Having your academic achievements and years of experience are important criteria that are typically evaluated by employers as they seek to fill a vacancy. However, and additional highly important criteria that’s often overlooked by job seekers is with regard to “soft skills”, i.e. employability skills – certain attitudes and behaviors that are desired by the Employer for the particular role / position . function.
Here is a list of some important soft skills that Employers seek:
- Self-motivated and progressive – do you seem as though you want to just kick back and be content with any ol’ job, or are you driven and wanting to prove yourself, advance yourself (via education etc.) and make moves.
- Pressure, stress and time management – can you handle the stress / pressure of the position?
- Interpersonal skills – can you interact effectively and efficiently with your co-workers, or are you likely to be that “co-worker from hell” who no one wants to deal with?
- Receptive to change – how do you deal with change? Do you move with the times or do you get caught up on how it was?
- Planning and organizational skills – can you effectively schedule your tasks and priorities?
- Written and oral communication skills – is your grammar a mess? Can you effectively get your point across to a group or indivual?
- Leadership skills – do you exhibit the traits or skillset of an effective leader?
- Team work – are you a team player or a lone wolf? Employers typically go for the team player.
- Trustworthy – if they can’t trust you then they’re not going to hire or keep you.
- Ethics – are your moral / ethical standards questionable?
If you’ve got an interview or are currently on probation in a new job, definitely you need to bear these soft skills in mind, and try to be the best employee that you can be.
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