The job market is always changing. Some jobs which were lucrative a few short years ago, are no longer needed. New ones continue to appear. Skills you possess today may be outdated tomorrow.
You need marketable skills to help you navigate through the uncertainty. These skills will not only give you a better salary but also allow you to switch jobs or even industries. It’s not necessary to be brilliant to get a four-year college degree or to return to school. Here are the nine most valuable skills that will pay you well.
Fluency in a foreign language
The ability to speak a second language fluently is one of the most valuable skills. Your foreign language classes in elementary school may have been your ticket to a well-paying career. Businesses are expanding their overseas operations as the world becomes increasingly interconnected. There is a large pool of international students who need tutors, both online and offline.
You could become an interpreter if you speak a foreign tongue, such as French. You don’t need to work in an office. Online translators can change documents from French to English and vice versa. It’s great that multi-million dollar corporations and government agencies are willing to pay top dollar for these services.
You could also work as a teacher. Pew Research Center reports that 20% of American students in grades K-12 study a second language. Although 20 may not seem like much, if you are fluent in a foreign language, it is a valuable asset. About 387 US universities offer French language degrees and courses. If you tutor at a French school, your salary will likely be higher than the average American.
Truck License
A trucking license is a valuable skill that pays well. The consumer market is growing, and so are the needs for logistics and freight services. This license is officially called a Commercial Driver’s License. It allows you to drive large vehicles such as semi-trucks or trailers.
You are a trucker, and you transport goods from coast to coast or city to city. Rail service in the U.S. is not very efficient despite its availability. Trucks and trailers, therefore, are in high demand and vital to local economies.
The constant need to transport goods makes this a job-securing skill. It also provides lucrative pay and independence if you choose to work as a contractor. According to Indeed.com, the average national salary for truck drivers is $104,577 per year.
State-by-state, the process of obtaining a CDL can vary. In general, you must pass a CDL driving course to prove that you are capable of safely handling large vehicles. You can also take an online pre-licensing course to see how well you do before taking the test.
Legal Knowledge
Law is still one of the best-paying skills. People are willing to pay top dollar in order to acquire this skill. Other alternatives to becoming a lawyer pay as much or more than the traditional route.
You could, for example, become a paralegal. The paralegals are able to provide legal support by drafting documents and conducting research for lawyers. They can assist in interviewing clients who have committed minor offenses, and developing a defense strategy. They may not have the same duties as lawyers but they are still an important part of any legal team.
Legal assistants are responsible for providing administrative and clerical assistance to legal professionals such as lawyers, judges, and other experts. You can manage tasks like scheduling court dates and drafting legal documents. You don’t have to be a law graduate to work in this field.
You will need a paralegal certificate or associate’s degree. These are both easy to obtain with commitment and dedication. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, law assistants and legal paralegals made a median wage of $59200 per year as of May 20, 2022. You could earn more money if you choose to specialize in one area, like corporate law or intellectual property.
Good Housekeeping
It may not seem like the most glamorous job, but housekeeping is a skill that pays well. This is also one of the lowest-pressure jobs, especially if it’s your specialty. You only need good organizational skills, a clean environment, and a positive attitude.
You have a responsibility as a housekeeper to maintain a safe, clean, and hygienic home. This includes cleaning the bathrooms, doing laundry, dusting, and mopping the floors. You can work in both residential and commercial establishments. A house that is for sale on the real estate market needs a housekeeper who will keep it clean to attract buyers.
You can work in companies that have large floor spaces where you will be responsible for maintaining the land and house. This includes cleaning areas like banks, malls, and other commercial buildings. Pest control treatments can be applied to such areas in order to prevent infestations.
Financial Literacy
Modern life is driven by finance, whether it’s personal or corporate. You will be paid handsomely by people who want to earn more money. Financial literacy is a skill that’s highly marketable because it involves money.
Financial literacy allows you to develop different skills, such as budgeting, price and cost analysis, and managing debt. Cash flow management and the ability to convert personal credit cards into assets are also skills you possess. As a freelancer, you can also provide bookkeeping services to small businesses that cannot afford a full-time accounting staff.
Your income opportunities are limitless if you have financial literacy. According to Debt.org, American household debt is expected to reach $16.9 trillion by 2022. Around $11.92 trillion in debt was owed by mortgage lenders. $1.55 trillion of it was for vehicle loans, and $1.60 trillion was for student loans. You could earn handsome fees by providing personal financial advice to millions of Americans who are struggling with debt.
