Business Skills Every Entry Level Candidate Must Have

Getting a job today is beyond just a college degree. There are certain business skills recruiters look out for when they desire to bring entry level candidates on board their team. To stand out as a candidate, you must possess and cultivate these essential skills employers are looking for. An employer’s assessment of your capability is based on these skills because they have judged that you actually need these skills to perform excellently on the job.

As long as your college degree gets you through the door, the recruiter’s primary concern are your skills. What can you do? What value can you bring to the table than the next candidate? The recruiter will always go for the candidate who is versatile in skills than the candidate with just a good certificate without the required skills. Cultivating certain business skills does not only enhance your appeal to employers but also increases your chances of climbing up the ladder when you are looking to get a promotion.

So, what are the business skills you must possess as an entry level candidate?

COMMUNICATIONS SKILLS

This transcends interpersonal communication; it has to do with your ability to understand your audience and tailoring your message to trigger the kind of feedback you want to get from them. Irrespective of the size of your audience, communicating your message clearly is highly important. You must be able to express yourself concisely especially during presentations and when phrasing important questions to potential clients. Communication skills also involves being able to write business emails that carries the message and call to action that your company intends to convey.  

TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS

In order to appeal to employers, you must have the ability to prioritise task in their order of importance. It is essential you have the capacity to meet up with several deadlines while structuring your task according to relevance. Learn to maximize productivity by doing more within a short period of time because employers are likely to select a candidate who has the ability to get more quality work done within a short period of time.

PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS

Recruiters are keen on getting candidates who are always capable of stepping up with a solution to any challenge that might arise during work. Problem solving has to do with applying logic to analyse difficult situations and creating solutions to these challenges. Develop the habit of assessing situations and coming up with potential solution. Practise brainstorming on potential solutions and come up with the most appropriate solution that suitably solves the problem.

ENTERPRENEURIAL SKILLS

Employers are always on a look out for candidates with entrepreneurial skills who have the capacity to identify and pursue potential business opportunities. It’s essential you are commercially aware, in order to spot unexploited gaps in your industry that are profitable to your employer. Entrepreneurial skills can also be exhibited through your ability to work independently with little or no supervision, creatively thinking and coming up with ideas that are capable of placing your employers brand a step ahead of the competition.

RESEARCH SKILLS 

Recruiters value candidates who can compete with the best in terms of knowledge and expertise. To be such a candidate you must continually conduct research in order to grow your knowledge. You must keep up to date with changes happening in your industry, by participating in industry social media groups and forums, listening to industry podcast, subscribe to related industry journals, read books online and attend industry conferences.

These are not all the skills you need to possess as an entry level candidate in order to succeed, but you definitely need to have all of the above to increase your chances of landing that new job.