We all have a dream career we would like to reach. Some of us might be trying to become a published writer. Another might want to sing live on Broadway. They are the artists who are dreaming about getting their art recognized.

Then there are those who want to find success and fortune. They might have the dream to one day own a company and put their own mark on the business world.

Your dream career will be unique to you but you do have one thing in common with everyone else. If you do achieve it, it’s not going to happen overnight. It’s going to take a lot of time and a considerable amount of effort on your part.

You should not underestimate just how fierce the competition is out there. The number of jobs on the market is finite. But the number of people seeking them out grows with each passing day. That’s why it’s a good idea to develop the skills that make you more employable. Not just for your dream career but for many high paid, easy to obtain, jobs. Once you have claimed one of these jobs, you will be able to move forward with your future dreams while earning a living. Here are the skills that we recommend you consider developing.

Communication
If in school you hated the time when the teacher announced that you would be working in groups, you’re out of luck. That describes almost every big business day. You have to know how to work as a team. It’s not uncommon for interviews to include some form of teamwork activity. For instance, if you get an interview for Disney, you’ll be assessed by how well you work with a team to find hidden gold, chocolate. No, I’m not making that up. That is an actual interview that they run.

But, there is a method to the madness shown here. Almost every job in the world will involve some form of teamwork. That’s quite an easy way to judge whether you can do it. If you want to develop this skill, it’s a good idea to participate in some team based activities during your spare time. For instance, you might want to consider joining a sports team. Don’t forget you can also put these types of skills on your CV. It shows, all together now, teamwork!

Customer And Client Interaction
You might think there is a job out there that doesn’t involve any form of customer interaction. But you would be wrong. There is no job out there that exists.

I’ll give you a quick example. There’s quite a romantic myth that authors sit in dark rooms by themselves and write their novels. They then hand the finished copy to a publisher and it’s on the market within months. This isn’t the case at all. These days an author doesn’t write the book by themselves. They write it and then it is judged by people online before it even gets to a publisher. Once it is accepted by an agent it will then be changed again by a boardroom. The book is often nothing like what the author set out to write because they are writing for a client. They need to make them happy.

Customer interaction is a big part of any job. You could be working in a HR consultancy for Small business. If you do this, you will be working with clients every day that have hired the services of your business. You will help them understand employment law and advise them on how they can best manage their employees. But it’s not just HR. Every business you can think of will involve some form of interaction. Whether you are working online or behind a till, you will be expected to engage with customers and clients.

If you want to improve this skill, the key is experience. You should take on jobs, even ones that you don’t want. By getting a good level of experience under your belt, you’ll be able to show to employers you are the worker they need.

Freelancing, Independence And Outsourcing
Although I’ve just drilled into your head how important it is to work as a team, it will also benefit you to be able to work independently. If you are able to work as a sole trader, you will find it easier to get a job. But that’s not all, you can also set yourself up as an individual worker offering outsourcing. If you can set yourself up like this online, you will attract employers who want to use your services without hiring you. By doing this, they save on costs but you also get benefits. You’ll find interest online, and you will always have job opportunities. There is a very simple example of outsourcing. A blogger owns and runs a blog. They might like to think of this blog as a small business. Once it starts to reach success, they have to keep adding articles. But they don’t have time to do this so instead they might hire guest writers. Guest writers increase the number of articles, get paid but are not taken on full-time. Because of this they are a cheap resource.

If you understand how to do this, you’ll gain experience and gain a steady income at the same time. You can do this even when you are out of work.

Online Skills
Finally, you need to think about learning to operate online. You should be aware of how to use social media but also what it could mean for you. Social media profiles are one of the first things employers look for before inviting you to an interview. They’re looking for anything that reflects badly on you. You need to make sure your profiles are private. Even then you shouldn’t say anything online that you wouldn’t say in public. Have you ever had an email delayed? That’s because it’s being read by other people before it reaches you.

Of course, it’s not just about knowing the negatives. If you know how to use social media to boost your profile, you have a skill an employer will find attractive. They know you will understand how to market yourself as an employee and, their company.

This post has been contributed by Ryan Gatt, it may contain affiliate links.