Different skills are required depending on the nature of your job. However, some skills are universal in today’s job market. You should identify opportunities to continue to enhance these critical skills. You can take on projects at work, consider attending workshops, practice utilizing these skills. In addition, continuing to focus on professional development and staying relevant in today’s competitive landscape will give you an edge.

Innovative Thinking

Companies are constantly finding new ways to automate processes. They are using technology and certain jobs are going away. Creativity and innovative thinking is something that we can do that gives us an advantage over automation. Our ideas and perspective make us unique. These critical skills makes us valuable to an organization and gets us noticed. Having ideas is not enough. We have to speak up and actively share them.

Emotional Intelligence

The way we communicate our thoughts, ideas, persuade others, getting others to believe in our vision are critical skills in increasing our contributions. It also creates a sense of camaraderie at work that helps us feel a sense of belonging and satisfaction at work. Most of us interact with a variety of individuals every day from our department and other areas. We need other people in order to be successful. Emotionally intelligent individuals are self-aware and sensitive to the emotions of others. They genuinely empathize with people. Furthermore, no matter how good you are at your job, we are all connected in some way. Be thoughtful in your how you communicate your thoughts and ideas.

Getting to know your coworkers is important in understanding what motivates them and how best to approach them. Having a healthy exchange, challenging one another and helping each other to achieve goals we are unable to do alone is critical to success. There is a lot of research about emotional intelligence. High emotional intelligence will help you in working well with others and inspiring them to achieve goals together. This is what makes us unique as individuals and automation cannot replace this critical skill.

Sound Judgement and Decision Making

Most companies have standard operating procedures that you must follow. However, what if something falls outside of the scope. How do you handle it, how do you decide what to do next? There are a variety of circumstances we face on a daily basis that require  solid judgement and quick decisions. We have to feel comfortable making those decisions. Managers value team members that can work independently, think through an issue respond decisively. Furthermore, the other part of making a sound judgement call is knowing when to seek out your manager or someone in leadership for advice. You don’t have all the answers, nobody expects you to. We all do the best that we can. We can’t be afraid to take a moment and seek direction at times.

Besides, learning and growing is an important part of job satisfaction. It’s also imperative to continue to develop these critical skills. You want to stay relevant and be a strong job candidate now and in the future.