When you’re looking for a job, you’re entering a competition, and the way to win that competition is to have the qualities that employers are looking for in a prospective new hire. It’s not just enough to be qualified, there are plenty of people that have qualifications. You need to provide something more, something that adds value not just to yourself, but to a prospective company. Here are a few of the traits that employers look for, hoping that it will make their company a better place to work.
Credibility
Being able to say “I am good at this job” is easy, and anyone can do it. Having many other people with no personal relation to also agree on the same thing is a much more impressive accomplishment, and establishes your credibility—and subsequent value as an employee—in a much more compelling way to an employer.
If you do good work, and others are happy with your performance, don’t be shy about this aspect of your career. You worked hard and provided quality work, and if others are willing to provide recommendations or testimonials to that effect, it does much to reinforce your reputation in the minds of people looking to hire.
Think of it this way; when you decide to research a product you may be thinking of buying, you don’t automatically trust commercials or promotional literature from the company itself. You look at user reviews, because you trust what other, unbiased people will say when they have no stake in the success of a product, and simply want something that works well.
Testimonials from others about your quality of work are like user reviews to employers, and they carry the same weight.
Integrity
Knowing what is right and acting upon that can be a difficult thing, especially in a competitive professional world, but it’s a trait that is highly valued in employees. Being honest about yourself and what you can do makes it easier to get the job done when you clearly define your own abilities and limits, rather than simply pretend that you can do everything and know everything.
Similarly, being able to own up to mistakes, admit them, and present a sincere desire to learn from errors and move on is infinitely preferable to someone who pretends that a problem was no fault of theirs and may, in fact, shift blame to someone else. Honesty is not just the best policy, it often means a job gets done better and faster because there are no lies to overcome.
Courage
It may seem like an odd trait to have on the job if you’re not in the army, police, or fight fires, but courage takes many forms. Courage can also mean a willingness to take on challenges that seem daunting, rather than saying “That’s not something I can do.” It can also mean not backing down when the unexpected happens and setbacks occur that may result in others simply giving up. Courage can also mean saying the things that may need to be said in order to ensure a job gets done, rather than agreeing in silence with a mistake you know will ultimately cause more problems.
Finding a job isn’t easy. But if you cultivate these traits that employers are looking for, you’ll find that these traits don’t just make you a good hire, they make you a better person.
