As jobs become more scarce and interviews more competitive, the lines between 'desired skills' and 'required skills' are getting more and more blurred. It's also becoming clear that standing out from the crowd, whether traditionally or not, is going to stand you in good stead further down the line.
Wired recently ran an article about after-school coding clubs – as some IT lessons are failing to teach children anything other than Microsoft Office and how to send an email (things which are becoming increasingly second-nature anyway) there's strong support for something which can educate children while still involving them creatively.
It would also mean a generation of future graduates who could populate an incredibly sparse sector at the moment, which is surely a positive thing. Also, there are a number of careers where something like coding might not be a required part of the job, but showing a solid understanding of it also tells an employer you're incredibly good with numbers, a highly useful skill.
Being able to speak or write in a foreign language is another very useful if you're going to work in any area in which communication plays an integral part of your role. It makes you more versatile as an employer, shows a strong desire to learn and improve personal development and will mark you out as a very valuable asset.
Similarly, with any role in creative media, being able to use Photoshop, InDesign or Dreamweaver will help you stand out as someone who has technical skills as well as a brain full of ideas, and you can often download free trials or basic versions of these kinds of software to teach yourself and become more familiar with it.
These aren't the only transferable skills you should mention. Experience in leading a team, even at your student newspaper or university society, shows good management skills, and your employer will want to know you're able to work with people effectively. Similarly. networking is a highly useful skill, so if you've got a blog or website and work closely with other bloggers or PRs you need to make sure you mention it.
If you're interested in knowing how you can boost your job prospects by learning new skills, join us this Thursday between 1-3pm where we will be hosting a live Q&A with a panel of experts. They will be able to answer your questions, whether you're interested in knowing what skills employers want from candidates, how new skills can be useful in the workplace or good resources for learning new skills. Email any questions to chris.mandle.casual@guardian.co.uk or tweet us @guardiancareers.
The panel includes:
Xuan Li is the founder of noexcuselist.com, a web portal that helps users find websites to learn what they want for free. With so many educational websites on the web, No Excuse List is dedicated to finding the sites with the highest quality of teaching. Xuan is currently also a full time investment banking analyst.
Nisa Chitakasem is the Founder of Position Ignition, a leading career consulting company focusing on career change, career development and how to get the most out of your career. She blogs regularly on their Career Advice Blog, runs regular career learning sessions and has published a growing collection of popular Career eBooks.
Phil Roebuck is chief executive of Web Recruit, an online recruitment service. Phil set up Web Recruit in 2001 and gained investment from businessman and Dragons' Den star James Caan.
Claire Whitmell is a Guardian contributor and a qualified business communication trainer. Clare specialises in writing and presentation skills coaching. She also blogs CV writing and job hunting tips on JobMarketSuccess.com.
This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To get more content and advice like this direct to your inbox, sign up for our weekly Careers update.
