What is a skill that you can learn in 6 months that would impress employers on a resume?

scrimshaw on 18/09/2015 - 14:06
Last edited 18/09/2015 - 15:18

So, my skills have somewhat begun to stagnate — one year out of university and now working a mind-numbing sales job, I haven't really learned anything new or earned any new achievements. Or more to the point, as of lately I feel rather unmotivated to really learn anything, as I often feel that there's too many choices and not all of them have practical uses in the workforce.

I do have plans down the road to perhaps pickup a MOS certificate. And probably get better at mental maths, which is mighty useful in a lot of real world scenarios.

There are quite a few suggestions on the internet as to what skills are deemed desirable. The ability to code, use Excel, and create apps/ websites were amongst the top three recommended skills. Then there's some interesting ones like learning how to draw, how to cook, play an instrument, but…. as if you can put those skills down into a professional resume.

What are some useful skills that you'd really like to learn, and have / have not get around to doing it?

EDIT: This thread isn't about me, but rather your experiences — if you have any interesting stories or thoughts, please don't hesitate to share.

Education & Work

Comments

        • secondstory on 20/09/2015 - 22:36

          Not everyone makes it to their deathbed. There are many who probably get a fraction of a second to think to themselves "I wish I had used my money to try enjoy my life a little more if I knew this was going to happen" or "what is the point of all that saving now?"

        • [Deactivated] on 21/09/2015 - 01:25
          +1

          @Myrtacaea:

          LOL. Ok. So folks should stay in dead-end jobs, blow out their debt, expecting to die of heart attacks - then leave nothing to their children.

          Just joustin' with ya… :-)

        • ItsMeAgro on 21/09/2015 - 09:27

          I think the downvotes are about how you seem to think scrimshaw can afford to purchase enough commercial real estate for a solid rental income on a min wage job, by simply saving a few dollars here and there…

        • secondstory on 21/09/2015 - 11:38

          @realfamilyman:
          Lol that's one way - It's a common story though. I think quite often people are in situations where they have no choice but to compromise. A dead-end job might be fine if you can enjoy your life while you're not there.

          I was leaning more towards tragic accidental deaths among young adults who have not yet settled down let alone have any children. It's a blessing on it's own -in a sad way- to be able to have someone you want to leave everything to when you go. Even if you have those, if you're still trying to spare every cent until you can somehow make a comfortable living with ease I would assume you would miss the opportunity to take your son or daughter to an amusement park or buy them ice-cream as a special treat while on an outing. A family friend of mine missed the entire growing up of his daughter due to putting work first and is now somewhat estranged, I'm quite certain he has regrets about that.

          It is important to think of the future in the long run, and it doesn't happen to everyone, but all it takes is a little accident to snuff out a life who still has so much potential. I would personally want to spoil my loved ones even just a little while I am with them - otherwise if they (or I) are gone then it is all for naught. I couldn't put a monetary value against the cherished memories to/of lost family and friends.

        • [Deactivated] on 21/09/2015 - 20:35

          @mgowen: "if you can…"

    • No ONE on 20/09/2015 - 20:46
      +2

      lol I hear Joe Hockey giving speech. I bet you would advise the (his imaginary) tenant the same thing. you cannot buy house with pennies, not even in 20 years. You have to have a job and earn enough to first buy a house in order to lease it out.

  • Cluster on 19/09/2015 - 22:46

    Pole dancing. Always in demand.

  • Scrooge McDuck on 19/09/2015 - 23:50

    Num-chuks, bowhunting, computer hacking.

  • SlickMick on 20/09/2015 - 00:13
    +2

    Project Management or Business Analysis - could make you useful on any projects that come up in your area of expertise

    • secondstory on 20/09/2015 - 01:29

      This. I would also argue that even if you aren't in a projecty-related job the wisdom you end up with will likely be handy in most fields.

    • scrimshaw on 20/09/2015 - 02:15

      How do you get into a PM or BA role? According to WP certifications are required, at the very least a degree or a high level IT cert.

      If I just want to work my way up to BA, what company should I aim to work with?

