20 TOP Skills Quickly Gaining Traction In the Freelance Job Market + Courses To Master Them

Having a freelance job is a liberating experience that many already capitalize on. However, if you go freelance, it’s not all as transparent as in face-to-face interactions with your employer. To qualify for a freelance offer, you can just keep guessing what skills and qualifications will attract the employer ready to pay well. Alternatively, you may check out this article and learn what these qualifications are.

Intrigued?

Today, the Typical Student team share with you 10 out of 20 most thought-after skills for freelancers in 2018. They’ve been presented within a recent Future Workforce Report from Upwork. Needless to say, Upwork, being the largest freelance site in the word, is a big cheese and a trustworthy source of data for you. What’s more, the data is calculated with the help of a quarterly Skills Index and yields a pretty reliable list of top 20 skills.

The skills we list today experienced a significant boom since last year. The demand for them grew over 130% in a year. Moreover, when it comes to the top 10 skills, here you see a whopping 400% increase in demand in comparison to the same time last year.

So, let’s see what the top 20 fastest-growing skills for freelancers are. Below each skill, you’ll find some free or penny-wise online courses that help you gain the necessary qualifications.

#1: Blockchain

Blockchain technology is the wiring and the underlying technology of the cryptocurrency world. And, of course, you know that cryptocurrency hype is damn hot.

Courses:

Blockchain Basics at LinkedIn Learning

The Basics of Blockchain at Udemy

#2: TensorFlow

Learning to deal with the sought-after TensorFlow software library for dataflow applications brings you one step closer not only to higher income but also to creating artificial intelligence.

Courses:

Complete Guide to TensorFlow for Deep Learning with Python at Udemy

Deep Learning with Tensorflow at edX

#3: Amazon DynamoDB

Want to be a cool and highly demanded freelancer? The world of e-Commerce has always got what to pay for if you know how to work with Amazon Dynamo Databases.

Courses:

Amazon DynamoDB: Build out NoSQL Databases in the AWS Cloud

Understanding DynamoDB

#4: Voice-over

Having a voice-over skill is a nice extra to your resume. So, pump your voice-over muscles to qualify for fun freelance voiceover jobs across the globe!

Courses:

Voice-Over for Video and Animation  at LinkedIn Learning

Voice-Over Training: Record and Edit Voice-Overs Like a Pro at Udemy 

#5: Subtitling

In fact, subtitling is a whole new ballgame with its own set of rules, canons and standards. Master those to qualify for subtitling jobs that are lavishly offered on the web.

Courses:

Creating the Subtitle

Learn All About Creating Subtitles (SRT) and Closed-Captions

#6: Art Direction

If you’ve got a keen eye for detail and visual style, you have chance to dive head first into art direction jobs. To get the ball rolling, take an Art Direction course.

Courses:

Learning Art Direction

#7: Content Strategy

Content strategy isn’t a breeze. You may beat your brain out on a project if you don’t have necessary skills. Keep in mind that this skill is among the most popular in the freelance market and buckle down to developing it.

Courses:

The Fundamentals of Content Marketing at SkillShare

UX Foundations: Content Strategy at LinkedIn Learning

#8: Computer Vision

This one sounds pretty amazing, doesn’t it? And it is truly so because it deals with improving the way computers can process visual data and 3D space.

Courses:

Deep Learning and Computer Vision A-Z™: OpenCV, SSD & GANs

Computer Vision and Image Analysis

#9: Microsoft Power BI

Power BI is a business analytical service with business intelligence capabilities. Add it to your portfolio to make great strides.

Courses:

Microsoft Power BI - A Complete Introduction

Computer Vision and Image Analysis

#10: Augmented Reality

Augmented reality applications are on their rise. Get the necessary skills to develop the next one yourself!

Courses:

Getting started with Augmented Reality

The Complete ARKit Course - Build 11 Augmented Reality Apps

Wrapping Up

These were the top 10 fastest-growing skills in the freelance job market. We’ve got 10 more coming up in our next posts.

Stay tuned for more!