Last weekend, I was asked to speak at the annual PRSSA Leadership Rally. This is a group of student leaders that PRSA assembles every year to help with strategy, direction and management of their PRSSA chapters.

I’ve been a part of this event a number of times–it’s a great event for these kids. In fact, I wish my alma mater had had a PRSSA chapter when I was in school. I would have been the first person to sign up for this event.

In this case, I wanted to recycle a presentation I’ve given before about the PR Pro of Tomorrow. I thought it was relevant for these kids, who will be entering the workforce in a year or two.

The PRSSA Mankato chapter.

But, as I thought about the larger context of the presentation, and gave it that day, a few key skills stood out. Skills that many friends, recruiters and agency owners ask me about routinely. Skills they desperately need. Skills they are almost always on the lookout for.

Although I’d argue all 10 of the skills in this presentation are “musts” for tomorrow’s PR pro, three stand out as skills students can learn and leverage to find a job (quickly) in our industry. I believe those skills to be:

* Video editing

* Analytics

* Programming

Video editing skills comes up in almost every jobs/career panel or discussion I’m a part of. Everyone is looking for those skills. The alternative: Outsourcing (and people get tired of paying to outsource all video production).

Analytics is a skill that’s only going to grow in popularity. Just had a friend from a pretty big agency ask me if I knew someone on the senior end looking for a position in this area. I can only think of a handful of people. This is a skill that’s in HUGE demand right now.

And programming skills are becoming a must in our industry as well. If you know the basics of coding, you have a big leg up on your colleagues in the new world of interactive and digital PR. You won’t have to “hand off” blog administration. You’ll know what the developers are talking about when you’re developing that mobile app. And, you’ll understand the ins and outs of web design when you’re revamping your client’s site. Big advantage.

Those are the big three, in my book. Take a look at this presentation and let me know if you agree.