5 Must-have Skills That Every Graduate Should Possess

- Janhavi Jain

What would your reaction be if I said there might be a formula to success?

“The future belongs to those who learn skills and combine them in creative ways.”

– Robert Greene

In this age of competition, youngsters usually find themselves at crossroads and somewhere believe that the decisions that they make at these instances become the defining factor of their life. Usually, they either start looking for jobs in any domain or consider doing their masters immediately without an on-ground experience which might hamper their ability to understand the depths of the subject and so much more.

There’s barely any person around today without an ambition for oneself, and in such a hustle culture glory, it’s difficult to withstand competition. The doubts of being unworthy start to kick in, and that’s when there is the need to bring the very basics to the table. These set of skills is the very bar of survival in today’s world. The best time to pick up on a skill is as soon as you realize the lack of thereof.

Well, easier said than done right? So, what do employers want, more essentially what do the BIG 4 look for in a candidate, what gets people into the IVY Leagues? Don’t worry, this article here would provide you with the means to begin your own assessment and everything else will follow.

The most important set of skills that every graduate should possess to make it into the real world and what companies & college are looking for:

1. Communication: It is said that communication is the key, and well it is the most important of all as people is the one factor that remains constant no matter what you choose whether it’s a job or your masters. To be able to communicate and propagate your ideas throughout the room really matters cause comprehension and implementation are the way to go. Primarily, it makes people aware of your mental presence. Secondly, the implementation of your initial ideas makes people long for your contribution to the next project too, thus adding to your value. It is important to evaluate where you are in order to move forward. Test your skills at https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCS_99.htm

2. Time management: The saying that is going around in this era of technology is “work smarter, not harder”. No one is impressed with just one quality anymore, each individual is a package of certain qualities and if you’re not the best at it, you’re not in the race. If you manage your time well, you can get more done in lesser time while increasing your productivity and performance. Evaluate yourself by taking this test https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/tests/career/time-management-skills-test

3. Leadership skills: To be able to work in a team, with a set of instructions seems like a piece of cake. But when it comes to leading the team, the real challenges start to take shape. While leading a team, there can be a series of questions that need your attention and disputes to disarm. All these decisions need to be made while keeping in mind the best interest of your organization and teammates too. These decisions cannot be made at the cost of their expense. Determine your leadership skills by taking this test https://eml.usc.edu/leadership-style-quiz

4. Consistency: Every person that has ever sat for an interview will definitely agree to the fact that it is this one quality that every HR looks at whether it’s a job or higher education. It builds your momentum and is one of the most defining factors of success in any task that you accomplish. Half the battle is won when you persevere to win it and leave no stone unturned to do so. It is what generates confidence- both from within and for people to have that faith in you. You don’t need to take any test to understand if you’re consistent, your past endeavors speak that for themselves.

5. Technical know-how: If there’s anything that the last two years in the pandemic have taught us, it is to be tech-savvy. In this digital age, the world stops for no one, not even a pandemic, and the thing that kept it going were the people who had the technical skills to navigate through it and make something productive of it all while being remote and stuck at home. An individual today needs to understand the basics of MS Excel along with a basic understanding of Cloud sharing, Video conferencing software, and of course social media. There are enough educational materials on Coursera, Udemy, Google and Youtube.

The above-mentioned skills here are some of the very basics but of utmost necessity that every individual must possess, and as the proverb goes “the more, the merrier” well so is the case here. That being said eventually an individual should develop a package that stands out from everyone else and for that to happen, it’s significant to create your own niche and one should never be afraid to take the plunge. You can only understand how deep is the lake after diving into it. Every day is another opportunity to start fresh, so why not take the opportunity to learn something new? It will be beneficial to your career and contribute to greater fulfilment in your life as a whole.