Career Advice & News Center

In-Demand Skills for Success:

1. BASIC SKILLS: Employers are seeking employees who can read well, can write coherently, and who can calculate mathematics in a business environment (fractions, percentages, etc.) Add to that the ability to use computer tools to round out the basic skill sets needed for employment success.
2. PERSONAL SKILLS: Can a potential employee speak well? Can he/she answer questions of customers in a positive, informative manner? While not everyone has an outgoing sales personality, successful employees can communicate in a non-confrontational, positive manner with their coworkers, subordinates, managers, and customers. Being able to work well with others is a vital skill for success in all jobs.
3. JOB ATTAINMENT: Job search is a process that requires a great deal of dedication and attention to be conducted successfully. If you put in little effort, you will receive little results. Employers are seeking employees who know how to present themselves in a positive manner and who display enthusiasm and knowledge about the companies they approach. Not only do candidates get evaluated on their skills and experience, but also on how they are approaching the job search. Enthusiastic candidates that follow up and show true interest will win success above equally qualified candidates.
4. JOB SURVIVAL: Now there's a hot topic in this period of layoffs! True, who gets the ax and who doesn't is often a matter of numbers, but it is also often a matter of performance. Employees who have consistently demonstrated their worth and made themselves a valuable asset have lower incidences of being downsized than employees who put forth average effort. Surviving in a company during layoffs is a skill that makes a candidate stand out among peers.
5. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Successful individuals are constantly attending seminars, taking classes, attaining training, and otherwise learning new skills that will keep them marketable in their careers. Successful people are lifelong learners. Employers are looking for people who understand this.
6. CAREER DEVELOPMENT: Career Development differs from Professional Development. Professional Development is learning while Career Development is a planning and goal setting process. Successful individuals design a career plan with written goals for short term and long term. They lay out the steps needed to move their careers from Point A to Point B within Time Frame C and plan how they are going to achieve those steps. Employers seek individuals who (believe it or not) wish to commit to the company for a long period of time. Good career progression is a high selling point of candidates to prospective employers.