Work Skills that Employers Want
By Alex Frawley
Different Types of Attributes They Want
A specific skill is a skill that has been gained via education or an qualification (for example, In-depth knowledge in the microsoft office sweet, experience working in IT, knowledge how how to maintain and use windows server 2012)
Soft skills are skills that everyone body possess but are needed to be said (for example, using your initiative, using your common sense, well organised)
General skills are skills you gain throughout life via the workplace or at home (for example, great communication skills, ability to work in a team, good telephone manner)
Kent County Council - 1st Line Support
Specific Skills - An in-depth Knowledge in the MS Office Suite.
General Skills - Ability to troubleshoot and learn new skills quickly and the ability to work well in a team.
Soft Skills - High degree of Initiative and common sense and a motivated, friendly approach when dealing with customers.
Why?
Specific Skills
You need to have an in-depth knowledge of MS Office so you can do your job properly and with ease.
General Skills
You also need to have the ability to troubleshoot and work as a team because they are some of the main duties of your job you will be doing everyday.
Soft Skills
You also need to be friendly because the job involves talking to a lot of customers and if you're not friendly the customers will not want you helping which means you're failing at the job.
Electrical Contractors' Association - Junior IT Support Engineer
Specific Skills - 1st Line help desk experience and a in-depth knowledge of current MS operating systems & applications (Primarily office).
General Skills - The ability to diagnose hardware, software & network problems. They also need good telephone manner.
Soft Skills - The potential employee needs to have a genuine and general interest in IT, they also need to be able to troubleshoot various problems.
Why?
Specific Skills
You need to have 1st line help desk experience so the employer knows that have already done a similar job successfully in the past.
General Skills
You need to posses the ability to diagnose hardware, software and network problems so you can efficiently get on with your job.
Soft Skills
You also need to have a genuine interest in IT other wise you will find your job boring and not want to partake in the work.
Shepherd Neame Ltd - IT Service Support Analyst
Specific Skills - Technical skills to 1st/2nd line level Windows 7 and above. Working knowledge of Microsoft office (Excel, Word, and outlook). An understanding of ITIL would be a big advantage along with relevant MCP/MCSE certificates. You will also need a full valid UK drivers license.
General Skills - You need to have good communication skills and efficient problem solving skills.
Soft Skills - You need to be very customer focus and have a friendly manner when dealing with customers.
Why?
Specific Skills
You need to have technical skills to 1st/2nd line level Windows 7 and above so you can use deal with the problems you will receive doing the job. An MCP/MCSE certificate relevant to the job would be great because it shows the employer that you have gone further to achieve the skills needed to do this job.
General Skills
Having communication skills and efficient problem solving skills is a must because you will need to talk to customers and find out there problem, and then solve it in the most efficient and least time consuming way possible.
Soft Skills
The reason you need to be customer focused and maintain a friendly manner when dealing with customers ties in to communication skills, you will be dealing with customers to find out and fix there problems therefore you will need to be polite with the customer.