and recruitment, for instance, for performance marketing, social media, and employer branding. All these roles require digital skills, such as data analysis, content creation, search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), communication, social media management, basic design, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems, such as Salesforce.
2. Customer Centricity
Happy customers feel understood and catered to and tend to stay loyal to a brand. Unhappy customers abandon brands, and without customers, there is no business. Therefore, putting the customer first and at the center of everything you design and do in all products and services offered, is vital.
This is the definition of customer centricity and requires the people in your organization to fully understand the customers’ situations, perceptions, and expectations. Gaining this understanding requires your employees to have several skills to display the behaviors needed, such as empathy, love for the problem, moving from a problem to an opportunity lens, humility to inspire collaboration, a growth mindset, and servant leadership styles.
3. Social Media
Having social media knowledge is essential for many careers in the current media climate. The use of social media as a marketing, sales, or recruitment tool has been proven to be highly effective in recent years. Many organizations are hiring social media specialists to help them reach their target audience and engage with existing and potential customers and hires.
But social media success is not easy and requires careful planning, execution, and measurement. Social media specialists must be strategic thinkers with creative minds and understand how social media platforms work to succeed. In addition, they must be able to identify and analyze social media trends and devise clever ways to utilize them.
4. Remote Communication & Collaboration
Digital and other technologies enable new ways of working, and teams of employees are more connected and expected to be more collaborative. During the pandemic, companies and workers everywhere were forced to rely on digital technologies. They had to draw upon their soft skills, visual communication, and social media skills to collaborate while working remotely effectively. The pandemic has shown us that remote communication and collaboration is a skill that your teams should master.
Teamwork and communication can be challenging when your team is not gathered in one place or in the same time zone. If neglected, entire workflows break down, trust is harder to build, and team vibes go down the drain. But when mastered, this skill allows your teams to efficiently and productively engage with others, no matter where they are.
5. growth mindset
Those with a growth mindset have a desire to conquer new challenges, even if they require persistence to succeed. They have an inner belief that they can achieve their goals and this motivates them to work on unfamiliar projects.
It is important to distinguish that people with a growth mindset seek out projects that are difficult to show their tenacity and resilience, rather than being open to any and all opportunities in which they think they can succeed. Can In an interview, highlighting a time where you were able to overcome a challenge that allowed you to grow will show this strength.
It is important to think of these skills as accelerators that will help you develop yourself further in your career. Whether you are searching for a new role, getting back to work, or are a recent graduate, highlighting these skills to hiring managers will show that you are not only qualified for the role you are being interviewed for, but that you also have potential to grow and move on to greater leadership roles in the organization.
Having these will also help you develop further as an individual. Taken together, the skills give you an understanding of yourself, how you use information, how you challenge yourself, and how you are with others. This is what is going to give you the basis to go on and build additional strengths and talents.