If you want to stay competitive in your professional field, it’s important to commit to continuing to learn new skills and develop the ones you’ve already got. With January right around the corner and New Year’s resolutions on most people’s to-do lists, now is the perfect time to commit to developing your marketable skills for the new year.

According to LinkedIn, the number of available professional skills employers are looking for number in the tens of thousands. As a technical or engineering professional, how do you decide which skills to focus on? At One Tech Engineering, we help connect the best Twin Cities engineering and technology firms with highly skilled professionals. In this post, we’ll discuss some of the most coveted skills technical companies look for so we can help connect you with the job you’ve been waiting for.

Investing in Your Soft Skills

Making the decision to invest in developing your soft skills is one of the best professional decisions you can make when it comes to investing in your future. With AI taking on more roles in the technical world, soft skills will provide a much-needed edge because these types of skills can not be automated.

These are some of the most desirable soft skills for the coming year:

1.      The Ability to Persuade Effectively

One thing technological solutions can’t provide is the very human art of persuasion. Understanding human behavior is one of the key elements you’ll need to focus on while developing this skill. 

2.      Creative Solutions

The ability to come up with innovative solutions will prove a critical edge in the coming years. Organizations will continue to seek new approaches to stay ahead of the curve. 

3.      Collaboration

Employees who can work collaboratively with members of various teams will be one of the most valued assets in the coming years for competitive fields. Many large projects in technical and engineering fields require extensive collaboration throughout their projects.

Hard Skills to Hone

In addition to soft skills, many companies have a wish list of hard skills among new employees. Many of the top items on most companies’ lists focus on a high level of adaptability to digital applications. The demand for skills like cloud computing, data management, mobile application development, video production, audio production, and scientific computing will increase. Social media and web content will shift from being requested skills to expected skills within many fields.

If you’re an engineering, design, or technical employee looking for a good professional fit for your skills and experience, we can help. Our engineering recruiters at One Tech in Minnesota specialize in helping the top firms in the region locate the best professionals for the job.

We work with employees in a wide range of fields and skillsets to help them with their job searches. We work with mechanical designers, drafters, electrical technicians, project managers, land surveyors, civil engineers, hardware engineers, and many other technical professionals. Learn more about how our engineering recruiting services can help you by calling us at 952.884.9199, or contact us to learn.