Skills Employers Want Their Candidates To Have In 2023

Knowing what qualifications you need to get your dream career is only half the battle, you will also need to know what skills graduate employers look for beyond your qualifications.

So what skills do graduate employers look for?

In this article, we look at the different skills graduate recruiters want you to demonstrate, from soft skills to more technical to help you secure your dream job –

Ability to work in a team

A fresh graduate needs to prove to the employer that he/she is a team player. It also involves establishing a positive working relationship that helps other workers to achieve their goals and business strategic objectives.

Problem-solving

An employer expects fresh graduates to use analytical and logical approaches as well as the imagination, to make sense of a situation and come up with an intelligent solution. In fact, the best problem solvers actively anticipate potential future problems and act to prevent them or to mitigate their effects.

Oral or written communication

Articulate thoughts and ideas clearly and effectively in written and oral forms to persons inside and outside of the organization. Public speaking skills; ability to express ideas to others; and write/edit memos, letters, and complex technical reports clearly and effectively.

Leadership

Although fresh graduates cannot be skilled managers straight away, they should be able to demonstrate their potential to motivate other colleagues in the workplace. It also involves delegating and assigning tasks well, leading by example, and setting achievable goals and deadlines.

Confidence and Motivation

The employer wants fresh graduates to believe in themselves without being arrogant. It is having confidence in other workers and the organization you work for. Working life poses numerous challenges and self-motivation is key in dealing with such challenges. Employers will only go for candidates who have the admirable mental energy and who believe in the beauty of the company’s vision.

Digital technology

The employer wants fresh graduates to leverage existing digital technologies ethically and efficiently to solve problems, complete tasks, and accomplish goals. Demonstrate effective adaptability to new and emerging technologies.

Adaptability

Employers usually want fresh graduates to have adaptability skills. Being adaptable means being a perpetual optimist and exhibiting extraordinary resilience. Adaptability skills can be possessed both in both attitude and action, and one can’t exist without the other.

Interpersonal skills

An employer expects fresh graduates to have good interpersonal skills. Strong interpersonal skills are a key indicator of success in a working environment, as benefits include the ability to cooperate with teammates to solve difficult problems, as well as simply enhancing your popularity around the office.On the other hand, lacking them might lead to conflicts with colleagues or management and cause others to see the fresh graduate as a hindrance to getting the job done.

Commercial Awareness

An employer expects fresh graduates to have detailed knowhow of how the industry operates and what makes it run. It involves demonstrating that you know what the organization aims to accomplish through its services and products as well as how it can gain a competitive advantage.

Fast learner

A new employee is often supervised, the good one will learn quickly without asking their supervisor about the smallest insignificant things.Such employees are a great catch. They don’t slow down the working process, learn things fast, and do their best to try and solve the problems on their own first before turning for help.

Innovative

An employer expects fresh graduates to be creative and innovative to get a fresh look at how the company can develop and grow. And the ability to offer such a look is often valued a lot. Creativity and innovation are the things that are the easiest to spot.

Assertiveness

A recruiter would want an employee to be very assertive. Assertiveness is perhaps one of the hardest skills that you will need to acquire during your career. Essentially, it means that you should be able to convey what you are saying confidently while standing up for the rights of yourself or others in a calm and positive manner.