• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
career-coaching-and-training-logo
Enrolment Form Contact Us
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Membership Subscription
    • Reviews and Testimonials
    • Student Handbook
    • Blogs & Videos
  • Career Training
    • How to Find the Perfect Job
    • How to Plan Your retirement
    • Managing Career Changes
    • Your Career Journey – Online Professional Development
    • Online Professional Development Courses Online
      • Change and Resilience
      • Develop Assertiveness Skills for Life and Work
      • Grow Your Interpersonal Skills
      • Learn how to Focus your Mind for Life and Work
      • Learn How to Manage Conflict
      • Learn How to Manage Stress
      • Learn How to Manage Time for Effective Results
      • Learn the Art of Negotiating and Winning
      • Learn to Connect and Build Authentic Relationships through Networking
  • Career Coaching
  • Retirement Coaching
  • Business Training
  • Events
  • Contact

What Skills do Employers Want?

Career CoachingJanuary 8, 2015Leave a Comment

Employability or employment?

The preference for employability rather that employment is a key to success in the world of work, where increasingly, a number of individuals will be self employed. In essence, employability is the capacity of individuals to possess the skills, knowledge and attitudes to engage and re-engage in employment in today’s changing environment, and into the future.

Employability skills are the non-technical skills and knowledge necessary to achieve an individual’s career goals. These are not specific to one particular occupation or industry. There are eight skills and 13 attributes that employers require you to possess in whatever industry you are employed in.

Do you have the skills that employers are seeking?

1. Communication

Aim to be a good speaker and confident when speaking to people face-to-face or over the telephone. Communication is useful in: customer service situations, when presenting information, participating in meetings and in networking events. You will also need to be a clear writer to be understood when writing emails and business documentation such as proposals and reports.

2. Teamwork

Being a good team member involves working independently, and with colleagues and other people across different ages irrespective of gender, race, religion or political persuasion. This skill is useful when working with customers, in a team environment, or on a workplace project.

3. Problem Solving

At work, there are a myriad of problems to solve. Aim to display independence and initiative to find solutions when faced with difficulties or set-backs. Apply a logical process, creativity and offer practical solutions to solve problems in an efficient and timely way. Having a solution focus with good problem solving skills will develop a positive approach, and make a difference to your career success.

4. Initiative and Enterprise

Employers value an ability to think creatively to make improvements in the workplace, and within the team to products, services, or processes. Initiative and enterprise are important skills for operating your own business.

5. Planning and Organising

Manage your time, priorities and resources to reach both your goals and that of the team. It involves the ability to co-ordinate others to meet deadlines and contingencies that exist at work, in projects, study and other commitments. Importantly, it entails participating in continuous improvement to consistently strive to improve your products or service according to the highest standards.

In a globalised and competitive environment, continuous improvement is a necessity to maintain a customer focus, enhanced quality and market edge.

6. Self-Management

The skill refers to the ability to take responsibility for your actions, using your time and resources to effectively set and achieve goals. It will support you to manage your deadlines and, where required, delegate tasks to be completed on time. Self management enables you to evaluate and monitor your performance, and act on feedback. Seek to undertake professional development to address gaps in skills and knowledge. This skill will provide self confidence and responsibility to be an independent and productive worker.

7. Learning

With ongoing changes in the work environment, there are likely to be changes to your job and to the structure of your workplace. Learning contributes to your development to enhance individual capacity, and that of the organisation to become a learning organisation. Learning organisations adapt to challenges more quickly than their competitors to remain competitive, and excel.

Learning involves managing your own learning via a number of capacities: professional development activity through study, mentoring or coaching activities, participating in an interest group such as a Linkedin Group, or subscribing to newsletters and updates from professional associations. Your learning will contribute to the learning community in the workplace.

8. Technology

Most modern jobs require the use of technology and specialised software packages as a requirement to fulfil your job.

Technology will improve communication through electronic mail, electronic conferencing to an individual or multiple recipients, and global mass communication through social media.

Additionally, technology is a management tool for personnel, operations and service delivery status, as well as data management through electronic filing, access to information and records management.

Attributes

Let’s now look at the list of attributes that employers seek in employees.

  • Loyalty
  • Commitment
  • Honesty and integrity
  • Enthusiasm
  • Reliability
  • Personal presentation
  • Commonsense
  • Positive self-esteem
  • Sense of humour
  • Balanced attitude to work and life
  • Ability to deal with pressure
  • Motivation
  • Adaptability

How can you develop your employability skills and personal attributes?

As you perform your work, you develop your employability skills and attributes. If you want to make a career transition, seek voluntary work through work placements or in community organisations.

Through your studies, you are able to apply the employability skills, and learn about yourself. Get involved in extra-curricular activities such as sport, hobbies, and volunteer activities.

Building employability skills and attributes is a professional journey. Enjoy the process.

Leah Shmerling is the Director and Principal Consultant of Crown Coaching and Training, and is a Certified Retirement Coach. She has over 30 years experience in career development, life coaching, education and training. Leah holds a Master in Professional Education and Training, Graduate Diploma in Career Development, a number of Diploma qualifications in Vocational Educational Training, and Certificates in Life Coaching, Mediation Skills, and Psychodrama.

Leah is a professional member of the Career Development Association Australia (CDAA).Leah is a professional member of Australian Career Professionals International (ACPi-Aus). She has international accreditation and is Board Certified as a Career Management Fellowwith the Institute of Career Certification.

Contact details for Leah Shmerling:

leahshmerling@careercoachingandtraining.com.au

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Category: News

Primary Sidebar

Our Office

Our counselling services are conveniently located in South Melbourne 3km from the city, close to public transport, with off street parking.

Office Address
Level 4, 150 Albert Road
South Melbourne 3205

Contact Us

  • Monday to Friday 8am-6pm
    Evening appointment upon request
  • info@careercoachingandtraining.com.au
logo-footer

CAREER COUNSELLING • COACHING
AVAILABLE BETWEEN APPOINTMENTS
RESUME, COVER LETTER AND LINKED IN CHECKS

Enrol now
Contact us now
© careercoachingandtraining.com.au
Privacy Policy | Terms of Access | Terms of Use

Career Coaching and Training

ENQUIRE NOW

  • We have a number of Strategic Alliance Partnerships so would be grateful if you could help us by advising where you heard about us?
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Career Coaching and Training

Enrolment Form

  • We have a number of strategic partnerships. We would be grateful if you could please tell us how you heard about us. Thank you.
loadingCancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.