List of 12 Key Competencies Employers Are Looking For in 2024
Competencies: A Definition
Core competencies (also known as core competencies or skills) are specific qualities that a company’s recruiters consider desirable for employees to be successful in a certain role or for future success.
They are often used as a benchmark to rate and evaluate candidates during the hiring process, especially when reviewing cover letters, application forms, and interviews.
During the hiring process, you will likely be asked competency-based questions, and the recruiter will use your answers to determine your suitability.
That’s why you should identify the key competencies for any role early in the application process and match your skills and experience.
Often, you will be given ‘Essential Criteria,’ which will outline specific competencies identified by the company as key. These may be in addition to hard or soft skills that the company lists as essential or desirable.
Key Competencies
Key Competencies Employers Look For
Here is a list of the top 12 examples of core competencies that employers use when hiring candidates:
Top 12 Core Competencies
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Teamwork
This is important to most careers, as teams that work well together are more cohesive and efficient.
Even if you work alone or remotely, it’s still important to communicate ideas and see how others will use your work in the organization.
Working well in a team shows that you value others, can show empathy, and have the maturity to understand that no one works alone.
Employers will assess whether you can work with others toward a common goal and share credit gracefully.
Working in a team requires excellent communication skills and problem-solving abilities, which you’ll need to demonstrate in any examples you give. See below for more information about both of those symptoms.
How to Improve Your Teamwork Skills:
Volunteer for team roles – Projects and tasks within the workplace that require a team of individuals are a good place to learn the skills you’ll need.
Join a sports team or other organizations: Not only are sports good for your health, but it’s also a great way to learn how to work with others to achieve a common goal. If you are not someone who particularly enjoys sports or cannot participate for some other reason, joining a local community organization can have similar results.
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Liability
Most jobs require the ability to assume a certain level of responsibility. Candidates who are good at taking responsibility are comfortable making decisions or taking ownership of their work.
At senior levels, the amount of responsibility an employee will shoulder will be greater. Still, even in entry-level roles, recruiters will want to see examples of how you’ve handled responsibilities in the past.
This will give them a good indication of how you handle stress, issues, and your work ethic in general.
How to Improve Your Responsibility Skills:
Ask or volunteer for roles that require more responsibility – one of the best ways to learn is through practice if there’s a project or role available that needs someone to lead, volunteer for it.
Practice punctuality: Often, people who are held responsible are punctual. By showing up when you say you can or completing tasks within a set time frame, you’ll show that you can be responsible in other ways.
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Professional Awareness
An employer wants to know that you understand how their business works. Only then can you understand your role in this.
Simply put, it’s about staying up-to-date with your industry and business. This includes marketing trends, customer demographics, technological advances, and the success and failure of competitors.
To improve your business awareness, keep up with the latest industry news and thoroughly research your chosen company and its competitors.
Get as much work experience as possible to show the employer that you understand the role.
How to Improve Your Business Awareness Skills:
Research the company you work for – find out what they do and how they do it and ensure you have a better understanding of your business.
Stay up-to-date with industry trends: Staying on top of news and changes within your industry can help you understand what’s going on within the economy and take action against those Can help determine which ones need to be taken.
Be aware of your closest competitors: What are other similar companies doing better than the one you work for, what are they doing worse, and how can you compete with them? All these questions will help ensure you know what needs to be done to stay ahead of the competition.
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Decision making
An employer would like to see that you can make the best possible decision in the least amount of time by gathering information, seeking opinions, analyzing all possibilities, and coming up with an effective solution.
Decisions can often be very complex, and the potential consequences are very serious, so recruiters will check whether you can explain your decisions.
How to improve your decision-making skills:
Ask for more responsibility: When you are in a position of responsibility, you are more required to make decisions.
Practice being assertive – One of the most important things when making a decision is your ability to share it and see it through. To do this, you’ll need to be able to stand up for the decision you’ve made in a firm yet respectful manner.
Ask a mentor: If you’re not used to making decisions, it might be a good idea to find someone who has been in your position before and can offer advice. Having a mentor can help you feel more confident in your decision-making skills if you know it’s the same choice someone else would have made.
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Communication
Excellent communication skills are essential for any role. Employers really want to know that you can convey information to other team members in a way that is confident, professional, and easy for others to understand, regardless of their level.
To avoid misunderstandings, you must be clear and concise when sharing information with co-workers.
This may involve communicating information to colleagues, dealing with customers, or negotiating successful contracts.
Generally, employers are looking for good written communication and verbal communication skills. Sometimes they will also check your presentation and listening skills.
How to improve your communication skills:
Write things down: If you forget what to say as soon as you pick up the phone or attend a meeting, try writing down your main points first. This can help you stay on track and help you remember everything.
Practice listening: One of the most important things a communicator can do is be a good listener. This will help you understand how to respond properly. People who feel they are being listened to are also more likely to respond well to what is being asked.
Learn body language: Understanding body language basics can help you decide how to handle a situation and how to approach different staff members.
Key Competencies Employers Look For
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Leadership
Leadership abilities are especially important to progress into a management position. Even if not, employers want to see that you are the type of person who can grow at their company and inspire others.
Leadership will include skills such as delegation and setting deadlines, but it is also about your leadership style and interpersonal skills.
You will be assessed on how you communicate with others, including human resources and other important business departments, build relationships, and handle conflict.
