Software project manager skills for your resume and career

Gap years are interesting to me. There is a difference between someone who has ample monetary resources and voluntarily decides to take a "gap" year to travel the world, as opposed to someone who involuntarily takes a "gap" year because they legitimately cannot find a job.
For students who opt not enter the workforce immediately upon graduation, I would recommend that they utilize this time in a strategic fashion, primarily expanding their network, increasing their skills related to data analytics/analysis, and reading or researching within the broader business field as well as their particular field of interest. Expanding your network is always beneficial because of the value employers place on referrals. If students do not know where to start, I would recommend they join their applicable professional organization and begin attending events (virtual events can still help build relationships).
While specific job duties may differ, the ability to understand and utilize data is in high demand in virtually every job role. Having comfort with data-both quantitative and qualitative--can be a highly beneficial skill that many in the job market may not have to offer.
I also recommend continued reading and researching, as whenever you do enter the workforce you want to know what is going on. I am never surprised, but always disappointed when I ask my students if they heard the latest job numbers or if they saw a recent news article. It is hard to articulate your value to an organization's problems if you are unaware of what they are. Stay current.
Interestingly, I would not recommend that someone enroll in a graduate program simply to take up time. If you just love school, have a clear focus, or had already planned to enroll in graduate school prior to COVID, then proceed. However, if you are unsure about your interests or future career goals, enrolling in a graduate program may be a large investment of time and money that may not result in securing a job of interest upon completion.

Flexibility, ability to adapt to whatever style work style, and the environment we are using given the world around us, working as a team (even if remote), can be a self-learner, especially in a private fashion. Excellent communication skills are also essential for success.

Working and collaborating in groups, presenting to different audiences, writing technical reports, grant applications and researching new topics are all essential soft skills. Much of today's world relies on data, so collecting, summarizing, organizing and presenting data is also an important soft skill that is becoming quite fundamental.

Students graduating with Information Systems and related degrees usually have little problem finding employment upon graduation. However, the pandemic upended that paradigm for some. For those who recently graduated and are still looking for employment, keep the faith and develop your technical skills. Developers should show prospective employers that they are familiar with agile programming methodologies and modern DevOps stacks and processes. Data analysts should be focused on presenting their ability to work with structured and unstructured data, effectively query data using SQL & NoSQL, and, most importantly, provide actionable insight by making data accessible and relatable to decision-makers at all levels of an organization. Those interested in cloud architecture and cyber security careers have to keep current on their skills and certifications. Cloud engineers need to stay aware of the constant changes happening at the major providers (AWS, Azure, GCP) and, as with all other IT fields, provide tangible evidence of your skills via real projects that you have worked on. Prospective cyber security analysts should first focus on identifying their first specialization because there are too many security roles to learn them all at once, especially as beginners. Two popular entry-level cyber security jobs include information security consultant and Security Operations Center (SOC). Both of these roles require a sound foundation in networking fundamentals, vulnerability identification and mitigation, and an understanding of organizationally relevant security and privacy frameworks and regulations.