What do employers look for?
Intelligence
I don’t mean go rushing to the first IQ test you can find. In this context Im not talking about how quickly you can solve a rubix cube. What I mean is the ability to plan, to organize, to set priorities, to solve problems, and to get the job done. Intelligence refers to your level of common sense and your practical ability to deal with the day-to-day challenges of the job. The key to demonstrating your intelligence is for you to ask intelligent questions. One of the side effects of intelligence is curiosity. The more you ask good questions and listen to the answers, the smarter you appear.
Leadership ability
Leadership is the willingness to accept responsibility for what occurs thereafter. It’s the ability to take charge, to volunteer for assignments, and to accept accountability for achieving the required results of those assignments. Don’t go bossing everyone around as everyone will get fed up with you soon enough. Gain your peers respect and they will in turn give you their best. The mark of the leader is that he or she does not make excuses. You demonstrate your willingness to be a leader in the organization by offering to take charge of achieving company goals and then committing yourself to performing to a high standard.
Integrity
It’s probably the most important quality for long-term success in life and at work. Integrity begins by being true to yourself. This means that you are perfectly honest with yourself and in your relationships with others. You can admit to yourself what you can and can’t do. You are willing to admit where you have made mistakes in the past. But most importantly you demonstrate loyalty. You never say anything negative about a previous employer or a person whom you have worked with or for. Even if you were fired from a previous job, never say anything negative or critical.
Likability
Employers like people who are warm, friendly, easygoing, and cooperative with others. Employers are looking for people who can join the team and be part of the work team.
People with these traits are more popular and more effective at whatever they do. Teamwork is the key to success. Your experience in working as part of a team in the past and your willingness to work as part of a team in the future can be among the most attractive things about you in applying for a job.
GraduNation 