A report compiled by Newcastle University came up with the top skills employees are searching for in new applicants.
These were gathered from numerous articles by employment experts from around the globe.
If you’re lacking in any of these areas, remember, each job and position you hold enables you to learn new skills and more about yourself. It teaches you what adjustments you need to build upon to develop your full repertoire of required and needed talents.
1. Higher education and qualifications that add value
More people are choosing to attend college or university and more organisations require their future staff to be formally trained, especially when it comes to knowledge-based jobs in the professional services sector.
Applying for any job in the twenty-first century is competitive. The job market is open to a world of applicants both local and international and the direction most organisations and business take is qualifications earned.
2. Added Value Skills
While qualifications are a necessary part of many professions, the applicants can impress the interview panel if they have an added value set of skills. The more skills any employee brings to the organisation, the more attractive they become as an employee.
This includes
- ability to work within a team
- proficiency to work under pressure
- capacity to work hours required at times of deadline
- communication skills for customers and work team
- thinking outside the box
- ability to reflect on criticism and continue to improve performance
3. Being technology savvy
According to Linked-In research, employers seek employees to have a high capacity of skills in technology. We are in a world of technology and the applicants need to remain current with new technology developments. This includes cloud and distributed computing knowledge, user interface skills and online programs familiarity.
4. Attention to detail
Employers require their staff to focus on the task at hand and not be distracted. Forbes.com reported, “Technology has increased automation and decreased our focus, creating a demand for, and short supply of, workers capable of concentrating.”
This, therefore, translates to applications using correct punctuated, no spelling errors, grammar correct and language style appropriate. Articulation in an interview is therefore also required.
5. Kindness, communication and cooperation
Egos need to be left on the bus. In a work team environment all staff, regardless of level in the organisation, need to be kind to each other, considerate and reflect as part of the team they are working within.
According to research by Caroline Beaton for Forbes.com asking for help when you need it is one of the best skills of all. “On a day-to-day scale, people who think they know everything aren’t trainable, nor are they good collaborators.”
Self-confidence in your ability is essential however not to the degree of arrogance. We need to hold an amount of humility while understanding we can always learn something new. Success comes from learning, understanding, involvement and support of others.
It is extremely rare to find a person capable of great technological skills, high communication ability, humility, kindness, tolerance, teamwork and leadership. This means, therefore, we all have areas we can improve. Leave the egotism on the bus and be part of a productive team at work.
