Webucator, an online learning company that's all about teaching people essential skills and helping people improve themselves, asked if I would write a post about my most marketable skill. Honestly, I'm only good at a few things: writing, editing, and watching TV for hours at a time. None of these things seem like marketable skills, especially the latter, but then I realized that the first two are what helped me get a job.
Let's go back a little bit: I started writing nearly everyday when I was in 11th grade because I wrote Harry Potter fan fiction. I would write several pages almost every night and when I got to the end of a chapter or story, I would edit it by printing it out and marking it up. I then went to school for creative writing, kept writing, learned more about it, got better at it, and definitely got better at editing my own work (and taking criticism, but that's another story).
Then, almost three years ago I started this blog and have been using the same skills ever since for blog posts and for social media. I kept at it, and with anything in life, you get better the more you practice. After getting my social media job at a local magazine, I found out that my blog was one of the reasons why I got the job, so all of the writing and editing and practicing had helped me land an awesome job!
Your skills are the ones that you've invested a lot of time in and that you've spent time learning about, whether it was in school or own your own. It can be something as broad as math or astronomy to something as specific as 19th century British literature or Egyptian hieroglyphics.
But when you're looking for a job, it's all about marketable skills for your field, so how do you write what your skills are on your resume? You'll want to put both broad and specific skills on your resume. Write down that you know about 19th century British literature, but also that you know about literature as a whole and British history. You know about math, but also accounting and GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles). I'm skilled at writing, but also creative writing and editing.
No matter what field you're in or want to be in, writing and editing are important skills for anyone to have and it's very important in the workforce today. Whether it's an email, a presentation in front of your boss, or an expense report, it's important to practice correct grammar and always edit your work before people see it.
By the way, Webucator has a free course every month!
By the way, Webucator has a free course every month!
What is your most marketable skill?
What skill do you wish you were better at?
(I wish I was better at public speaking.)
**This post is for Webucator. All opinions are my own.**
