Skills and Strengths College Students May Not Realize They Possess

Skills and Strengths College Students May Not Realize They Possess -- and That Employers Love

College grads often do not realize the just how many skills and strengths you have developed through your college experience.

This article is one in a series excerpted by permission from How to Get Any Job with Any Major, Ten Speed Press, (c) Donald Asher. To reproduce, write to Donald Asher. Donald Asher, also known as "America's Job Search Guru," is the author of nine books on career-development issues.

Skills College Grads Possess

Analytical
Dramatizing ideas of problems
Communication
Advising people writing reports
Customer Service
Bookkeeping
Problem solver
Increasing productivity
Inventing new ideas
Displaying ideas graphically
Updating files
Analyzing data
Speaking in public
Confronting other people
Listening to others
Managing an organization
Handling detail work
Imagining new solutions
Supervising others
Running meetings
Teaching classes
Organizing people and tasks
Motivating others
Coordinating events
Finding information
Counseling people
Scheduling
Selling products
Office management
Handling complaints
Administering programs
Arranging social functions
Evaluating programs
Corresponding with others
Entertaining people
Dispensing information
Sketching charts and diagrams
Planning organizational needs
Collecting money
Compiling statistics
Editing publications
Raising funds
Setting up demonstrations
Meeting the public
Managing your own time
Interviewing people
Enduring long hours
Escorting VIPs on tours
Investigating problems
Persuading others
Delegating responsibility
Advertising/promoting events
Proposing alternate approaches
Interpreting languages
Preparing materials
Working under pressure
Working collaboratively with people with different backgrounds
Making decisions with incomplete information

Strengths Employers Love

Enthusiastic
Happy, cheerful countenance
Eager to work long hours
Confident
Desire to advance
Sincere, authentic
Willing to learn
Assertive, forthright
Curious
Tactful, diplomatic
Willing to relocate
Friendly
Flexible
Responsible
Punctual, reliable
Take initiative
Energetic
Persistent
Able to discuss ideas and options without being defensive
Interested in organization as a whole
Willing to pitch in wherever needed

This material is adapted from Principia College Career Camp, Donald Asher, Asher Associates, and is a companion piece to a series excerpted by permission from How to Get Any Job with Any Major, Ten Speed Press, (c) Donald Asher, used with permission. Donald Asher, also known as "America's Job Search Guru," is the author of nine books on career development issues, and is a contributor to WSJ online at CareerJournal.com and CollegeJournal.com, NACE Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, jobstar.org, monstertrak.com, and similar. He is well known to career services staff nationwide as a speaker and consultant on hidden job market and self-directed search issues. He is the keynote speaker for the Career Development Series of national teleconferences sponsored by the University of Tennessee. He presents at over 100 colleges and universities annually. His books of interest include How to Get Any Job with Any Major, Asher's Bible of Executive Resumes, The Overnight Resume, From College to Career, and Graduate Admissions Essays. When not on the road, Asher divides his time between San Francisco and Northern Nevada.

To reproduce this article, write to Donald Asher.

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