Key Skills Employers Desire
Regardless of what industry you are contemplating working in, all job roles expect you to have skills; which you may have heard being called “soft skills”, “21st-century skills” or “applied skills”, these are the non-technical skills, ones that you don’t study and aren’t related to just one field. Employees can hire a student to train, but if you don’t possess soft skills, you will discover it becomes hard to stay employed. If you are wondering what these skills are and to get an inkling on skills you might need to develop, carry on reading.
A few of these primary “soft skills” that companies are passionate about their employees possessing that will directly enhance their skillset can be found below:
- Commercial awareness – understanding of what the organisation wants to achieve for the future.
- Communication – Verbal and written communication is critical in all companies and overall job roles. Not being able to communicate well to customers and your team will have a massive impact on your development in a company.
- Teamwork – In addition to communicating with your team, you must also work well with them. Being a part of a company means you are working towards a common goal and the best way to make that happen is working together.
- Problem Solving – Specially with IT roles, being able to problem solve is one thing but being able to plan a solution is a massively desirable skill.
- Leadership – Working in a team is essential but just as important or maybe, even more, is being able to lead a team. Being able to push other members of a team positively forwards and give out tasks and jobs shows you are capable of a management role.
- Organisation – This goes without saying is a vital skill. If you can’t organise your job load and you fall behind deadlines or miss meetings, this will have an impact on your prospects within a company.
Skills for IT Jobs
With IT there are some obvious skills that differ depending on which area of IT you are working within. Depending on the position you want to be in will be a deciding factor of what skills you’ll want to develop to be capable of completing the tasks at hand.
If you know your process and have that IT flare and want to move into a career in IT, what is the best role for you?
Networking Specialist
As this is a skilled role, employees would look for someone with a qualification in this subject. Keep in mind that a degree isn’t necessarily the only qualification employers are looking for, most do prefer technical certifications and experience. Professional certifications that are geared towards your career path can come from vendors like Microsoft, CompTIA and Cisco.
Top soft skills:
- Analytical skills
- Communication skills
- Problem-solving skills
- Multitasking
- Research skills
- Organisational skills
- Interpersonal skills
To become a skilled Network Specialist, you will find having these skills and knowledge will benefit you getting a job in this industry:
- Understanding of network infrastructures, network hardware and protocols & services.
- Knowledge of networks, networking topologies, connectors and wiring standards, IP addressing and IP subnetting, extensive area networks.
- Skills in building networks, network device management, network security, troubleshooting connectivity wide-area networks, and implementing EIGRP based solutions.
- Install, configure and set virtualisation in Windows Server 2012 R2, configure network services, plan, install and administer Active Directory, manage GPOs, manage security and configure TCP/IP.
Find out more in our blog on how to become a Network Specialist
here.
Software Developer
As a Software Developer, you can work your way into the gaming, automobile, multimedia, software and security industries to name a few. As you start to explore the IT industry and spring into looking for a means of becoming employable in your chosen field, it’s good to carry with you a technical certification which will allow you not only to gain the skills but also the experience.
Top soft skills:
- Technical knowledge
- Problem solving skills
- Business skills
- Enthusiasm to keep learning
- Communication and interpersonal skills
To become a Software Developer, you need to look for a qualification that will cover topics such as:
- Core programming, object-oriented programming, general software development, web applications, desktop applications, and databases
- CIW advanced HTML5 and CSS3
- Oracle Java SE 8 Programmer - Java applications, mastering Java data types, operators and decision control structures, and understanding OOPs concepts of Java.
- OCP Java SE 8 Programmer II, Beginning C# 7 Programming or Python v3.85
Interested? Read our blog on how you could become a Software Developer
here.
Infrastructure Technician
To become an Infrastructure Technician, an understanding of the basics of cloud computing, computing technology, networking, security, and configuring Windows, from a certified learning platform will help in getting a job in the industry. With the qualifications, employees will look for you as an individual to have skills in the following:
- Knowledge of administration and configuration of end-user applications, Windows Server, Linux, VMware, Cisco networking gear, servers, and storage.
- Understanding how all these things work together to make end-user applications work.
- Ability to troubleshoot problems across all the pieces of infrastructure.
- Able to communicate with colleagues and customers.
Top soft skills:
- Communication and interpersonal skills
- Problem solving
- Workflow management
- Hard worker
If it sounds like you could become an Infrastructure Technician, check out on blog on how you can become one
here.
Cyber Security Specialist
If you are looking to become a Cyber Security Specialist, you will benefit if you have the following skills:
- Excellent presentation skills
- Communications skills
- Articulate complex concepts
- Listening skills
A qualification in a field that relates to Cyber Security will boost your chances of gaining a role in these fields. Even if you have all the skills, having recognised qualifications from reputable awarding bodies will help you stand out from the crowd. When a potentially Cyber Security role is being advertised, most employers will tend to seek out candidates with certifications in the following:
- CompTIA A+
- CompTIA Network+
- CompTIA Security+
- CompTIA PenTest+
Having these qualifications will give you the skills desired by employers including:
- Cloud computing, networking, mobility and security systems administration.
- Troubleshooting, configuring and managing common network wireless and wired devices.
- Understanding of vulnerability management, threat management, security architecture and counter hacking skills and techniques.
- Planning and scoping, exploiting wired and wireless networks, exploiting application-based vulnerabilities, performing post-exploitation techniques, and understanding how to finalize a penetration test.
To become a Cyber Security Specialist, read our latest blog
here.
Web Developer
Being a successful Web Developer and working in a decent company, is more possible if you hold some form of technical qualifications. Many employers would consider a university degree in a related field, such as maths, computer science, or software engineering. Though these qualifications aren’t what will get you the roles and put you ahead of the game.
You can either get an extra qualification in addition to your degree or in place of one. Recognised certificates from CIW and delivered by specialised training providers are also highly desired by employees. These qualifications can provide you with in-depth knowledge of fundamental topics such as HTML, CSS, React, databases, networking, GUI and JavaScript,
When it comes to soft skills, you will find that if you possess the following, you will be equipped to cope in this job role:
- Empathy in communication skills
- Time management skills
- Perspective
- Design sense
Find out more in our blog on becoming a Web Developer
here.
Describing Skills on your CV
- When you are providing details of the experiences you developed in a job, internship or work experience placement, use the job description to write your CV. Match up your skills to the description, with the most relevant skills first.
- Be confident with your language when describing your skills.
- When you are writing about the tasks you performed in your previous employment, focus on the achievements and transferable skills more than your day to day tasks.
Whether you are trying to start your career in IT or looking to grow your knowledge in the industry, The Training Room has a range of courses to help.
Find out more here