For our most recent Thinkopolis labour report, our team of data analysts poured over the information contained in literally millions of Canadian job postings from the past two years.

Their key findings were that soft skills: communications, teamwork, customer-relations, etc. are highly in demand across industries. So too are computer literacy skills such as using Microsoft office, document production, file management and sharing.

All of these are the skills that your first few jobs working as part of a team, interacting with the public in the service industry, and a basic education can give you. They’ve become the price of admission for the job market in most sectors.

But once you have these, what about taking it to the next level? Our team also looked at the top ten in-demand skills for popular sectors – after they’d removed those competencies that are sought-after across all jobs.

Here’s what you need to qualify for jobs in ten hot fields

Accounting / Finance

Financial statements / reporting
Accounts payable and receivable
CPA
Financial analysis
Accounting
Microsoft money
Cash flow analysis
Tax returns
Accruals
Auditing

Admin/Clerical Travel arrangements
Administrative support
Medical terminology
Expense reports
Secretarial
Invoicing
Accounts payable and receivable
Office supply ordering
Charts
Office equipment
Arts / Media Adobe Photoshop
Adobe acrobat
Graphic design
Journalism
Video production / editing
Illustrator
HTML
Graphical user interface
InDesign
Photography
Engineering CAD
3d
Graphic design
Professional engineer
Automation
Engineering design
Layout design
Cost control
PLC
Microsoft project
Hospitality and food servicePhysical demand
Certified CPR
Food safety
Cooking
Cash handling
Employee training / instruction
Restaurant management
Dependable
Public speaking
Labour relations
Human resources Employee relations
HRIS
Labour relations
Organizational development
Training programs
PeopleSoft
Surveys
Performance analysis
Leadership training
ADP
Manufacturing

Welding
Machinery
Automotive
Blueprints
Hand tools
Computer Numerical Control (CNC)
Power tools
ISO
Warehousing
Machining

Marketing Market planning
Market strategy
Marketing communications
Public relations
Brand management
Adobe Acrobat
Product management
Adobe Photoshop
Press releases
Graphic design
Skilled trades

Blueprints
Welding
Machinery
Plc
Automotive
Computer numerical control (CNC)
Electrical work
Machining
Hydraulics
Hvac

Technology and Digital Media

SQL
Java
Shell scripting
Oracle
JavaScript
Agile
Operating systems
HTML / CSS
Extensible markup language (XML)
Linux

 

Employers search the resume database for candidates, looking at 16,000 resumes a day. Their most frequent search method is by keywords, similar to a Google search. Here are the precise keywords that they look for in resumes by sector.

The exact resume keywords employers search for by industry:

FinanceAnalyst
Business
Financial
Accountant
Sales
Bank
Service
Data
Customer
Payroll
Hospitality

Sales
Service
Customer
Representative
Business
Management
Bilingual
Maintenance
French
Cook

Healthcare

Analyst
Service
Business
Support
Assistant
Health
Medical
Data
Bilingual
Technician

MarketingBusiness
Analyst
Bilingual
Web
Data
Digital
Media
Communications
Writer
Designer
Skilled Trades

Maintenance
Technician
Millwright
Mechanic
Operator
Electrician
Engineer
Construction
Welder
Forklift

Technology

Developer
Java
Analyst
sql
Oracle
Support
Data
J2ee
architect
qa

 

Acquiring some of the skills most relevant to employers in your chosen field, and making sure to include the relevant keywords they search for in resumes can greatly increase your chances of success.

You can read the full in-demand skills report and all of our labour market research at Workopolis.com/research.

 

See also:

How to tailor your resume to any job posting

How to optimize your resume for the 10-second skim

Should you put a picture on your resume?

What to include on your resume to get an IT job

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