But for those who have been interested in freelancing but unsure where to start, there’s good news. Upwork, one of the leading websites for freelancers to connect and find work, has released their first-ever index of the most in-demand skills for freelancers in the U.S. job market today. Along with finding the skills that make freelancers the most valuable to clients and employers, it was found that “development skills (including web and eCommerce development) account for one-third of the Top 20 fastest-growing skills”. It was also found that “future technologies are in demand”, pushing companies to seek experts in “virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and robotics”. Content marketing skills – SEO writing, proofreading, and video editing – have also been on the rise in popularity. Here are the top 20 skill sets that could help you either jumpstart your freelance career or take it to another level.
- User experience design2. ASP development3. Shopify development4. English proofreading5. SEO writing6. Animation7. Virtual assistant8. Lead generation9. Data mining10. Video editing11. WordPress development12. AngularJS development13. Java development14. Accounting15. Android development16. iOS development17. Zendesk18. MongoDB19. Data visualization20. AutoCAD In an article surrounding the skills index, Upwork CEO Stephane Kasriel had this to say about the index and how the skills will affect future freelancers:
