Question: What skills do employers value most?
Answer: The short answer is that employers value the combination of skills that will best meet the requirements of their job. The job posting will typically include a mix of what we refer to as ‘hard’ or technical skills and ‘soft’ skills. Let’s take a closer look at this skillset equation.
Hard skills are often specific to your field and require specialized training to gain understanding and proficiency to use them on the job. This could be working with industry-specific software such as Sage 50 for accounting students or AutoCAD for drafters and technologists. These are the ‘tools’ of your specific trade and your skill level can often be tested or demonstrated. Many computing studies students will be asked to perform a technical test or challenge to demonstrate their coding skills, for example. BCIT is well-known for providing students with an excellent foundation of technical skills gained through labs, projects, field work and industry projects that translate well into the workplace. Phew, you’ve got this covered.
Soft skills (aka ‘life’ skills) are a bit more complex. As mentioned in a previous post, these are transferable skills that apply to all jobs and employers not only value them but expect you to be able to use them effectively. These skills are more about how you work rather than what you know. Examples range from communication and interpersonal skills to resilience, teamwork and initiative. You have these skills and you have been developing them throughout your personal and school life – and you’ll use them in your professional life. And BCIT has helped you grow these as well through presentations and group projects – even though it may not have felt helpful at the time! Check out this article from Top Resume for more on the top soft skills for 2021.
As Career Specialists we hear from employers that they don’t expect new grads – or any candidate to ‘have it all’ when it comes to skills. Skill development is ongoing and a work in progress for all of us. Lifelong learning is alive and well in today’s world of work.
