Important Traits for Today's Jobs

Important Traits For Today's Jobs
For the Fortune 500 companies, degrees from top educational institutions used to be a prime consideration in selecting first-time job hires. Though educational status is still important, what drives a hiring decision today is quite different from perhaps a decade ago. With more team-based workplace cultures in place and fewer staff members available to get the work done, organizations are looking for a different kind of person, one who is flexible and adaptable.

The following factors are often cited by recruiters as being important in gauging a job candidate's adaptability and flexibility.

Emotional Intelligence
Companies are seeking people who are "corporate ready," meaning job seekers who have more than high IQ's and good grades. They want what some experts call emotional intelligence (EQ). "We used to call it common sense," says Vicki Pendelton Brandon, managing director of Inroads, a nonprofit organization that places many minority interns in professional jobs.

Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence, defines EQ as the power to not only control emotions, but also to perceive them.  EQ and self-motivation are the dimensions of emotional intelligence.

"The old saying 'business problems are people problems' rings true," says Richard Koonce, author of Career Power! 12 Winning Habits to Get You From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be.  "People who have difficulty in the work place usually lack self-awareness. You need to know how you are perceived. Be confident, yet not condescending. How you come across to others is particularly important nowadays because work is much more team-based."

Brandon agrees. "Understanding and appreciating how people do things differently seems like a small thing," she says. "But the employees who have this skill are far more productive."

To illustrate to recruiters that you are sensitive to the need for EQ skills, talk about self-assessment instruments that you may have taken, such as the Myers-Briggs personality assessment. Discuss what insights you have gained about yourself from such activitie (or even from books that you have read related to the subject) and talk about how it helps you review others.

Volunteer Work
One way Brandon assesses candidates is by looking at how they have "stretched" themselves and by discussing experiences where they have taken risks and gone outside their protective environments. This often means going outside of the college campus to volunteer in the community.

Career strategist Marilyn Moats Kennedy agrees that employers are interested in individuals' community service experiences. She says job candidates should be prepared to answer a question like: "Which would you chose between: community service or continuing education that offered job-related skills?"

According to Kennedy, "Many [recruiters] expect employees to be informal PR reps for the organization." A reasonable answer might be that you believe community service builds skills. A second response might be to say that you've always combined the two. The worst response is to appear indifferent to either.

Computer Skills
Being computer literate is a must no matter what field you are seeking to enter, says Brandon. "If it has not been required of you through formal education, enroll yourself in some computer courses," she says. "You don't have to be an expert, but you have to be comfortable with today's technology."

In an interview, don't be surprised if you are asked, "What's your favorite word processing program?" Or, "How do you rank the word processing programs?"

"It's so much more polite than asking if the candidate knows one program or the other," says Kennedy's Career Strategist newsletter. "If you've never used any of the current word processing programs, you must at least check out the computer guru magazines to see how they rate them. Better yet, talk to people who work with them and get their reasons for preferences," she says.

Overall, expect more computer-related interview questions. Some recruiters will ask you when you started using a computer and if you have equipment at home, reports Kennedy. "It's a negative if you don't own one because it indicates you don't see their productivity-enhancing value," she says. "Or worse, you're not prepared to work at home."

The True Job
Layoffs will remain a corporate trend. Since 1989, more than three million layoffs have occurred, according to the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. But don't despair; most companies will continue to hire "new blood." Companies want fresh talent because they bring new ideas and perspectives to the tables, says Brandon.

But once you are hired, the potential threat may be stunted advancement because there are fewer high-level positions. "A senior manager in government once complained to me that people in their 20's wanted to move upward and onward no matter how they do their jobs," says Koonce. "Not wanting too much too soon, working hard and knowing who your customers are in work situations are how you enhance job stability and long-term employment."