If you’re a mother, a future mother, or have a motherly figure, you are probably aware that parenting is a full-time job. Many maternal characteristics can be applied in the workplace. Here are four transferable parenting skills that can help with your job interview, resume, and daily workflow. (more…)
Many factors must be considered when determining the best candidate for a particular role. Hiring managers consider applicants’ hard skills, such as work experience and education. However, employers are just as interested, if not more, in soft skills. (more…)
When it comes to interviews, job applicants usually focus on hard skills, defined by Investopedia as “learned abilities acquired and enhanced through practice, repetition, and education.” Skills such as knowing how to use a certain program, experience working in a certain industry, or being familiar with a certain product or service.
However, employers are just as interested, if not more, in soft skills, defined as “character traits and interpersonal skills that characterize a person’s relationship with other people.” When looking for hireable applicants, decision-makers often look for certain soft skills in their applicants. Specifically, they look for a good combination of willingness to learn, dependability, and communication skills. Here’s how to show you have these abilities in your next interview. (more…)
Although generally peaceful, the workplace can sometimes be a scary place, with looming deadlines, frustrated clients, and surprise project attacks lurking behind every corner. Your to-do list can seem overwhelming. Who could possibly save us from these sundry evils of working life? Our incredible Movin’ On Up readers, of course! At the end of February we asked you what your workplace superpowers were. Here’s how you responded:
Daringly Dependable flew into first with 27.72% of the vote, with Heroically Hardworking teleporting in second at 24.75%, and Multitask Mastermind speeding past in third with 21.78%.
Commander of Communication was zapped at 8.91%, while Organization Overlord and Killer Conversationalist met their match at 6.93%.
Other responses included Flexible Gap Filler and Eagle Eye. One dastardly villain thought to respond with Sleeping on the Job — most certainly a foe disguised as a faithful reader.
Even with all of these incredible superpowers, there are still going to be days where it’s tough to be a crusader of office justice. But when you’re lost and feeling down, remember that you’re part of a team. And teamwork is the most powerful superpower of all.
Any more workplace superpowers you want us to know about? Let us know in the comments below!
Express Employment Professionals recently teamed up with the School of Media and Strategic Communications at Oklahoma State University (OSU) in Stillwater, OK, to conduct research about Millennials and their attitudes toward the American Dream. Also known as “Gen Y,” Millennials were born between 1979 and 1995 and currently make up 30% of the population. As they enter the workforce and establish career paths, it’s important to understand the motives and desires behind this robust generation. To help you get to know “Gen Y,” Movin’ On Up is bringing you an eight-week series titled “Millennial Monday.”
In this week’s installment of “Millennial Monday,” Express and OSU students surveyed Millennials, the majority of whom are working full or part time, to examine whether or not there is a soft skills gap between generations.
Generations in the Workforce
There’s no denying that the current workplace features multiple generations of employers and employees. As the Baby Boomer generation looks toward retirement, Generation Xers continue on their career paths, and Millennials enter the workforce, many different age groups are brought together. In fact, according to our survey, the majority of Millennials (57%) work with people outside of their age group.
Communication Among Generations
When asked how they best communicate with older generations, Millennials responded:
The Importance of Soft Skills
When it comes to the most important business etiquette and expectations in the workplace, Millennials and Non-Millennials tend to disagree. For Millennials, the top three skills are:
For Non-Millennials, however, the top three skills are:
While Millennials ranked “mature vocabulary” fifth out of six skills, Non-Millennials ranked it third. Likewise, “respect of authority” was number one for Millennials, but fifth for Non-Millennials.
More Workplace Skills
Other soft skills evaluated in the study include eye contact, professional attire, and the ability to seek out creative inspiration. Of the Millennial respondents, 93% feel comfortable with eye contact, and the majority (70%) would prefer to wear business casual attire in the workplace. The top five sources for Millennial’s creative inspiration are:
What skills do you think your generation has to offer the workforce? What skills do you think your generation lacks? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Keep checking Movin’ On Up every Monday for more insight on this important generation.
Miss a week? Click the links below to check out previous topics in our series.
Movin’ On Up is brought to you by Express Employment Professionals.
In a recent survey from Express Employment Professionals, employers shared which soft and hard skills are the most important for a job applicant to possess.
When asked, “What are the five most important soft skills an applicant should have,” respondents answered:
When asked, “What are the three most important hard skills an applicant should have,” respondents answered:
The fact that employers find experience important when it comes to picking a job candidate isn’t too surprising, but did you know that reliability mattered so much to potential employers? Dependability, punctuality, and trustworthiness are important skills you should possess if you want to stand out from the competition and land the job.
Demonstrate Your Dependability
Because resumes and cover letters are important parts of your job search process, make sure your resume illustrates your dependability as much as possible. If you worked at the same place for a long time, put that on your resume. And, use words like consistent, diligent, reliable, and persistent to show off your skills.
To get started on the right foot, make sure you show up to your interview on time. When you’re in an interview, give examples of times you went above and beyond your job duties to help someone else, and think of times when people relied on you.
How do you show your dependability in the workplace or in your job search? Let us know in the comments section below.
Movin’ On Up is brought to you by Express Employment Professionals.
Finding the right person for the job is a task employers often struggle with. In addition to experience and education, top candidates must also possess certain skills that are right for the job. You may be familiar with important hard skills like a college degree or certification, but how often do you assess and improve your soft skills like communication, teamwork, and time management?
If “not often” is your answer, you may want to reconsider your job search tactics. In fact, in a recent study from Express Employment Professionals, a group of leaders shared the soft skills that society is missing when it comes to preparing the next generation for the workplace.
“We hear all the time from businesses that they’re looking for workers who are punctual, respectful, properly dressed, and dedicated. Employers prize these soft skills, but we constantly hear from employers that too many potential workers lack these attributes,” said Bob Funk, CEO of Express. “Soft skills are vital and there are things we can all do to help develop them.”
The study revealed that the skills employers are looking for include people skills, respect, modesty, humility, self-sufficiency, gratitude, and more. While these skills may come naturally to some, the study suggests there are actions job seekers can take to learn these skills and teach them to others.
To better understand the soft skills employers are looking for, check out the study’s list of ten actions you can take to help prepare those who are about to enter the workforce.
“The results show what everyone in society can do to send signals, especially to young people, so they develop strong soft skills that will guide them in life – and help them get job offers,” Bob Funk said.
What do you think society can do to better prepare workers to be prime job candidates? Share with us in the comment section below!
Movin’ On Up is brought to you by Express Employment Professionals.
