If you have these soft skills, recruiters are looking for YOU!
“It is not the strongest or most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.” – Charles Darwin, scientist
To manage change one needs much more than the ABC & 1,2,3!
You have aced your exams and gotten into college life – wonderful & congratulations! Half the battle is won! Now you are ready to enter the professional world! Oh! Sorry to disappoint you but were you under the impression that you have scaled and secured your future completely? Well, as mentioned earlier academics takes care of half the battle – so are you eager to find out what comprises the other 50%?
Read on to understand the other half! So for a graduate getting prepared to enter the professional world means working on employability skills. Along with getting good grades and focussing on technical know-how, it is crucial to improve on soft skills to work together better, keep learning and living a better quality life!
And. . . the good news is that these skills can all be acquired. So all is not over.
It is understandable that as students fresh out of college, it takes time to develop and build on most of these skills, but the important thing is to enhance them from day one so that your employability chances stand improved.
Skills are either inherent or acquired, and all that we need to do is to be aware & sharpen them so that instead of being in the backseat, they become visible and move front and center, thereby getting you into the fast lane to excellence. In this blog, CareerSkillz will be telling you about the must-have skills that you need to have along with your basic job skills. A good combination of both these skills will enable you to land the job of your dreams.
- Being an open-learner: A fresh college graduate is ideally like a sponge willing to absorb and learn as much as they can. This in some ways shows how flexible you are to acquire new skills and probably master them as you keep growing in your career. One of the essential skills you need to instil is being open to learning new things – being a lifelong learner definitely ensures success. Are you open to absorbing and retaining knowledge and learning additional skills in an ongoing manner, then you are closer to being recruited.
- Gift of the Gab: You are intelligent! You are smart! Now you need to be a smart, intelligent communicator! Most organizations are aware that they will have to invest a lot of time and effort to train you since you’re a college graduate just entering the professional world. However, there are specific skills that you need to acquire and enhance beforehand. One crucial skill that is non-negotiable for a working professional is how well you can articulate & communicate. Let’s face it, even to clear your interview rounds; you need to be able to communicate your thoughts well & convince. We spend 90,000 hours of our life in the workplace and 70% of our professional time is spent in some sort of communication. And, while on the topic of communication skills, we at CareerSkillz would also want to highlight the importance of being an attentive & active listener.
- Being a team player: While some skills can be worked upon, a few are imbibed or inherently present in you. One crucial skill that recruiters look for is whether you are a team player or a solo performer, which gives them an idea of how understanding, cooperative and capable you are while working with others. Your participation in team sports, holding responsible positions as a student and executing events etc are some of the areas that would indicate your abilities and openness to being a team worker .
- Punctuality: One skill that is more a habit and an absolute must in any candidate, be it someone with experience or a college graduate, is that of being punctual. This habit develops from childhood and it stems from following rules, instructions in a disciplined manner. As a school student your completion of home-work, submission of assignments and planning your studies for an exam are all bringing in a habit of self-discipline and building the skill set of time management. This is not something that can be taught and the importance increases as you grow, since today more than ever – time is money for every organization. Part of being punctual also shows them how well you will be able to perform & meet deadlines for project submissions and other tasks. The last thing employers want is to have someone who is falling behind on timelines and needing several reminders or follow-ups!
- Problem Solving: An ability to face challenges or difficulties, solving problems & attempting something different requires one to be a creative thinker and think out of the box! Your ability to persist, be a quick thinker and not give up till you find the solution is a great value add today. Problem solving is not just related to logical or statistical analysis but also being able to think differently. Today, the volatile and disruptive scenario demands more alternate thinking skills and organizations recognize and pick up people who have developed this skill set.
- Allegiance: Long list of short tenure jobs, too many job changes are all indicators for an organization and they may shy away from hiring a candidate whose resume highlights such aspects. Today, many organizations look for a steady and reasonable tenure to justify the decision of hiring and other costs incurred on a hired team member.
Acing the interview round and questions is still a task that can be perfected within a short time, but sharpening specific skills can only be done when you have the passion & willingness to upskill yourself. The next time you take your own sweet time to decide what to wear and go over mentally all the commonly asked questions with dedication, make sure that you make a mental note of all these attributes and skills that recruiters are looking for. So what are you waiting for?
For more enriching content that can help you achieve professional success, stay connected with us at https://careerskillz.com/. CareerSkillz has been mentoring and providing thousands of students from across the globe a pathway to assured success and growth.
