COVID-19 has changed much in the work world and a recent survey conducted by the World Economic Forum is already showing the shift. Soft skills, described as personality traits and behaviours, top its list of top 10 skills workers must have. One thing is certain: the more you work on your soft skills,while not neglecting your hard skills, the easier it will be to navigate tomorrow’s job market.

The skills which employers are looking for include the ability to communicate well, particularly verbally; a knack for problemsolving and related signs that you use your initiative; and the ability to be a real team player as opposed to a lone ranger.

They are also looking for demonstrations of leadership potential shown not only on the job, but also in your role as part of community organisations or professional groups.

One key factor is whether you accept responsibility or shy away from dealing with people and issues key to the success or failure of the organisation.

If you look around your company you should be able to identify those people with good soft skills which should be emulated.

But these skills are not easily learned, so be prepared for extensive time spent honing those skills which will make you a more valuable member of the team and prepare you for upward mobility or accepting a new opportunity elsewhere. Which brings us to another area to be considered in preparing for future roles.

Google has just announced six-month training certificates in select fields, in contrast to four-year college programmes in

the US.

It’s another education plank which Google has pioneered in the era of online learning. The included courses are aimed at teaching foundational skills that can help job seekers immediately find employment.

Imagine the major savings in college fees; this could potentially see less students struggling to clear education debt in the future.

It is early days yet but Kent Walker, senior vice-president of global affairs at Google, sees ground-breaking opportunities for these career certificates.

“In our own hiring, we will now treat these new career certificates as the equivalent of a four-year degree for related roles,” he said.

The cost has not yet been worked out but a similar programme Google offers on their learning platform, Coursera, the Google IT Support Professional Certificate, costs $49 for each month a student is enrolled.

So a six-month course could potentially cost just under $300 — less than many university students spend on textbooks in one semester alone.

Additionally, Google said it would fund 100,000 needsbased scholarships in support of the new programmes.

At a time when our regional universities are faced with making critical changes to the way students are prepared for the world of work, it could be useful to consider options such as Google’s plan for stepped up training of the future workforce.