7 In-Demand Skills You Need To Have In Your Resume In 2025

Forbes

01-05-2025

AI and increased digitalization has led to increased demand for specific skill sets like ... More cybersecurity and business communication skills
The job market is undergoing several major shifts, with the AI and remote work revolution being two of the core influencing factors. Coursera's latest Microcredentials Report 2025 highlights how employers' mindsets are shifting towards embracing candidates who have the right skill sets, as evidenced by short courses and certifications recently undertaken for professional development.
This is a powerfully positive move in the right direction, as we progress towards skills-first hiring and embracing candidates in new fields and industries regardless of whether they have a degree or not.
With job requirements and skills specifications evolving every day, and industry and market changes happening pretty swiftly thanks to technology, it's essential to keep apace with all these changes and ensure that your skills are relevant to the times.
There's one thing that every professional needs in 2025, and it's all summed up in this one word: adaptability.
If you've been applying for jobs to no avail this year, you might need to take a look at your skill set and the skills and competencies that you're demonstrating on your LinkedIn profile and within your resume.
How much have you adapted your skills to the needs of the job market and the industry you're in right now? Are you still listing the same old skills from 2015?
If so, there's a high chance you're being skipped over for other candidates, even those who may have less experience than you, for this very reason: you haven't adapted your skills.
To easily adapt to the needs of the job market, you need to constantly have your head in the latest job trends. Resources like the World Economic Forum, Coursera, LinkedIn, and to be a little biased here, Forbes, provide you with up-to-date current news and information gathered from statistics and reports globally and in the U.S., so that you can align your career choices accordingly.
Based on Coursera's Microcredentials report, there are at least seven skills, divided into technical and everyday business skills, that are in high demand by U.S.-based employers right now. If you interweave these skills strategically into your resume, you have a greater chance of success in your job search (more on how to insert them later). These skills are:
Adaptability is the most essential tool you need for your career progression in 2025 and beyond
These skills have repeatedly featured over the past three years in job reports from the World Economic Forum, such as the Future of Jobs report within their Skills Outlook section, and also in LinkedIn's In Demand Skills report for 2024. So it's no surprise that they are highlighted again here.
Technical skills like Generative AI are invaluable today because AI is making a huge buzz globally and transforming every aspect of job roles and industries as we know them. The effects of technology and innovation is resulting in an increase of new jobs and new job titles, with approximately 97 million jobs being created as a result.
An AWS report from 2024 noted that employers find hiring someone with Gen AI skills to be a key priority when screening candidates, and that they'd rather hire someone with those skills than hire one without. Microsoft's Work Trend Index 2024 revealed the sentiments, adding that employers would even be willing to hire you if you had less experience but have Gen AI skills, rather than someone who has more years of experience but no expertise regarding AI.
Even more important than general AI knowledge is applied AI, which is where you understand and are skilled in how to apply AI applications and tools to your own role in industry. This is where it becomes gold and actually has practical tangible use, which employers love.
Cybersecurity is another in-demand skill, especially since more of the world is using online for more hours due to factors such as hybrid and remote working, increased usage of social media, and the uptick in e-commerce, leading to increased numbers of cybersecurity threats and incidents over the past few years.
Data strategy goes hand-in-hand with AI implementation, so it's no wonder that employers are seeking this skill within their companies.
Last but not least, soft skills, better known as power skills, such as business communication, resilience and adaptability, already mentioned at the beginning of this article, and collaboration and active listening skills are indispensable.
These are the wheels that enable business projects to run smoothly and strengthen existing stakeholder relationships, while enabling companies to enter into new markets, form partnerships, and establish trust with their clients.
These skills may sound really simple and basic, but they can never be underestimated. Communication is the number one problem we face in the workplace, as evidenced by LinkedIn's 2024 In-Demand Skills report, which highlighted communication skills as the number one skill needed by employers.
For technical skills like Generative AI, you can still add this to your resume, even if the role you're applying for is not technical, or your background and work experience was not within a tech company or tech-based. This skill still matters even for everyday employees.
As an example, you can list AI-related skills within the skills section of your resume, but also highlight how you applied AI in your work, within your work experience section, and most importantly, what were the results or the payoff.
For data strategy, you might speak to how you've recently undertaken a data analysis course, or a related course to understand how data impacts or affects your role, and how to manage it effectively, especially if you work in leadership or management and are applying for a senior role.
When it comes to business power skills such as communication and active listening, there are plenty of ways to demonstrate this throughout your resume. You can point to times when you've delivered reports, sales presentations, pitches, chaired meetings with stakeholders, or resolved conflict within your team to enable an important project to keep moving.
You could highlight your collaborative skills through pointing to where you've mentored team members or worked with cross-functional teams and departments on a project.
Communication is the number one power skill of 2025
Now it's time to put these guidelines into actual practice. Give your resume and LinkedIn profile a thorough audit (or get a resume writer or career coach to help you), and find ways to creatively include these in-demand skills within them. Neglecting this crucial step could cost you your dream job.