4 Qualities Smart Companies Look For In Employees

Everywhere we turn nowadays we seem to be confronted with news about the toughness or competition for a dwindling number of lucrative open career positions.  In addition, the average cost of living continues to rise at a disproportionate rate to the prevailing wage.  This sets up the common shotgun approach scenario where job seekers apply to just about any position that has a guarantee of a regular paycheck.

While this might turn out well for some job seekers, it’s also made prospective employers wary of interviewees’ long term intentions in open positions.  Training a new employee is one of the largest expenditures most companies face and headcount turnover can be a big monetary, time and productivity sink for valuable resources.

With this in mind, companies have begun wising up and have developed increasingly sophisticated strategies for picking out the best qualified candidates that also have long term intentions with their company.  Key qualities are highly sought after and many employers have spent a great deal of time developing strategies to help identify the characteristics that will make the best candidates in the long run.  Want to game the job market and find out just what many employers are looking for in quality candidates?  Read on for our in depth analysis of the top four qualities smart companies are searching for in their new employees.

Bringing it Back to Values

When you think of values, commitment to family or community may come to mind long before the job market.  Increasingly, however, employers are realizing that strong values make for committed humans in both their personal and professional lives.  A strong set of core values can equal a great work ethic, integrity in contribution and honesty in your interactions with supervisors and team members.  Each of these are recipes for success in the eyes of companies.  

Attitude is Everything

Skills and experience is one thing, but if you don’t have a positive outlook with a healthy dose of ambition and excitement about your job you still may not make an excellent employment prospect.  Positivity is an excellent attitude trait when dealing with the inevitable stressful situation.  Being open to new ideas is another attitude trait that can help employees adapt to new work scenarios or accept training with team members.  Try to identify potential key attitude traits for your career field for a big heads up with potential employers.

A Bit of Vision and Ambition Goes a Long Way

No employer wants to hire someone to come into work every day and put their head down while they blindly follow orders.  Employees with a desire to succeed are always looking for ways they can contribute with innovative approaches or more efficient systems.  This win-win scenario leads to career advancement for employees and growth for companies so it’s no wonder smart employers watch for this valuable trait.  

Adaptability to Your Environment

The final of our four most important traits sought after by smart companies recognizes that an advancing economy creates rapidly changing work conditions.  The ability to jump right into a variety of environments ensures that an employee will grow with a company and can be used in a pinch for one off assignment when the need arises.  From loud office environments to isolated office cubicles, the ability to perform equally as well is a huge plus for your job prospects.

Each of these qualities will be given a different weight depending on employer attitude and company culture.  Some companies may even have another trait or two that they value above others.  Prospective candidates should do their research into company culture and the most liely qualities their new employer may value for the best chance at landing that job or career of their dreams.

This post was updated from the original on 08/10/2017