By: Shriram Shanmugham, Founder – Credait.com – The People Empowerment Platform
Reading time: 2 minutes
When it comes to career advice, the Internet is rampant with specific job designations that include digital marketer, data scientist, statistician, etc. However, what makes someone outstanding is beyond designations or college degrees. This is where super-skills step in. It is imperative to define what super-skills mean and how it’s different from basic “skills.” This is best explained with an example.
Most of know how to play football or cricket. This implies that we have a basic skill to play these and at some point we would have given it a shot while growing up. However, players like Lionel Messi and Virat Kohli possess the super-skills to play football and cricket respectively. Super-skills are those that make you unique among billions. It cannot be taught by a teacher or learnt from a text book. There can be mentors / teachers who may identify your super-skill, because it lies dormant within you. Once you discover it, you can’t help but surprise yourself of how powerful it can be, when it starts to reveal its potential.
Bottom-line: When you know your super-skills, you are always in demand – no matter what your career!
According to the data we collected from recruiters who use Credait, the following are prominent super-skills across all industries that are in demand: Conflict management, negotiations, technical writing, analytic thinking, creative writing, people management, motivational speaking, demand planning, entrepreneurship, public speaking, selling, presales, tactical execution, decision making, etc.
Some industry specific super-skills include:
| Industry |
Prominent Super Skills
|
| Accounting | Asset liability management, collective bargaining, debtors’ management |
| Advertising
|
Celebrity branding, sketching, storytelling |
| Aerospace & Aviation | Materials testing, parachuting, gliding, flight testing |
| Agriculture & Food | Animal breeding, baking & pastry making, delivery forecasting |
| Architecture & Construction
|
Vendor management, rural development, urban development |
| Arts, Literature & Media
|
Method acting, digital file management, song writing |
| Atmospheric Sciences
|
Statistical analysis, data analysis, correlation analysis |
| Automotive
|
Inventory documentation, 3D printing, graphics design |
| Banking, Financial Service & Insurance (BFSI)
|
M&A advisory, budget management, objection handling |
| Chemicals | Change management, international marketing, brokerage |
| Consumer Goods & Personal Care | Brand management, contract management, decision making |
| Education | Education assessment, events management, school/college administration |
| Environmental, Energy & Sustainability | Energy management, environmental planning, video creation |
| Fashion & Textiles | Colour sense, conceptual skills, crafting |
| Healthcare | Cost-benefit analysis, customer research, personal care |
| Information Technology & Services | Agile management, code quality review, cognitive computing |
| Logistics & Transportation Services | Cargo handling, change management, logistics strategy |
| Manufacturing & Technology | Guerrilla marketing, operations management, machine testing |
| Other Services & Consulting | Brainstorming, landscaping, home furnishing, jewellery making |
| Telecommunication | Monitoring services, multitasking, P&L management |
| Source: Credait Platform |
If you notice keenly, none of the above super-skills can be learnt from a text-book or school.
The next obvious question is: “How to find your super-skills?” Simple, just ask your friends. Very often, we have people within our circle who have a better sense of what we are good at. But how often have we listened to them? It could also be those areas where our friends or family request our favour. In such cases, they would tell us something on the lines of “maybe you should make this your full-time career because you’re really good at this.”
In the age of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, we are migrating to an era where man and machine will work together for a desired outcome. Invariably, your super-skills are those that machines cannot replace. Until this point, very few people made a career out of their super-skills, but moving forward, identifying and mastering our super-skills will be mandatory to secure our careers.