Skills Required To Excel In Your Career

Are you wondering what skills are desired by employers or what it takes to stand-out amongst your colleagues? Are you an ‘A’ Player? How would you rate yourself in the following skills? Better yet, how would your employer rate you?

• Competence or Technical Ability
• Reliability
• Communication
• Flexibility or Adaptation
• Team Dynamics
• Initiative or Attitude
• Professionalism
• Productivity

The skill areas listed above are used by employers to rate employees during reviews and to access their value to an organization.  Many executives identify current and potential employees based on their assessment of these skills. It helps them make decisions with retention, hiring, and firing. Do you agree with the following statements?

• ‘A’ Players – Less than 15% of the workforce. These people have a proven track record to excel in each of the skill areas mentioned above. They are highly desired by employers, paid well, and have a history of career progression.
• ‘B’ Players – Consist of 60% of the workforce. These people are average performers. They are desired by employers because they are reliable and content, but maintain average pay for performance. In addition, they have little career progression.
• ‘C’ Players – Consist of 20% of the workforce. They do just enough to get by and are always at risk of losing their job.   
• ‘D’ Players – Approximately 5% of the workforce are ’D’ Players. They are not very employable and are consistently job hopping.

In the next several posts we will dive into each skill area. If you are honest in a self assessment, you will be able to identify areas to work on and ultimately grow in your career. Furthermore, these are great topics to feature on a resume and talk about in an interview. Stay tuned…