      • kyttiekat on 20/09/2015 - 02:27
        +2

        For most grad jobs as a BA, yes I believe a related degree is required (it does NOT need to be IT only). However I've seen some get their foot in the door with lots of great experience (and no specific qualifications). It did take them longer, though, to 'catch up' to others who had a degree/cert in terms of career progression. I don't think the type of company would matter if you could get some solid experience.

        In my experience, Project Management tends to come later in the career.. many BAs move into PM-land later on. And some run back to BA-land once they get too sick of the politics behind a PM's KPIs & reporting…

        If you're interested, you can do the full BA and/or PM certification courses, based on the guidelines (BABOK for BAs, PMBOK for PMs). I do think they're pricey though; in the thousands. Most grad programs run by large organisations will pay for your certification as part of training you up.

        I'd say having a related degree is a huge boost (IT, Business, Management, HR, Comms etc). Then, get into a solid IT or Business grad program (most pay very competitive salaries compared to other grad programs), and they'll provide you with all the experience & training you'll need.

      • secondstory on 20/09/2015 - 22:42

        If I just want to work my way up to BA, what company should I aim to work with?

        Government. Get any job and then apply internally when it comes up. Just being internal gives you a better chance even on short term. Once you get a gig then you have the experience to justify getting more. Then you can apply to wherever with the new experience.

  • kyttiekat on 20/09/2015 - 02:18
    +2

    I suggest graphics & web design. One of the most versatile skills I've ever learned - applicable in all sorts of surprising situations - and perhaps best of all, you can run your own business someday. :)

    My favourite part is that you have the choice to decide which way you "lean" in this skill, eg more on the technical side, more usability & customer experience, more requirements gathering, more project management, more sales-y.. etc. So you can see there's lots of sub-roles! The industry is always evolving, so it's dynamic and challenging with lots of room for growth.

    Also, improving your Communication skills is always helpful. Project Management, too.

    Good luck!

    • magikz on 21/09/2015 - 21:13

      This is where I'd like to be. Can I ask what you lean towards? Also what coding skills (what languages) you have and what framework you use. Cheers

      • kyttiekat on 22/09/2015 - 17:48
        +1

        Hi magikz, my focus has shifted over the years.

        I leaned towards the technical at first, which I really recommend because it gave me a great foundation. Java, C#, Python. Then gravitated towards the web side of things.. HTML, CSS, JS, Jquery, PHP, bash etc. Quality & robust testing were big principles for me.

        While continuing to develop those skills, I started doing lots of usability, customer experience, BA type work. This was another absolutely essential area. Without understanding the customer, their mental model, their behaviours etc.. I wouldn't be able to create what I do. It's more than just cobbling code together, because anyone can learn to do that - but the differentiating factor is often the design & user experience.

        Of course I also did lots of graphics design along the way - again, something that I found indispensable in the web world. Even now, when I'm looking to hire graphics designers, the ones who have at least a tiny bit of technical experience behind them are infinitely more valuable to me (as they have extra perspectives).

        Once those areas were bedded down quite well, and I was working on multiple projects, I needed to invest in my Communication and Project Management skills. And Business Analysis! Always some of that. So those skills improved.. the ability to say no, the ability to understand the root cause of a customer's issues, financial management, people management, and so on.

        These days, I'm glad I have such a wide and varied experience in the industry. At the moment, I tend to shy away from the heavily technical side of things (as I can hire people to do it for me, better and faster and cheaper!), and instead I'm more focused on the communication, customer experience, project management, and quality of a project. I do still touch a lot of code, every single day - a bit more than I would like sometimes!

        I think at the end of the day, you can choose any set of languages you prefer - but your experiences and interpersonal skills are more important eg I'd rather hire an average developer who gets the job done, on time, communicates problems to me early, keeps me in the loop, tests early & often etc - than a 'genius' developer who I have to chase up constantly for updates, hides problems in the project, doesn't test much out of arrogance, etc.

        What about you? What path are you on and what are your interests?

        Hope this helps. :) Any questions welcome!

