Having a personal competitive advantage over everyone will always help you in landing – or keeping – that dream job, especially in a difficult job market. And it is difficult, given how COVID-19 has put around 1.7 million young people aged 15 to 24 at risk of job disruption according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).

To rise above all jobseekers vying for your dream job, why not upskill yourself by learning not just hard skills but soft skills? Stay competitive in any given situation!

Tip #1: Upskill yourself with training courses available online

There’s more to being online than just updating your social media pages! There are a number of learning resources available online that can help improve your soft skills and hard skills? Here are some of them:

i. Udemy

Udemy is a goldmine of training courses, covering a broad spectrum of expertise ranging from modern ones such as web development and digital marketing to conventional ones such as business, finance and accounting.

ii. TESDA Online Program (Exclusive to Filipinos)

TESDA is an effort by the government to provide Filipinos with easy access to technical education through the use of information technology such as computers and gadgets. It’s a free-for-life online program that’s created for people from all walks of life.

iii. Coursera

Coursera is popular for its on-demand video lectures conducted from top university instructors and lecturers from all over the world. Business, computer science, and language learning are among the few more popular categories available.

There are many more online platforms that offer training courses such as Khan Academy and edX for you to upskill yourself and develop a personal competitive advantage.

Tip #2: Learn to use modern-day tools and software

Since most of us are working from home, companies can no longer fully rely on conventional and manual methods of project management, training and communication. Today’s working world calls for workers that have initiative and novelty. Therefore, being a working professional that’s adept in using such tools will put you above the rest:

i. Collaborative Cloud-Based Tools: Google Suite (Google Docs, Google Sheets, etc.) and OneDrive

ii. Project Management Tools: Asana and monday.com

iii. Video Conferencing Tools: Zoom and Google Meet

iv. Communication Tools: Slack and Microsoft Teams 

Tip #3: Demonstrate proactiveness in two ways: think up ideas to improve processes or shore up activities to boost team morale

Remember, it takes two to tango. During tough times, employers depend on their employees to continue functioning optimally – not just in making sure that the right processes are in place, but also in keeping fellow employees motivated.

Now that most of us are working from home, traditional team and task managements aren’t as effective as they used to be. If you happen to be fluent in information technology, take the initiative to propose different ways to improve your team’s work processes.

Or be the person who understands your colleagues well enough to organize mini activities to improve morale. It can be as simple as a virtual lunch together, or a monthly interactive online session where you discover new things together – play games, invite speakers, recognize everyday wins, and the like.

Don’t be stagnant just because there’s a pandemic. Upskill yourself and stay competitive to land – or keep – that dream job!