Skills in Demand by Employers

Skills in Demand by Employers:
A Compilation of In-Demand Job-Seeker Skills, Characteristics

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by Katharine Hansen, Ph.D.

For more information on how you can demonstrate these in-demand skills to prospective employers, see our main article, Use Stories to Prove Your Skills.

Following is a compilation of skills and characteristics that experts say are most in employers most seek out in prospective employees:

Adaptability and transferability of skills (important for career-changers)
Administrative support
Analytical thinking
Areas of expertise
Certification and/or degree(s)
Communication
Computer, technological proficiency
Cost savings
Creativity
Customer/client service
Consulting
Entrepreneurial/startup skills
Indicators of success/good performance/quality
Interpersonal
Languages
Management/leadership/supervision
Motivation
Multi-cultural/cross-cultural/international
Multi-tasking
Organizational
Problem-solving and troubleshooting
Process improvement
Quantitative skills
Research, strategy, and planning
Sales/marketing
Team player who can also work independently
Team player/team-builder
Teaching/training
Time management/ability to perform under deadline pressure
Willingness to learn/ability to learn quickly
Willingness to travel, relocate
Work ethic/professionalism

See also our article, What Do Employers Really Want? Top Skills and Values Employers Seek from Job-Seekers.

Questions about some of the terminology used in this article? Get more information (definitions and links) on key college, career, and job-search terms by going to our Job-Seeker's Glossary of Job-Hunting Terms.

Katharine Hansen, PhD, QuintCareers.com Creative Director

Katharine Hansen, Ph.D., creative director and associate publisher of Quintessential Careers, is an educator, author, and blogger who provides content for Quintessential Careers, edits QuintZine, an electronic newsletter for jobseekers, and blogs about storytelling in the job search at A Storied Career. Katharine, who earned her PhD in organizational behavior from Union Institute & University, Cincinnati, OH, is author of Dynamic Cover Letters for New Graduates and A Foot in the Door: Networking Your Way into the Hidden Job Market (both published by Ten Speed Press), as well as Top Notch Executive Resumes (Career Press); and with Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D., Dynamic Cover Letters, Write Your Way to a Higher GPA (Ten Speed), and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Study Skills (Alpha). Visit her personal Website or reach her by e-mail at kathy(at)quintcareers.com.

Maximize your career and job-search knowledge and skills! Take advantage of The Quintessential Careers Content Index, which enables site visitors to locate articles, tutorials, quizzes, and worksheets in 35 career, college, job-search topic areas.

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