        Cheers.

        • magikz on 22/09/2015 - 20:31

          Hey thanks for such a detailed response to your work history! I studied mechanical engineering, and whilst I have a glancing understanding of code, it could be much better. I have basic HTML knowledge (from setting up ebay ads), have picked up some CSS, played around with some Javascript, and have started to read up on Jquery. I find the "Missing Manual" series to provide a good narrative to the subjects. I currently work in a kind of facilitator/office role and would like to transition, but whilst I have a stable job, I am keen to learn more. Currently going through books, and hopefully I can make my dream website/app based on the Australian educational curriculum. Graphics wise I also run an online shop, so I have experience with editing graphics, but a lot of it isn't original work unfortunately but I can appreciate why it is so important to make your work pop. In the end I would like to use Cordova/Phonegap to create this kind of online web/app system.

          Any frameworks you'd recommend? Ideally the website will have all the content stored on the server, and both the app and website can be logged into to access the pool of questions and give metrics on the student's performance. Any pointers in this direction would be awesome :)

        • VFM on 23/09/2015 - 11:22
          +1

          @magikz: You can try RubyOnRails as a web framework. It's easy to start with. Watch a few video tutorials to gauge suitability.

  • GameChanger on 20/09/2015 - 02:52
    +4

    Apply for parliament.

    I hear the entry requirements are low.

    • Lord Fart Bucket on 20/09/2015 - 04:19
      +1

      In other words, learn to become a clown?

      • cloudy on 20/09/2015 - 09:08

        More like rip out ur integrity on the way in.

  • pennae on 20/09/2015 - 10:22

    Certificate IV in training so that you can deliver in-services for staff no matter the job.

  • TheBird on 20/09/2015 - 10:44

    Learn to make money. It's portable to any business, especially your own if you decide to open up a business.

    Mostly it's about the people.

  • Bunnyburger on 20/09/2015 - 12:27

    Do Coursera qualifications actually help? Or is it stupid to put it on your CV?

  • mousie on 20/09/2015 - 12:48
    +1

    Presentation and public speaking skills.

    If you have a sales background highly desirable.

  • KaTst3R on 20/09/2015 - 15:21

    Somehow employers seem to be impressed with people who can do Macros using VBA…unless they themselves are an expert in this.

  • 16602 on 20/09/2015 - 19:21
    +2

    Logged in just to say this.

    Communication.

    Good communication.

    • herbertg21 on 20/09/2015 - 21:14
      +4

      truth, and alot of networking - if possible try to go to industry events or functions

    • DeafMutePretender on 20/09/2015 - 23:05
      +1

      Could you please communicate what you mean by good communication? ELI5

      • 16602 on 21/09/2015 - 11:22

        Soz, i dont got good communication but thats how i know employers like good communication

  • belongsinforums on 20/09/2015 - 22:42

    Data analysis is getting quite popular. Not just analysis though, also using the data to influence decisions.

    Socially orientated sports, such as golf or cricket, also might come in handy.

    Wine appreciation course?

    People in community roles, such as a soccer coach for kids, are favoured for some government positions

  • keyser soze on 20/09/2015 - 22:57
    +4

    What do you want to do with your business degree? Do you want to do something more worthwhile in sales or do you want to do something completely batshit insane with your life? My Suggestions:

    Something business related: Be a financial Planner - Get your RG146 certification aka Diploma in Financial Planning and get a job as a financial planner. Most Financial Planning Firms are legit and only hire ppl with uni degrees in financial planning but there are some less reputable ones like the place I worked for. Hired anybody with sales experience as long as you have your RG146 and the wages were not great but it looks great on the resume that you were working as a financial planner. I got fired from the job after 3 months but wrote on my resume that I was there for 7 months and I had a friend who was working with me who went to become a financial planner at the Commonwealth Bank and agreed to become my reference. Looks great on my resume that one of my references works as a financial planner at comm bank. Getting the RG146 is straight up the easiest thing in the world and costs about $600 for 4 modules you can blast through in a week but it does cost money.

