Five in-demand non-technical skills for early career professionals
The right qualifications are important but insufficient for getting either a good job or a promotion. Here are five in-demand non-technical skills that help early career professionals to get noticed.
Critical thinking
Critical thinking is the skill of being able to evaluate information, ideas, and instructions from colleagues or your line manager in order to make sensible decisions. It involves asking questions such as ‘What’s the best way to do this?’ as well as ‘Is this the right thing to do in the first place?’
For instance, imagine your manager sends you an email telling you to order $1,000 of food for a management meeting later. Some employees might just accept the instruction at face value and take action as directed. However, using critical thinking might involve you asking yourself ‘Does this sound reasonable?’ If, for example, you know that only eight people will be attending the meeting, then you would reasonably wonder if your manager had made a mistake when typing the email.
You might also ask ‘What’s the best food to order for the event?’. You might reason that it is a work meeting rather than a social event. A few moments of critical thinking might lead you to arrange food that can be eaten relatively quickly or perhaps to organise a caterer so that the managers can focus on their work.
Critical thinking also enables you to check the credibility of information that you encounter. For instance, consider that you come across an online article saying that the market for your company’s products could be worth €1 billion. Again, rather than simply accepting the figure, you might critique it by considering questions such as ‘How reliable is this source?’ and ‘What other sources of evidence can I find?’.
Ultimately, thinking critically allows professionals to avoid making unfounded assumptions and big mistakes. It is therefore unsurprising that critical thinking often tops league tables of skills requested by employers.
Delivering solutions
I have often heard managers complain that inexperienced hires too often identify problems rather than solutions. For example, suppose you spot that the drinking water machine in the office is broken. By simply telling your manager about the fault, you are essentially asking your manager to fix it for you. You create more work for your manager. However, if you evaluate the issue and can suggest a potential remedy to the issue (eg phoning the manufacturer of the water machine to get advice), you reduce the workload for your manager.
Simply spotting problems is easy – even very young children can point out things they are unhappy with. However, evaluating a problem and coming up with at least one or even several options for dealing with it shows that you are an adult who can do more than simply complain about issues at work.
So, the next time you discover a problem, think before speaking up about it. If it is an easy fix, consider taking action yourself. If it is more complicated, try to come up with several options for dealing with it so that your manager sees you as a problem solver rather than someone who only complains about things.
Teamwork and collaboration
During job interviews, employers often ask candidates questions such as ‘Can you tell me about a time you made a significant contribution to a team?’. In asking this question, employers are not interested in whether you achieved your personal goals or the objectives set for you by your manager; instead, they want to know what actions you have taken to help others in your team or department.
One way to contribute to your team would be to offer your teammates help or advice when they face difficulties in their work. If you spot that someone is doing something that is clearly wrong or taking longer than it should, then ask if you can help. However, make sure to do so in a sensitive manner as you never want to be perceived as an arrogant know-it-all.
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Another way to contribute to your team is by offering teammates emotional support when they seem troubled. Look out for when colleagues are angry, dejected, or anxious as a result of either issues at work or in their personal lives. In such situations, offering them kind words and the opportunity for them to talk about how they feel may help them.
However, teamwork and collaboration can also involve projects in which you work with multiple people at once. In these situations, you want to not only listen to others’ ideas but speak up to make sure that your ideas are taken on board, too.
Delivering customer service
When you visit a restaurant, how do you like to be treated as a customer? Would you be happy if your server merely takes your order and brings you your food – but avoids eye contact, appears unhappy, and does not even say ‘hello’?
Some waitstaff believe that their job only involves taking orders and delivering food to customers. Similarly, some inexperienced professionals believe that their work only involves handling data and completing tasks.
However, employers want employees who can treat customers with respect, warmth, and a personalised approach. So, greet your customers warmly and get to know them as human beings. Listen to them carefully and demonstrate active listening, eg by paraphrasing – repeating back – the important parts of what they say.
More broadly, think about how you can make interactions pleasant for your customers. Above all, remember that these human touches are what help to distinguish you from an AI – and will help you to remain employable and in-demand.
Emotional resilience and self-motivation
Employers are not keen on employees who exhibit emotional outbursts, eg appearing sad, anxious, irritable or even outright angry. In reality, employees often do experience negative emotions when they experience setbacks or challenges. However, in-demand employees – the kind of professionals who get promoted quickly – possess emotional resilience or the ability to spot negative emotions when they occur and deal with them effectively.
One proven psychological technique for managing your emotions is simply to name them. When you feel emotional, notice what you are feeling and then say to yourself the phrase ‘I am experiencing the emotion of…’ – and then finish the sentence with ’embarrassment’, ‘anxiety’ or whatever else you feel.
Being aware of your emotions is an important first step to then deciding how best to deal with them. For example, you might then decide to take a break to go for a walk until you feel less angry; or get in touch with a friend to seek consolation that will help you to feel better.
Remember that your emotions are not irrelevant. Being emotionally resilient and self-motivated is perhaps even more important a job skill than being knowledgeable about the technical aspects of your job.
Author: Dr Rob Yeung is a Chartered Psychologist and coach at consulting firm Talentspace
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This article was first published in Student Accountant in August 2023 | Get the SA app now