You're looking for a new job, and you know employers are looking for vital skills when reviewing applicants for a position. Understanding what skills employers consider essential can give you helpful information when considering areas to develop your skills.

Some skills are more specific to a particular role, but many skills are valuable and transferrable in any position or industry. Learning what skills employers are looking for can help you create your career development plan, whether you take courses online or prefer to learn in the classroom.

1. Customer Service

Whether you work for a company that does business with the public or has corporate clients, customer service skills are critical for many positions. Employers love excellent customer service skills because they know you can handle their customers in a way that makes them feel like they're talking to a friend.

Several institutions offer customer service certifications that you can pursue to help you stand out the next time you apply for a job. The certifications include support services, call center, help desk, client services, customer experience, and customer service leadership. You can look for these certifications online and see the prerequisites before committing to any.

2. Communication

Communication skills refer to your ability to receive and give information. Your ability to convey messages in an organized and concise way that leaves no room for misinterpretation or misunderstanding is essential for any career. There are numerous elements to practical communication skills, including speaking and listening.

Effective communication requires an understanding of the message you're communicating. It's your responsibility, as a communicator, to ensure the receiver of the message doesn't have any questions and understands the message once you deliver it. It would help if you also had an awareness of non-verbal communication and the ability to organize your thoughts. Employers want to see that you can articulate your thoughts and ideas effectively and clearly.

Employers want to see that you are a good listener because it shows that you want to understand other people's feelings, build strong relationships, and efficiently resolve conflict. If you want to improve your communication skills, you may be interested in learning about the best LinkedIn Learning Courses to improve your communication skills.

3. Leadership

Your ability to bring a group of people together, providing direction and guidance while working towards a common goal, is an excellent demonstration of your leadership skills. You can also display your leadership skills by using your interpersonal abilities to coach and develop others, using empathy to delegate tasks, organize, prioritize and motivate the team.

Having a coaching mindset and looking for ways to improve your team is an excellent way to demonstrate your leadership skills, and you don't need to be in a management or supervisory role. You can take the lead on a new project or take a stand on an issue that's important to you to demonstrate your leadership skills.

There are courses available to help you develop your leadership skills. You might be interested in learning about the best online leadership courses to level up your management skills to get some ideas on courses you may want to take in the future.

4. Problem-Solving

Challenges can happen in any job you have. Employers want to know that you can analyze issues, make decisions, and overcome problems. You can use your problem-solving skills to discover why a situation happened and create solutions to fix and prevent it from happening again.

Employers want candidates with solid problem-solving skills because communication misunderstandings, personal interactions, challenging situations, or brainstorming a new product or service can lead to problems. You can use your problem-solving abilities when working with a team or addressing a question from your supervisor or a customer complaint.

Problem-solving skills are essential, whether you work with a large group or independently. You can improve your skills by taking online courses, like the courses and certifications offered by Coursera. You may also want to check out the best apps to improve your problem-solving skills.

5. Digital Marketing

Digital marketing ranks amount the top trending job skills in the US. The demand for digital marketing skills is growing, and the industry doesn't expect a slowdown anytime soon. Analytics and data, a focus on personalization that is interactive and repetitive, are what drive digital marketing.

Most businesses realize that digital media is running the show right now. To compete in today's job market, you need to be aware of digital platforms, how they work, and the type of audience they attract. You can take courses to familiarize yourself with the various platforms and read articles about the platforms and their pros and cons.

When in doubt, you can always ask a student for help figuring out how they work, since they're usually the first users. If you're interested in learning about careers in the industry, you can learn about the best careers in digital marketing you can apply for.

6. Accounting

Accounting is a critical skill for any business. Your ability to manage budgets, maintain financial records, and analyze data can be valuable to an employer. Accountants can use the data they work with to spot trends and let management know what products or services are most profitable and where the company is losing money.

As an accountant, you may be responsible for knowing tax laws to ensure you're keeping the company records per tax regulations. In addition to reports at tax time, you may be responsible for preparing monthly and quarterly reports for the company's leadership. There are numerous courses you can take to improve your accounting skills, depending on the level of certification you meet the prerequisites for, including earning designations as a CPA, CMA, or CFA.

7. Teamwork

Many jobs require you to work respectfully and effectively with others, including clients and coworkers. You can demonstrate your ability to teamwork by fitting in with the company culture, developing commitment within the group, and establishing professional relationships.

Even if you're an introvert, learning to work with a team is critical for any position you have within a company. Remote jobs and those that are isolated or solitary still require you to have some human interaction that requires you to work well with others.

Skills that may contribute to your ability to be a good team player include communication, conflict resolution, reliability, and influencing skills. You can find teamwork skills courses on Coursera and LinkedIn to help you strengthen your abilities.

Advance Your Career With a Certification

Employers like to see candidates who embrace continuing education, and an employer is more likely to invest in you when they know you're not afraid to invest in yourself. Earning a certification in a skill that employers are looking for may be just what you need to stand out from the crowd of applicants.

Look for a certification that complements your current skillset, so you're not learning something from scratch unless you're up for the challenge. You can find certifications at different price points depending on the program's institution, but you won't regret investing time or money when you've completed the course.