The Different Personal Skills and Attributes Valued by Employers

Skills and Attributes valued by employers

This blog is generally aimed at the audience of IT students who are just about to enter the world of work specifically in the IT industry. The guide to learning about the skills and attributes you should expect to have and the ones that your employer will expect you to have!

Attributes:

Having the right attributes in the workplace will ensure that you meet the needs of your employer and your co-worker whether it being having a positive attitude or working well independently.

Now, let's start by listing some of those attributes for you to have a read through.

Verbal Communication & Confidence:

Communication works in two ways, you will need to be able to project your voice in a confident and authoritative manner while also being a great listener to understand and comment on what other people in your team or around you in the workplace are saying. For example, you could be tasked to give a presentation in front of a group of people in which you would have to use a well structured form of body language (I.e. Standing up straight with your shoulders back, not hunched) A good use of hand gestures to emphasise what you are saying and a clear & controlled voice that you are able to project so others can listen and clearly understand what is being said. 

A big factor that can prevent people communicating efficiently could be that they lack confidence. Confidence comes naturally to many people and your employer may not always expect you to have it right away; but would definitely expect you to acquire it over time, improving as you go. 

For employers specifically in the IT Technical Support industry, communication is extremely important. For example you would be expected to be confident, clear, and have the ability to convey empathy, sympathy and various other wide varieties of emotions and techniques to suit all types of users that you could potentially be communicating with. Having these skills will mean that you can speak to different people on different levels without lacking confidence or specific skills considering 90% of your job as a support operator involves communication. 

Next on the list would be:

Time Management and Organisation:

First of all, being able to manage your time sensibly would mean that you can work to complete deadlines in a well planned manner, making team members and your boss very happy. With organisation you should try and utilise your resources in a way that allows you to exercise their full effectiveness when working with deadlines. For example, if you are collecting a lot of research you could organise them in a way that allows for you to use that research later on without fail. You could save the research, back it up etc. An organised employee will mean that the company can run efficiently and smoothly and not waste time or money.

The IT industry involves the need for projects, especially in the computer science software sector where programmers would need to plan ahead and keep themselves organised to complete parts of a project before ghost deadlines. This ensures that they can prepare a stable version of that software before it's release date, if the release date is delayed then customers and businesses who may urgently need this type of software (If they have requested it for a specific purpose) could actually lose out on money and customers. 

Team Leading, Teamwork & Independence:

Both of these attributes are generally sought after because working with different sets of tasks requires different needs, the task at hand could require a full team or it could just require yourself.

If you can show that you are able to work by yourself to a high standard with little or no help and not becoming reliant on a team or co-worker then you would be showing initiative. Initiative is the key to showing off that you don't need to be told what to do.

Team leading means that you are very effective at handing out tasks and making sure everyone is doing what they are supposed to be doing. Being a team leader also means that you will be responsible for the direction of a project and how it all comes together at the end. You would also be able to help out if people in your group are struggling, you could set them on the right path and direction to succeed. You practically direct the group toward success.

Working in a team means that you have to be able to ensure that every task you have is completed to it's deadline so that the final iteration of what you are working on is effectively completed to a very high standard. You would need to apply organisational and time management skills to plan ahead for ghost deadlines and final deadlines. Each member of the team would have to do this so that no one falls behind and drags the project down with them.

The programming industry also ties in with teamwork in which different teams of the developing project will need to handle different aspects of what needs to be developed. Each team member would need to pull their own weight and ensure that they contribute correctly and efficiently to ensure that the code can be added to the final project and meet the demand of the customer or business.

Being Friendly, Motivated and Positive:

Friendly and positive attitudes are some of the most important attributes that you should hold. Having these will generally allow others to feel better and to allow them to work in an environment in which they feel comfortable to actually produce good work. If you were insulting, angry and negative then teamwork would seriously be reduced because of others not liking you, everyone's moral or mood could change slowing down work production since negativity from yourself can cause negativity in others. Finally, being motivated is one of the most important as if you are not motivated then you could be procrastinating about completing work or just create sloppy, unfinished work that is not to the standard it should be. You need to make sure to train yourself to be motivated and not lazy. Being lazy will eventually lose you your job and will slow down the work productivity of the company.

It's not just the IT industry that ties in with being positive and motivated, it's literally every industry that needs them because they can be applied to every work situation to ensure that the people around you are working in a good atmosphere where they feel positive and comfortable.

Skills:

When looking at skills you should ask yourself: "Do I have the correct skills for the job that I am applying for?"

Having the correct skills may be an obvious detail to understand but it is still essential that you know what you are capable of and if you will be able to perform to standard in the work place.

For example, if you were entering a job in the IT industry and the job requirements for Software Engineering were as following: Java/C++ Programming knowledge, undergraduate degree in Computer Science etc, then not meeting the requirements that have been set out makes it very unlikely that the employer will choose you. You should always present your skills and qualifications clearly for the employer to see and you should also be able to back them up by demonstrating the subject specific knowledge toward the job you are going for.

From reading this blog post you should now have a considerably detailed insight into what employers in the world of the IT industry and various other industries are looking for. If you apply what you have learnt, you are sure to succeed!