    Something sales related: Get your Real Estate License. Work in real estate to really hone your sales skills. My brother was in real estate for a while, got really confident engaging with ppl and took those skills to a job interview and landed a job paying $90k-$100k as a regional sales manager for a company. He's also one of my references, we have different last names because of family reasons (we have different dads) and looks great on my resume that one of my references is a regional sales manager.

    Something batshit insane: Get an ESL diploma. Sick of your life in Oz? Want to go work overseas? Do a diploma in English as a Second Language and go work in Asia or Russia or wherever the (profanity) you want. People will say that you don't need the ESL diploma, and you don't but its probably easier to work in China or Japan if you have one. If you have a business degree you can work at a university overseas rather than a highschool or private tutoring school and the pay is more and you don't need to deal with bratty kids you can teach adults.

    Honestly, learning excel is fairly easy, vlookups and pivot tables are very easy to pick up and macros and excel functions are really easy to pick up too don't bother doing a diploma in excel and paying money or whatever just google it and watch youtube videos. To the people that say, be presentable and confident in interviews, that's not gonna impress the interviewer that's just what they expect every single person who will be interviewing for the role will be doing the exact same thing. Also, unless you have the exact skills that are they are looking for, don't bother applying to jobs from recruitment agencies for entry-level roles. They are very specific on what they want so I wouldn't bother, try to apply to the the smaller businesses they are usually more lenient with what they want from a person and you may even get the role if you can fit in with their small team even if you don't have all the skills they need. I know from experience.

    My best tip is to lie your arse off in the interview and your resume. Tell them you learned VMWare and Cisco at university and you have advanced skills in the software. Who cares they can't read your head figure out how to do it after you get the job. If they ask why you've been in a shitty sales job for the past year tell them that when you left uni, you had some bills to pay and needed a job quick so you took the shit sales position. Tell them you have a strong work-ethic and that you wanted to pay your own way and didn't want to sit at home earning dole so you took the job. Tell them that initially the shit sales job was only going to be a short-term role until you found something more suitable with your degree but you liked the job so much that you ended up staying longer than you expected. Tell them that you like the job because you like helping people, that's what attracted you to sales and customer service positions and that you have a lot of empathy and that's why you make a great team player. With entry-level roles the hiring managers are scared of ppl using the job to get experience and then leaving so you need to make sure to remember to make up some bullshit about if you like the role and you have great people around you, you don't even think about leaving or some shit like that. Just (profanity) lie like an insane person they don't know, they don't know anything about you just tell them what they want to hear.

    I've been in dozens of job interviews for a shitload amount of jobs there's probably three main things an interviewer is looking for in a potential person. Now its not the only thing you also need to say every single buzzword they're looking for like and relate it to something you've done before "I have strong attention to detail as you can probably see in my resume, in my shit sales job I was in charge of the cash registers so every transaction I always need to pay close attention blah blah blah." But yeah 3 main things:

    1. Great Qualifications or Uni Grades - Interviewer is looking for a smart guy obviously they brought you in because they think you're intelligent or something. Lie and say you can in the top 20% of your class. Highlight the highest score you've got at uni. Lie and say you have advanced skills in the things they'd be looking for like VMWare and Cisco even if its a lie and every single answer you give should say something about your proficiency in the job and your attention to detail and shit. Just lie your arse off.

    2. Hard Worker - Yep lie and say in your previous job that you used to work 60 hours a week. You like to be busy because it makes the day go quicker, you don't like to be bored because it makes the day drag on. You love to learn and apply all the knowledge you have to solve problems. You don't have a problem working till night to solve a problem. Just lie.

    3. Team Player - A lot of small and medium sized businesses really put a big emphasis on this I've found. Because typically in a small business there'd only be a few employees team chemistry is vital or a small problem between staff can escalate to big problems quickly. Emphasise that you've got a lot of client management skills and customer service skills and you're very empahathetic and that's why you make a great team player. You're very friendly and you love to help people and you're very approachable and you work great in a team. Just lie again unless that's true to whatever.

