50 COMMON COMPETENCIES IN DEMAND BY EMPLOYERS

50 Common Competencies in Demand by Employers

Since employers seek competencies in behavioural interviewing, you will need to know which competencies are in demand. Listed below are 50 competencies that employers commonly look for: 1) Analyzing issues 2) Attitude / optimism / passion 3) Building relationships / alliances 4) Building talent resources 5) Change innovation 6) Change management 7) Coaching/inspiring others 8) Collaboration 9) Communication 10) Confidence 11) Conflict management 12) Courage 13) Customer service 14) Decisiveness 15) Delegation 16) Detail-orientation 17) Diversity acumen 18) Ethics / integrity 19) Execution 20) Financial acumen 21) Flexibility / adaptability 22) Follow-up skills 23) Global perspective 24) Independence 25) Influencing others 26) 27) 28) 29) 30) 31) 32) 33) 34) 35) 36) 37) 38) 39) 40) 41) 42) 43) 44) 45) 46) 47) 48) 49) 50) Initiative / motivation (*) Innovation / creativity Interpersonal skills Judgment Leadership Listening skills Multi-tasking Negotiation Organization Planning Problem solving Process improvement Project management Quality awareness Quantitative analysis Reliability/ responsibility Research skills Self-management / self-learning Sensitivity / intuition Strategic thinking Teamwork Technical / technology skills Tenacity Time management Writing

(*) Initiative (also described as energy or drive) is listed by some recruiting experts as the universal trait of success.

50 Common Competencies in Demand by Employers

Although this list covers many critical competencies identified by employers today, it is by no means exhaustive. If you were to pare the list to just the 10 most commonly-sought competencies, you might find these: 1) Analytical skills 2) Communication skills (verbal / written / interpersonal) 3) Flexibility / adaptability 4) Initiative / drive / energy 5) Leadership skills 6) Planning skills 7) Problem-solving skills 8) Teamwork skills 9) Technical / technology skills 10) Time management skills

NEW YORK TIMES SURVEY OF DESIRED SKILLS Beta Research Corporation, on behalf of the New York Times Job Market, interviewed 250 hiring managers in the New York metropolis area to learn which skills were most in demand. They said: ability to work in a team environment (89%) ability to learn quickly (84%) presentation/ verbal communications (76%) multi-tasking (73%) time management (69%)

Skills most in demand for management candidates: leadership (67%) strategic thinking (56%) Skills most in demand for administration candidates: technical (25%) analytical (24%) Skills most in demand for entry-level positions: ability to learn quickly (32%) Further, employers said they were willing to pay more money to candidates who have proficiency in the following: multi-tasking (65%) can quickly learn on the job (64%) p[possess strategic thinking abilities (61%)

50 Common Competencies in Demand by Employers