Everyone wants to climb up a few rungs of the career ladder and earn a bit more money. But it can be difficult to know what exactly employers are looking for in order to land you that highly paid job of your dreams.

I have been working in a 9 to 5 job (happily I must add) and in this article, I am listing the skills that I believe are important in helping you land a high paying job.

Now the list is definitely not exhaustive, but in my experience, these are useful skills whether you work in the sales department or in a zoo.

1. Communication

Communication is one of the most important skills that employers are looking for.

Now communication takes a whole new shape when you aspire to enter the corporate world. There are written and unwritten rules you need to know and abide by.

In a higher paid job you will need to be able to communicate with your peers, with those that you manage, and with those above you in order to make sure that each and every part of the business is running smoothly.

Communication can be face to face, via phone, emails or conference calls/chats. Often, you will get a limited time to put forward your point, and the skill to structure your communication make or break the deal.

2. Analytics

We live our lives on the internet and on our phones and produce more data than you can shake a stick at.

This can leave businesses struggling to cope with and analyse the vast amount of data they’re left with. If you have a head for understanding complicated data, then you can expect to earn more and get higher paid jobs, as analytical skills are useful in all areas of business.

If you can track, build, and analyse data then make sure that you advertise this to your potential employers, because it is a valuable skill in many areas of a company, and data specialists are highly sought after.

While analytics is a broad term for a skill, you can start with mastering simple tools such as R, Excel, or Tableau.

3. Presentation

Presentation skills are one of the most important skills that employers are looking for, as presentation skills show confidence and a comfortability of public speaking. Presentation skills mean that you can present to clients and potential clients in a way that will convince them to work with the business, but you can also hold yourself in a respectful manner, and this is highly revered by potential employers who want to bring in more business.

Presentation skills mean that you can present to clients and potential clients in a way that will convince them to work with the business.

An important skill here is to work with PowerPoint. It amazes me how this single software has completely changed the way businesses work. We are all so used to PowerPoint that it has become synonymous to presentations in the corporate world.

4. Project Management

Project management skills allow you to show that you can take on larger projects, plan them, and manage your time properly in order to get the job finished in time, and finished to a high standard.

Project management opens up doors to a huge range of managerial roles, as it shows employers your ability to organise and manage yourself in order to fulfil the requirements of a project properly to satisfy clients and bosses.

5. Technical Skills

If you can get your head around new technology then you have a major advantage over a lot of people who are competing for the job that you want.

For example, if the new world demands node JS and you’re stuck with PHP, you may struggle to get hired in the new world. My point here is that you should be proficient in the technology in your space.

Your employer will value technical skills that are applicable to the job, but will also favour those who can grow and develop with new technology as it emerges. This gives the businesses an edge on the competition if they can get their business onto the newest technology as fast as possible, so make sure to mention any technological skills or qualifications that you possess to really impress potential employers.

One good thing about technical skills is their diversity so as long as your prospective employer can spot any such skills in you, the job you are interviewing for will be as good as yours.

6. Multitasking

Multitasking is another ability that is held in very high esteem by any potential employer, especially for bigger and higher paid jobs.

These jobs typically have a lot of responsibilities attached to them, and if you want to succeed you need to be able to do several things at once and keep on top of it all.

If you can show employers that you have had to organise several jobs at the same time then you are much more likely to gain the higher job roles.

7. Teaching and Mentoring

Companies love people who can teach and transfer their skills to other members of the work team.

If you can teach others about the skills that you possess then you are much more valuable to a potential employer, as employers love to develop their workforce in order to create a more productive team of staff by using their own workforce, rather than external companies to teach new skills.

The current job market is constantly changing, and it is never easy to know what exactly employers are looking for in order to tick all of the boxes that potential employers are looking for. We hope that this list has helped you to better understand the key areas that employers are looking for a candidate to fill, as this will make it much more likely for you to win the job of your dreams.