If you want to make a successful career, it’s important to take into consideration the valuable skills and qualities every employer needs that could make you indispensable to your company. And it does not matter which career path you choose, there are definite professional talents and traits that really every employer wants in a candidate.
That’s why next time you’re updating your resume or writing a cover letter, find out if you have these skills every employer wants that could make you just the employee they need.
1. Communication skills
Communication is a very large and important component of any career. Are you able to properly compose company speeches, memos, or corporate presentations? Could you effectively verbalize necessary questions, details, instructions, or facts to managers, CEOs, staff members, customers, and clients?
Verbally, you definitely want to avoid those awful “likes” and “umms” in professional conversation. And as for the written form, remember to keep it simple and to the point, and always check the spelling.
2. Leadership
Taking into consideration the valuable qualities that make you hirable and your own professional stock, it’s significant to include any leadership experience you’ve got in the working world. Being a supervisor, a manager, a leader, an authoritative figure or a club president means you’ve learned the responsibilities and tasks enough to present a professional or business affiliation and instill those same ideals in others.
When speaking of your leadership experience in an interview or writing your resume, make sure to specify how you’ve worked with others in a team environment and what you’ve learned in your role. While discussing the skills and talents every employer needs on their payroll, it’s significant to sound like a leader who inspires others’ productivity and success in a group atmosphere and not sound like a dictator on a power trip.
More: 5 Steps to a Successful Career
3. Microsoft office suite
If you think that knowing word processing software is a given in any professional environment, employers aren’t just looking for people who know how to type a good letter. Refresh on your PowerPoint presentations and study those
Excel spreadsheets, because almost every company uses these or other similar programs. A lot of time could have passed since your last presentation, that’s why give it another test run to impress those potential employers with your office software skills.
4. Honesty
When you know the difference between wrong and right and intentionally choose to be honest can seem like a dwindling quality at times. When switch on the news to find representatives of non-profit agencies embezzling funds or politicians overusing their powers for personal profit, you realize that there is a serious lack of integrity in the world.
This question I’ve been asked more than a couple of times during the interview process: “Last time when you were faced with a dilemma that questioned your moral principles in the workplace how did you manage it?” It’s obvious that employers look for integrity in the workers presenting their company. Just be honest and everything will be fine.
5. Social media skills
When earning a high score in Bejeweled Blitz doesn’t have a place on your resume, staying current with social media can vastly profit you in professional ability. If you host already a blog on WordPress, have a Facebook page, or run a Tumblr or Twitter account, you can easily dispense information via social media.
Nowadays companies are developing an online presence more than ever. This is more than just having a bland old website. Improve your social media skills and think about a career in social media marketing by flashing human resources some of your web-based credentials.
6. A desire to learn
Sure, everyone is a newbie in the workplace. And it doesn’t matter if you’re a new candidate in an entirely different field or a new hire to a company, there will be definitely things you don’t know.
You can’t know all of the company directions. For example, how to get that annoying fax machine to cooperate or the latest updates to the office’s photo editing software.
Definitely, a good employee always asks for help and demonstrates a desire to learn all the things that will make her more valuable to the company in the long run. When during the interview you were asked if you have a definite knowledge or skill, play it straight. Just say, “It’s the thing that I’m very eager to learn.” It’s really a better reply than a lie.
More: 7 Things You Must Never Lie about in Your Resume
7. Customer service experience
You couldn’t know that your stint in the retail sector could lend you some leg-up on the competition. A company always follows one crucial rule: to keep its customers satisfied. If you have experience in customer service, perhaps you interpret clients as customers and you know how to address them in a polite way.
Furthermore, customer service means working with various public and being able to develop problem-solving skills that employers look for. Customer service is much more than a monetary transaction of counting change and scanning items. It’s an environment that teaches how to present a company in a hands-on and direct manner.
All women wonder what skills and qualities can make them more indispensable to a company. Corporate expectations may vary between job titles, businesses, or even location on the map, and these 7 useful must-haves are a nice start to a successful career. Can you share with us what skills and qualities make you a valuable employee?
