Friday, July 27, 2012

6 Abilities that you need to have to get employed


There are a lot of articles out in cyberspace that are talking about the skills that employers want.  I wanted to discuss the abilities that employers want and nearly demand.  Employers spend a lot of money to hire someone and it costs them even more to have to fire them, but if all  job seekers can prove they have these abilities the job search could end after just a couple of interviews.

1.      Do you have Reliability?  Are you or have you been a reliable employee?  Reliability means trustworthy and able to depend on.  A reliable employee shows up on time if not early, does what they say they are going to do and is trustworthy enough to not have the employer stand over and watch them work.  I have found many job leads that require reliable transportation.  This means will get you to work on time.  Are there any Barriers to your reliability?  Everyone loves kids but in all honesty they can be a barrier to reliability because if they get sick the employee will have to miss work.  Have a backup plan to make sure you succeed.
2.      Do you have Accountability?  People do make mistakes and are often times ready to learn from them, but a person who is accountable will take the consequences that are deemed necessary.  Someone with accountability will answer for any decision made.  If you have made mistakes in the past learn from them and make sure you do not make them again.  Tell the interviewer the things you have done to overcome this issue.
3.      Do you have Responsibility?  Are you a responsible person?  Many times at an interview a person will answer that their strengths involve being a responsible person.  What does that mean to the employer?  Are you holding this work ethic and making sure the tasks that have been provided for you to accomplish are being accomplished?  Responsibility is a key thing that employers are looking for because if you cannot fulfill the duties of the job then why should they hire you?
4.      Do you have Adaptability?  A person who is adaptable is one who would never say “that is not in my job description” or “that is not my job”.  To be adaptable a person has to be willing to take on some additional tasks, or learn some new things to help the company.  I hear all the time that a person is adaptable but how do you prove that at an interview? Easy. Tell of a time that you were asked to do something that you thought “was not in your job duties”, but you willingly did it anyway  
5.      Do you have Flexibility? Flexibility is about an employee and an employer making changes to when, where and how a person will work to better meet individual and business needs. So many times a person will go into an interview with the “I can only work this schedule” attitude.  Or they do not show that they can be flexible to make sure the job is done and done right.  Being flexible means that if you are working on one thing, but another comes up that needs your attention that you can be flexible and change gears.
6.      Do you have Dependability?  We depend on things daily.  We depend on our car to start, our power to remain on, we depend on friends, family and employers.  How can you prove you are dependable to an employer? Dependability says I will show up on time, or better yet, early, I will do my job to the best of my ability, I will hold the proper workplace ethics and do what is asked of me.  Dependability shows that you are the “go to person when something needs to be done.
If you have these abilities and can bring examples of the skills to an interview I think your chances of employment increase.  Remember everyone has skills but how many people have abilities. 

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