The Skills Employers Want, and How You Can Build Them
Stepping into the job market today can feel a bit like entering a moving train.
Technology evolves faster than most job descriptions, teams are spread between home and office, and businesses need people who can keep up. Qualifications still matter, but the real differentiator now is skills – Power Skills – the kind that show you can communicate, adapt, and solve problems in a changing environment.
So what exactly are employers looking for? And more importantly, how do you actually develop those abilities in a way that feels real and not like you’re ticking boxes?
Communication
Clear communication is still top of the list. Whether you’re writing an email, speaking in a meeting, or pitching an idea, being understood is powerful.
You can improve simply by practising: Write more often, even if it’s just a few journal lines a day or start a blog on a topic you are passionate about for LinkedIn. Pay attention to the flow of your thoughts when talking – do people look confused or engaged? Recording yourself presenting, or asking someone to review your writing, can quickly highlight what’s working and what isn’t. Over time, you’ll find your voice becoming clearer and more confident.
Collaboration
Even roles that are largely independent still rely on others in some way. Employers value people who can work well in a team, listen to different views, and help move a shared goal forward.
One of the easiest ways to build this skill is to put yourself in team situations – join group projects, volunteer for an event, or contribute to communities where everyone plays a part. Pay attention to how you communicate in those settings.
Collaboration isn’t just talking – it’s adapting to different personalities and knowing when to lead and when to support.
Adaptability
Change is the only constant in modern workplaces, so adaptability has become a key skill. It’s not about being fearless – it’s about staying open. You can train yourself to handle change by deliberately trying new things: a new tool, a new task, a new routine.
When plans shift suddenly, practise stepping back and asking, “What’s the most important thing now?” The more you expose yourself to small unfamiliar situations, the easier the big ones will feel. This builds resilience!
Resilience and Self Management
Remote and hybrid work mean employers need people who can stay motivated without someone constantly checking in. Organisation and resilience go hand-in-hand here. Set yourself clear goals each week and follow through.
When things get stressful, notice how you react and experiment with strategies – a break, a reset, or a conversation can help stop a spiral. Confidence grows from evidence, so keep track of what you’ve achieved. Even small wins show you’re capable of managing yourself.
Creativity
Creativity isn’t just for designers or artists. It’s the ability to spot opportunities and imagine better ways of doing things. You can encourage it by feeding your curiosity: Jot down ideas when they pop up, switch up your environment, try different hobbies, or look at a familiar task from a completely new angle.
When you give yourself space to explore, ideas start showing up more often – and employers love people who bring ideas, not just questions.
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Thinking critically means questioning assumptions instead of accepting things at face value. Problem-solving means turning that analysis into improvement. A great way to develop these skills is to practise breaking issues down.
When something isn’t working – a process, a plan, even a piece of news – ask yourself why. Keep digging until you reach the real cause. Then come up with a few potential solutions and weigh them up. Over time, you’ll become the person who can get to the bottom of things quickly and calmly.
Data Awareness
Even if you never plan to be a data analyst, understanding data gives you an edge. Numbers tell stories – budget trends, customer behaviour, time spent on tasks – and employers want people who can read those stories.
Start small by tracking something in your life: spending, habits, workouts, anything. Play with charts and notice what patterns appear. The goal isn’t to become a statistician – it’s simply to become comfortable making decisions based on evidence.
Initiative
The people who stand out are the ones who see what needs doing and do it. Initiative comes from curiosity and confidence. You can grow it by taking ownership of small projects: Organise something, create something, fix something.
Start with ideas you genuinely care about. When you can point to something that exists because you made it happen, employers take notice – and so will you.
Digital Confidence
Work is now digital at its core – documents, planning tools, communication, design, even simple admin. You don’t need to know everything, but you do need to feel confident navigating modern tools.
Try exploring software you haven’t used before, experiment with automation or AI, and get into the habit of keeping your digital world tidy. As that confidence rises, so does your adaptability – because learning a new tool becomes just another quick task, not a challenge.
Project and Time Management
Finally, strong organisational skills are what turn potential into performance. They show you can handle responsibility and follow through. Planning your week, breaking large goals into smaller tasks, and reviewing your progress regularly will help you build these habits.
Good time management isn’t about being rigid – it’s about knowing what truly matters and making sure it gets done. There are so many tools that can help you manage your time effectively leaving you time to be innovative, creative and learn.
The Bottom Line
You don’t need to perfect every skill before you get a job. What employers really want is evidence that you’re learning – signs that you can communicate well, work with others, think things through, and adapt when the situation changes.
If you can walk into an interview with a couple of stories that show growth in these areas, you’ll already stand out. Skills build slowly, but they build best through experience – not checklists.
Consider what skills you could build on over Christmas and then make these skills a New Year’s resolution to develop to get you that job or next step up the ladder. Power Skills are transferable to any job you move into as well as your current job too so you will never regret learning them now!