Media consultant skills for your resume and career

It really depends on the individual's field of expertise, but in general, I would say:

-Strategic planning skills that include sales strategy
-Market research and analysis, in particular, consumer behavior analysis
-Marketing expertise (or excellent understanding) in areas like SEO, lead generation, PPC, content creation, social media, etc.
-Value and process improvement, especially in the digital media space
-Computer skills to create marketing reports, ad mockups, and presentations (includes likes of MS Office, Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, etc.)

-Excellence in communication
-Empathy and collaboration
-Holistic (or systemic) as well as analytical thinking
-Organizational skills that include prioritization and time management
-Confidence, charisma, showing ambition, and leadership
3. What hard/technical skills are most important?

If a graduate needs to take a gap year, what skills would you recommend to enhance, and how should they go about doing it? - Again, I think this depends on your area of expertise; the industry is always evolving and growing, and you need to be evolving and growing with it. So if you're taking a gap year, try to stay involved or engaged in some way. Ideally, you'd be involved in the production and exercising your skills. Still, if that can't happen, you can stay engaged in other ways - help do props for your local community theatre or even volunteer as an usher. If nothing else, you should always be reading about what's happening in the field. Not just Broadway either - what plays and what work is being done in regional cities. Get your hands on and read the new plays coming out, watch the videos released (full productions, interviews, promotional and dramaturgical videos, too), and read the available reviews. Keep your head in the game, even if you're unable to work the way you want to be doing.

In today's world, in some ways, character traits are more important than specific lessons or skills learned. The creative nature of our industry necessitates having people who are insatiably curious, demonstrate a passion for the industry, and have the ability to adapt in a fast-paced, constantly evolving industry. We need people who can embrace change and find opportunities.

Digital, digital, digital. Arts and entertainment organizations have become digital media organizations during the pandemic and so technical skills in social media marketing, website development and maintenance, search engine optimization, video, audio, post-production, and live streaming are standouts. And I am not even certain that's an exhaustive list!