Top ten skills

   Even if you feel you’re up against a wall having left graduate job hunting and career plans a little late, covering the basics is the best way to boost your confidence and get back on track.

   Graduate employers place a lot of emphasis on finding candidates with the right skills and competencies for their organisations. Depending on the career sector and profession you choose to work in, there could be very specific skills, abilities and knowledge needed to do the job. However, complementing these are general competences and  behaviors  that are essential for successful working. These are often overlooked by candidates, but they are the things recruitment professionals want to see evidence of.

The top ten skills graduate recruiters want

1. Commercial awareness (or business acumen): This is about knowing how a business or industry works and what makes a company tick. Showing that you have an understanding of what the organisation wants to achieve through its products and services, and how it competes in its marketplace.

• How to show employers your commercial awareness

2. Communication: This covers verbal and written communication, and listening. It's about being clear, concise and focused; being able to tailor your message for the audience and listening to the views of others.

• How to impress graduate recruiters with your communication skills

3. Teamwork: You'll need to prove that you're a team player but also have the ability to manage and delegate to others and take on responsibility. It's about building positive working relationships that help everyone to achieve positive goals and business objectives.

• How to use your teamwork skills to get a graduate job

4. Negotiation and persuasion: This is about being able to put forward your way, but also being able to understand where the other person is coming from so that you can both get what you want or need and feel positive about it.

5. Problem solving: You need to display an ability to take a logical and analytical approach to solving problems and resolving issues. It's also good to show that you can approach problems from different angles.

• How to show employers your problem solving skills

6. Leadership: You may not be a manager straight away, but graduates need to show potential to motivate teams and other colleagues that may work for them. It's about assigning and delegating tasks well, setting deadlines and leading by good example.

• How to show your leadership potential in job applications

7. Organisation: This is about showing that you can  prioritize, work efficiently and productively, and manage your time well. It's also good to be able to show employers how you decide what is important to focus on and get done, and how you go about meeting deadlines.

• How to show that you can manage your time well

8. Perseverance and motivation: Employers want people to have a bit of get-up-and-go. Working life presents many challenges and you need to show employers that you're the kind of person who will find a way through, even when the going gets tough... and stay cheerful-ish.

9. Ability to work under pressure: This is about keeping calm in a crisis and not becoming too overwhelmed or stressed.

10. Confidence: In the workplace you need to strike the balance of being confident in yourself but not arrogant, but also have confidence in your colleagues and the company you work for.