10 Most Valued Skills In The 21st Century For Students.
Being a student in the 21st century is so much more than just being good at what you study. The pressure and expectations are far higher than it’s ever been and with Covid-19 leaving most students to their own devices studying from home. They’ve had to adapt to the new normal something they’ve never imagined.
What skills do you need?
Moving on to see what skills you need to be a successful student in the 21st century.
1. High EQ Levels.
Before you’ve even opened a textbook you need to have a high EQ level because while you’re out studying hard. Artificial intelligence gets more advanced leading to fewer job opportunities and more people applying for the same purpose. You’ll need to outshine your competition. How can you do that when you all have the same qualifications.
It’s easy to get to work on your EQ which is your ability to understand other people and yourself. Many people believe there’s far more value in having higher EQ levels than higher IQ levels. You get self-awareness, self-regulation motivation, empathy, and social skills. Which forms part of your EQ.
2. Be digitally literate across multiple platforms.
It’s good to know Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tik Tok inside and out but it’s just not enough. Students in the 21st century need to know about all digital platforms available and be comfortable working within all of them. Pinterest, Tumblr, Reddit, Linkedin, Viber, and Medium.
These are all just some of the platforms that students need to know about. It was calculated in 2017 that 90 percent of US businesses were using social media that figure has steadily increased since then with over 4 billion people using the internet every single day. It’s vitally important to ensure you know a wide variety of platforms. The more platforms you’re versed in the more employable you can be.
Internet entrepreneur Ryan Holmes said the following “Importantly, companies are using social media to do things that go way beyond just chatting up existing customers on Facebook. Sales departments are using social to nurture leads and close sales. Human resources will post job openings and Vets applicants. Community and support squads mine networks, blogs, and forums with deep listening tools.”
3. Students need to be able to access and analyze information.
So there’s no point in being able to use all of these digital platforms and not be able to make any sense of the information they provide. These days students need to be able to look at the information and analyze it constructively with at this scale you will be able to provide a business or company with facts and figures that are easy to understand and will help the company make better decisions. It helps if you target the right customers. Be innovative, cut operational costs, and make businesses run a lot smoother.
4. Incredible communication skills both online and offline.
Having great communication skills may not come naturally to you but fortunately, it’s an area you can work on. Being able to effectively communicate with people from all walks of life, lower standards of living cultures, backgrounds, personality types, and ages is a skill that no one can take away from you. To highlight the important bits of getting it right.
Here’s what you need to do. Don’t give unsolicited advice, be aware of your tone and body language, be yourself, and remember it’s not about you. Online follows the netiquette rules don’t say anything online you wouldn’t say to someone standing next to you, keep your posts short and to the point provide proper feedback if required, and keep the tone in line with your audience.
5. Develop an entrepreneurial spirit.
Even if it’s just yourself your marketing in the 21st century having an entrepreneurial mindset is extremely important being innovative and taking calculated risks is all part of the skill set needed to succeed. Having this kind of mindset doesn’t just have weight in the business world but in other areas of your life as well. Taking risks and dealing with failures are all a part of the business but they’re part of real-life as well. It’ll help you keep putting one foot in front of the other when things are tough in business and your personal life. Being entrepreneurial means having the ability to make lemonade out of lemons and is a creative outlet to make things.
6. Change happens overnight.
Students need to be adaptable. In the old days, our parents our grandparents would find a job in their early twenties and celebrate 40 years with the same company. Things have changed and these days it’s not uncommon for people to move jobs frequently to job hop in search of something that has a purpose and where employees are valued.
A report by LinkedIn confirmed that 94 percent of employees would rather stay at their current company but felt the need to move to advance their careers to learn new skills and earn a better salary. Being open to change is integral to the student of the 21st century as Charles Darwin said “It’s not the strongest of the species that survive’ nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”
7. Be able to problem-solve.
Think critically and self motivate. These skills go hand in hand are skills that are going to put you at a distinct advantage over your counterparts. Problem-solving involves identifying the problem, looking for alternatives, choosing the best solution, and implementing that change, and then being able to think critically and follow through with the change will all bode well for your future.
8. Curious students.
Actor, businessman, and Author Erica booth said “When curiosity is alive, we are attracted to many things; We discover many worlds.” Curiosity is such an important factor for success. It leads you to ask questions learn from others and find ways to do the job. Better curious people want to understand things they make an effort to know everything about what they’re doing and why and how their role fits into the bigger picture. When a curious person has a setback they tend to analyze the reasons for it and do better when they try again.
9. Being a team player.
There have been countless lists of articles being done on why being a team player is important so we’re not going to drone on here. We just want to highlight one of the greatest advantages of teamwork and that is diversity. Teamwork is the perfect platform to engage with different cultures and experiences. Providing a greater understanding of the customer’s needs not only will you be able to better provide for your clients but you as an individual will also grow.
10. Leave the ego at home.
If you’re a great team player this wouldn’t apply to you but in the 21st century, there’s no place for big egos. People don’t like them and those that continually display them are soon left behind. To avoid getting a big ego students need to continuously work on their inter and intrapersonal skills.
So what’s the difference? Inter-personal skills refer to your personality and social skills and intra-personal skills are your characters and how you manage yourself. Good inter-personal skills link directly to being able to communicate effectively being a good communicator means you’ll find it easier to make friends, have meaningful work relationships, and even find a job.
When you have good intra-personal skills you have the ability to manage your emotions, you speak kindly to yourself, your self motivates and adjusts your approach when needed once again it like what Darwin said: “It’s not the smartest that survive but those that can adapt to change.”
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