    Typically in the interview, the interviewer greets you and ushers you in to a private place to conduct the interview. As soon as the interviewer greets you greet them back and ask them how was their weekend or whatever. Don't forget this, I've had interviewers tell me that asking them about their weekends or whatever is important for some reason I don't know. As soon as they usher you into the office, just before you sit down, ask them what kind of person they're looking for to fill the position. Very important to ask them that before the interview begins as that will tell you exactly what kind of person they're looking for to fill the position and you can get a great idea if they're looking for a team player, hard worker or someone with the qualifications. Tailor your response accordingly.

    • inherentchoice on 22/09/2015 - 12:38

      I got fired from the job after 3 months but wrote on my resume that I was there for 7 months and I had a friend who… agreed to become my reference…

      My best tip is to lie your arse off in the interview and your resume

      Most people have a conscience.

  • keyser soze on 20/09/2015 - 23:04

    People say, "Get this qualification or some other qualification" but its currently hard to break in to an industry as a graduate or entry-level.

  • Captain Electrode on 20/09/2015 - 23:17

    Along with formal qualifications people have already mentioned, there are often general skills that translate to be work-related skills, such as organisation and people skills. Even seemingly unrelated prior learning can be useful for a job you may be interested in. eg. I've been looking for managerial jobs. Until recently, I neglected to check through the modules of my personal trainer qualifications to add to my resume. They included team leading, time management and training people in exercises. The last one also translates to staff training etc.

  • [Deactivated] on 20/09/2015 - 23:57

    If you are in IT - start doing VMWare NSX (SDN) trainings - (free labs here : http://labs.hol.vmware.com/HOL/) A lot of organizations will be deploying this in coming days for sure.

    Also have you tried reaching out to some of your Uni teachers so they can give you a lab as a tutor ? or any TAFE etc.. this will start you in teaching career.

  • umyob on 21/09/2015 - 00:59

    you could open a free option account at commsec and trade options. just buy cheap options (puts or calls) suggest maybe 100 contracts at a time for 2 cents. that comes to a grand total of $250 dollars incl. commission.
    the closer you get to the end of the month the cheaper they get, and if you get that quantity, for every one cent movement, you make $100.
    thats all i'm saying, but from there you can read booka, join chat rooms and at the very least you'll have something interesting to talk about in an interview.
    you might even enjoy it.

  • ShipShapeRC on 21/09/2015 - 11:37
    +1

    Okay you have a business degree, so start your own business and forget about the stupid resume. No need to impress other people - just be impressive!

    While you are deciding what business makes you passionate, join Toastmasters and become a brilliant communicator. In every job, every business, every date, communication is the key skill.

    But for today, watch Ken Robinson on Ted http://www.ted.com/playlists/171/the_most_popular_talks_of_a…

    and order one of his books like The Element https://booko.com.au/9780141045252/The-Element-How-Finding-Y…

    or get it on audiobook - it's excellent.

    But whatever you do, forget the bloody resume and do your own thing!

  • lonix on 21/09/2015 - 12:59

    Learn to bullshit, its vital for any sales job!

  • Sirocco on 21/09/2015 - 13:38

    Employers need to know whether you have experience in bending over and taking it, with a big smile on your face.

    For real world experience work at any large private sector company.

    Otherwise advertise that you want to gain this experience on either craigslist or locanto in the m4m section.

  • extract on 21/09/2015 - 14:05
    +2

    Learn to juggle, then during the interview show them your juggling skills and they will instantly hire you.

  • DealzEddy123 on 21/09/2015 - 14:49
    +2

    360 noscope

  • anna10 on 23/09/2015 - 07:46
    +1

    I found doing a successful negotiation course very useful. Until I'd done that 2 day course, I didn't realise across how many elements of life that skill is necessary.

  • Wakety-Wack on 24/09/2015 - 21:20

    I would suggest Head Spinning! Its a type of breakdancing I beleive? After 6 months you may not even need a helmut?

    This is sure to impress employers when done on a resume! Just lay it print side up in the centre of your office keeping well clear of your boss n spin yourself to a promotion!

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