The first day you pack a briefcase
and head off to a professional job interview may seem far away,
but the time to build strong skills and valuable habits is now.
Colleges are full of opportunities to develop the qualities
most important to employers.
10 Key Qualities
- Writing Skills
- Speaking Skills
- Teamwork Skills
- Problem Solving Skills
- Initiative
- Cool under Pressure
- Attention to Detail
- Time Management
- Honesty
- Love of Learning
Writing Skills
If you dread essays and other writing assignments, consider
this: in a recent survey of employers, communication topped
the list of skills they look for most. By doing your best on
every research paper and lab report you write, you're preparing
yourself for a career.
Health professionals keep patient charts, researchers and artists
depend on the money they collect by writing grant applications,
software engineers write technical specifications, and nearly
everyone writes email to people inside and outside their organization.
And before you even get the chance to interview, you'll need
to represent yourself in cover letters and resumes.
Speaking Skills
Next time you're assigned a class presentation, think twice
before dismissing it as an unimportant part of your education.
Employers look for speaking skills in job hopefuls and it's
never too soon to practice good eye contact and other public
speaking techniques.
Teamwork Skills
How many times a week does your class count off and break into
small groups to tackle a challenge? You practice voicing your
opinions, listening and responding to others, and reaching compromises.
By the time you leave high College, you can be an expert in
teamwork, an increasingly important skill in today's workplace.
Problem Solving Skills
Problem solving goes far beyond your algebra textbook. Every
College assignment is an opportunity to weigh all possible solutions
carefully and select the one you think best. As a working professional,
you'll keep solving problems, whether computer programming bugs
or budget shortfalls.
Initiative
Every time you raise your hand in class, every time you choose
your own research topic, every time you interpret a piece of
literature, you take initiative. And employers value can-do
professionals who come up with new ideas and chart their own
course through projects.
Cool under Pressure
Who hasn't made the argument that testing isn't a real-life
situation? It's not like your future boss is going to ask you
to translate a Spanish passage without a dictionary in under
twenty minutes. But try thinking of the pressure of testing
as practice for the work world's own explosive situations. You
could someday find yourself meeting tight deadlines, speaking
with irate customers, holding a scalpel, or handling dangerous
chemicals.
Attention to Detail
When you double-check your calculations for a math problem,
make sure you're using the correct homonym in an essay, or cite
sources carefully in a research paper, you're paying close attention
to detail. That habit will come in handy in any workplace, whether
you maintain a database, keep a log of the hours you spend with
clients, or simply write emails.
Time Management
How many classes do you attend each day? How many homework
assignments do you tackle each night? And what about sports
practice, play rehearsal, and other extracurricular?
You have the chance to be a real pro when it comes to juggling
the many demands on your time -- and that's a good thing since
most jobs require multitasking. Examples of on-the-job juggling
feats include taking care of current clients while attracting
new ones, responding to emails while working on a major presentation,
and ordering tomorrow's produce while planning next week's menu.
Honesty
Employers need to know that they can trust you with everything
from credit cards to trade secrets. But how can you work at
honesty? Every day that you do your own homework and resist
the temptation to cheat on exams, you exercise your integrity
muscle.
Love of Learning
Last but not least, a love of learning will see you through
the initial weeks of a new job. It will also serve you well
as you advance in your working life, taking on new projects,
building expertise, and branching into new areas of interest.
While your grandparents may have worked for the same company
their entire lives, today's workforce is mobile, with most people
changing careers, not just jobs, throughout their lifetime. |