Creativity
Creativity may not be a skill that you can learn but rather an inborn talent. It is one of the most valuable skills and pays well. It’s just a matter of finding a way to make it profitable.
You could, for example, earn six figures by writing articles and stories. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, creative writers and authors make an average of $73,150 per year. This works, but only if you’re able to market aggressively and have a distribution network. You can still earn more as a ghostwriter than the average American, even if you do not have these things.
The possibilities of creativity are endless. It can make you money. Graphic designers are usually creatives with a passion for colors, shapes, and patterns. Graphic designers design logos, social-media photos, advertisements, packaging, and website photos for brands. Also, they offer print solutions for T-shirts and caps.
Guess what? It’s not necessary to have a degree from a university in order to be creative. Online courses and self-learning with online tools are both options. It’s not just about the two skills we have discussed. You can be creative in many different ways, from video editor to UX/UI designer and creative copywriter.
Data Analysis
Today, data analysis skills are in high demand on the job market. Statista estimates that the internet will have 5.6 billion users by October 2023. It’s a huge amount of data that companies and governments have to collect. Data analysis is one of the best-paying skills because it’s difficult to understand.
Data analysis is the process of collecting, organizing and interpreting large datasets to identify trends. It is a skill that involves extracting, visualizing and cleaning complex data, as well as interpreting it. This skill is essential for identifying new opportunities in business, reducing costs and improving organization performance.
Data analytics is needed by many industries for different reasons. Consumer goods companies, for example, want to know what their customers’ preferences and needs are. You can use these skills to help companies such as Walmart, Target, and others better understand the preferences of their customers.
Data analysis can be used by advertisers to target ads and track consumer behavior. Governments also need data analytics to determine demographics, create laws and policies that cater to citizens, and identify policies. You don’t have to go back to college to get a degree, even if you take a certification course. You can land a well-paying job with just a three- or six-month course online and a few certificates.
Digital Marketing
According to the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), America has approximately 33.2 million small businesses. Forbes reports that 71% have a web page. Imagine only 71% of them use digital marketing. You can see that even if it isn’t your expertise, there are many possibilities.
Digital marketing is one of the most valuable skills today. Digital marketing involves promoting products and services via websites, google advertisements, blogs or social media platforms. It includes brand originality and creativity as well as social perception, emotional intelligence, and emotional perceptiveness.
You can create ads, blog posts, promotional videos, and other marketing materials that will encourage customers to buy. You can use algorithms such as Search Engine Optimization techniques to increase website traffic and Google ranking. Digital marketers like you have a large marketing budget.
Small businesses choose digital marketing because traditional marketing methods, such as print ads, radio, TV, and billboards, are costly and have a limited lifespan. You can act as a link between the products of small businesses and their target audience. To keep up with the digital trends, you will need to self-study. Some companies prefer that you work full-time, while others hire freelancers to provide the service.
You can choose to be a freelancer and work for several small businesses, depending on your schedule. This gives you more opportunities to earn. You don’t even need to have a four-year college degree. You can work while you study online.
Cybersecurity
Job seekers can find lucrative career opportunities in the tech industry. Cybersecurity is one of the most in-demand skills. It pays well. The need for security increases as digitization grows. Forbes estimates that cyber attacks will increase by almost 50% in 2023.
You should become a cybersecurity expert if you’re interested in a 50 percent increase. The potential loss of data when systems or sites are hacked makes companies willing to pay high prices to secure their data. Even governments spend more than the average wage to keep their systems secure.
Cybersecurity is the detection, response, and prevention of cyber attacks. It’s also a broad term, as you can work on different areas. There is, for example, application development security. You develop applications, and you embed security into the code. You need to be familiar with various programming languages and platforms, such as Python, Shell, Java, and C++.
Cloud security is a field of cybersecurity in which you can specialize. You will be an expert in building the architecture for secure cloud interactions with company applications. You will need to be proficient in programming languages and database languages, such as Hadoop and Ruby, MySQL, Python, and Java. You should also be familiar with Linux and cloud-based services like Microsoft Azure, OpenStack GCP, and AWS.
You may need marketable skills to boost your income or jumpstart your career. These skills can also help you find work, as well as earn higher salaries. You won’t be jobless long, and you can still earn a lot of money as a freelancer.
Consider learning marketable skills, whether you’re just starting out in your career or are considering a change of job. Or if you want to boost your earning potential. This is the only way you can stay current and in front of your competition. You can get your foot in the door by taking online courses and obtaining certifications.