8 Personality Traits, Values, and Soft Skills That Employers Are Looking For

Beyond your standard interview questions, in the subtlety of your body language and woven into your ‘rehearsed’ interview question responses, hiring managers are looking for intangible qualifications that you possess. These are your Personality Traits, Values, and Soft Skills - ‘extras’ that you bring to a position / company.

• The college degrees or certifications may be - Essential
• Possessing a predetermined level of qualifications - Required
• Ability to do the Job - Critical

 
However, in today’s extremely competitive workforce and job search environment, there is a new level of qualifications that candidates may need to possess in order to ‘get the job’.  
 
With employee turnover at an all-time high, according to an article in Business Journal, “Millennials: The Job-Hopping Generation” - Millennials are the most likely generation to switch jobs; 6 in 10 millennials are open to new job opportunities, and Millennials are the least engaged generation in the workplace. Whether that is true or not, employers now vet candidates longer and more thoroughly - think - [skype, video, and 2-4 layers of interviewing], and have begun to place more value on traits that are not always obvious on your fantastic resume.
 
Here are 8 Personality Traits, Values, and Soft Skills that employers may be taking into consideration
 when looking for the perfect employee.

1. A POSITIVE ATTITUDE: Most people want to work with other team members who have a positive attitude. As I often tell clients, genuine enthusiasm and an energetic personality can ‘win-out’ over being completely qualified. It is important element within employee/team motivation to remain positive when faced with challenges.

 

1. PROFESSIONALISM: Professionalism is the ability of an employee to ‘be professional’ [remain calm, respectful, and keep their verbal / physical composure], within a variety of diverse, complex and/or stressful situations. Professionalism extends to appropriate appearance/dress for the position. Professionals complete high-quality work on time.

 

1. STRONG WORK ETHIC: Showing up on time, putting in a full day’s work, completing projects on time, going above and beyond when necessary, and valuing your contribution to an organization are all examples of a strong work ethic.

 

1. CONFIDENCE [Not arrogance]: Being knowledgeable to the point of being able to excel in your position brings confidence in your own ability. Employers need employees that they can depend on to successfully complete projects, run programs, and step in for colleagues. Taking time to learn what you don’t know builds confidence.

 

1. DEPENDABLE & RELIABLE: Employers do not have time to ‘baby-sit’ employees, so finding candidates that are prompt, and that they can rely on is often essential to their organization. Communicating challenges keeping supervisors up to date on progress/deadlines demonstrates reliability and builds trust.

 

1. FLEXIBLE & ADAPTABLE: Work environments often evolve with constant change - new processes, policies, and technology. Being able to bend with change and overcome challenges is an asset to every organization. Adaptability extends to working with culturally diverse co-workers/customers and their personalities.

 

1. INTEGRITY & HONESTY: Doing the right thing - even when no one is looking - is something that companies have to rely on from their employees. Being an honest person with high integrity enables organizations to grow organically; build trust in their workplace and with their clients.

 

1. SELF-MOTIVATED & SELF-DIRECTED: Back to the baby-sitting reference, employers need employees that cultivate ways to develop their own drive for success within the organization and for the organization. Self-motivated - self-directed employees enable busy supervisors to focus on their work, while providing little direction.  Being self-motivated enables the employee to feel accomplished, while being self-directed will demonstrate initiative to the employer.