LinkedIn is looking to help members maximize their employment opportunities, but highlighting the most in-demand skills right now, as listed in LinkedIn job ads, while it’s also launching a new overview of job postings within your network to help connect you to opportunities among the people and businesses that you know.

First off, on in-demand skills – as part of its broader effort to integrate more career education, and connect members to opportunity, LinkedIn has shared new research into rising skills noted in LinkedIn job ads.

As explained by LinkedIn:

“We compared the top skills professionals had in 2015 with those for the same jobs today and identified the skills that rose to the top – the top skills in demand today.”

LinkedIn has narrowed this down to the top 20 skills in-demand, which were featured in more than three-quarters of jobs posted globally in the app over the last three months.

Those skills – and their related LinkedIn Learning courses – are:

• Customer Service – Serving Customers in a Continuously Changing World with David Brownlee
• Sales – Asking Great Sales Questions with Jeff Bloomfield
• Accounting – Lean Accounting Foundations with Joshua Rischin
• Business Development – Business Development: Strategic Planning with Meridith Powell
• Marketing – Marketing Foundations: The Marketing Funnel with Brad Batesole
• Leadership – Leadership Tips, Tactics, and Advice with Elizabeth Lotardo & Lisa Earle McLeod
• Communication – Communication within Teams with Daisy Lovelace
• Digital Marketing –  Digital Marketing Foundations with Brad Batesole
• Sales Management – Sales Management Foundations with Drew Boyd
• Problem Solving – The Secret to Better Decisions: Stop Hoarding Chips with Seth Godin
• Management – Be the Manager People Won’t Leave with Laurie Ruettimann
• Finance –  Financial Basics Everyone Should Know with Michael McDonald
• Social Media – Social Media Marketing Foundations with Brian Huber-Honigman
• Sales & Marketing – Create a Go-to-Market Plan with Deirdre Breakenridge
• Time Management – Time Management Fundamentals with Dave Crenshaw
• Financial Analysis – Corporate Financial Statement Analysis with Earl Kay Stice
• Engineering – Python for Engineers and Scientists with Michele Vallisneri
• Strategy – How to Make Strategic Thinking a Habit with Dorie Clark
• Social Media Marketing – Social Media Marketing: Strategy and Optimization with Martin Waxman
• SQL – SQL for Non-Programmers with Julianne Thouin

As you can see, various digital marketing and related skills make the list, which means that you should subscribe to Social Media Today to ensure that you stay on top of the latest shifts and changes in the industry.

Self-promotion aside, there are some interesting trends of note here, which may help you maximize your career opportunities, by focusing on the most in-demand skills and capabilities, and building out your skillset.

In addition to this new overview, LinkedIn is also hosting a series of virtual events where members will be able to engage with LinkedIn Learning instructors and hear more about how skills for jobs are evolving, along with tips on how they can lean into these trends. 

The virtual events will be held from September 12th to 16th – you can find out more here.

Finally, LinkedIn’s also adding a new ‘Who’s Hiring in Your Network’ overview, which will help users stay across potential career opportunities among those they know.

“Keeping in touch with your network is crucial, and many are increasingly turning to their online communities for help. More than one third of job seeking LinkedIn members in the US said they reached out to someone in their network to discuss their career plans. But it can be challenging to know who’s hiring or where to start.”

The new ‘Who’s Hiring in Your Network’ element addresses this, with a dedicated space in the ‘Jobs’ tab that will showcase opportunities among your peers.

“You’ll also be notified of relevant jobs when people in your first or second degree network are hiring, and you can also see members of the hiring team in job descriptions, making it easy for you to reach out directly and apply early.”

That could be a great way to stay on top of new openings and opportunities, and help you maximize the value of your LinkedIn network.