How to improve your leadership skills:
Volunteer for functions – Whether organizing a team luncheon, a fundraising event, or a team-building exercise, volunteering to organize an event will help you build your team-building skills because you’ll need to organize everything properly. I will need to work with others.
Listen: A good leader needs to listen to his team. If employees don’t feel like they are being listened to, there are likely to be problems with morale and productivity that can affect how well projects and tasks are completed.
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Credibility and Ethics
An individual who is dependable and attuned to business ethics will build better relationships with existing staff members and enhance teamwork efforts.
They will also be able to build genuine relationships with clients who they trust have their best interests at heart.
Demonstrate your credibility by being honest and open in your application, and show good ethical judgment when asked about difficult workplace scenarios.
How to improve your credibility and ethics skills:
Look for opportunities to prove yourself: Being dependable is a skill that tends to be proven rather than learned. Look for opportunities where you can show that you are a person who can be trusted.
Be consistent: Someone who has a strong sense of morality and is trustworthy is consistent. Make sure you always portray yourself the way you want to be thought of.
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Result Orientation
If a person is result-oriented, they focus on their goals and understand the steps required to achieve them. They will have the motivation to see projects come to fruition and inspire others to do the same.
Being results-oriented also means knowing how to set realistic and achievable goals and simultaneously be ambitious enough to increase motivation.
Demonstrate this ability by recalling real-life examples when you overcame problems, stuck to a task, met a deadline, or managed a budget.
How to improve your result orientation skills:
Break large goals into smaller goals: By breaking large tasks down into smaller, more achievable goals, you’ll often be more motivated to accomplish them.
Track your progress: Knowing how far you’ve come can significantly impact your motivation. This is especially true if it seems things are moving slowly or need more progress.
Have a partner or mentor – Knowing that there is someone you are accountable to can help ensure that you are achieving the goals that need to be achieved and progress is being made. After all, no one wants to admit that they didn’t do what they needed to do.
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Problem Solving
It is important to demonstrate that when a problem arises, you can remain calm under pressure, research possible causes, identify trends, and choose the most relevant solutions.
You’ll face problems at work, and employers want to see how you deal with them. The more senior you are, the more problems you have to solve.
For some roles, problem-solving is a major aspect, such as analysts, law professionals, and customer service-based roles.
How to improve your problem-solving skills:
Puzzle Books: Puzzle books and apps are a good way to train your mind to consider all the possible solutions to a problem. These skills can then be applied to issues found in your working life.
Brainstorming: If you’re struggling to think of all the possible solutions to a problem, it can help to have brainstorming sessions where you put everything you can think of on a piece of paper or board. Can It is a visualization process that can help you spot patterns, trends, or areas that need improvement, allowing you to see all possible solutions.
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Organizational Skills
In any business, being organized is highly prized. An employer will look at how you get results by prioritizing workload, managing time effectively, showing efficiency with available resources and monitoring progress.
For higher-level roles that involve managing people or projects, you may also need to demonstrate that you are good at project management, strategic planning, resource management, delegation, and managing large projects.
How to improve your organizational skills:
Write lists – One of the easiest ways to organize yourself is to write lists of all the things you need to do and the order in which each thing needs to be done. This helps you get into the habit of prioritizing and understanding how to organize different tasks.
Understand the importance of balance: It becomes very easy to organize yourself for work-related tasks if you have a good work-life balance. Less time spent working with too little time can lead to issues with motivation which can then affect how well you organize yourself and those around you.
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Compatibility
Regarding core competencies, few are as useful and important as the ability to adapt within the workplace.
Being able to adapt to changing circumstances, requirements or briefs will enable you to complete tasks with the least amount of stress. It can also mean working through issues that may arise during a project or your career.
Employers will be looking for well-suited individuals to ensure that the workplace can run smoothly no matter what happens. After all, no matter how well contingencies are planned for and projects are managed, there is always the potential for the unexpected. Having employees who can adapt to unexpected situations can mean that those in more senior management roles can get on with the things they need to do instead of worrying about the teams below them. Is required.
How to improve your customization skills:
Putting yourself in situations where you don’t know what to expect will help you stay calm and train your mind to think of solutions.
Puzzles and Escape Rooms: When you get into the escape room, you are given a task, but you must find solutions to various unexpected problems. These skills can then be adapted for use within the workplace.
Mindfulness: If unexpected challenges make you nervous or anxious, it can help to practice mindfulness techniques. These will help you stay calm and think clearly.
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Analytical Thinking
Analytical thinking is a term used to describe skills that use factual information to conclude. This information can then be used to guide decisions and processes.
Employees must be able to use analytical thinking in their roles. This will enable them to use the information to decide the best action.
Having good analytical thinking skills will also mean they can see all possible solutions before deciding. This reduces employees’ dependence on more senior-level individuals regarding problem-solving and day-to-day processes.
How to improve your analytical thinking skills:
Read – The importance of reading should always be considered in many areas of life. When it comes to analytical thinking, make sure you are reading various books and lessons, which can help you develop and strengthen your skills.
Brain Games: Whether you use puzzle books, apps, or some other method is entirely up to personal preference, but brain games help you develop strong analytical thinking skills without actually realizing what you’re doing. Can help to do.
Final Thoughts
Key competencies are important criteria for assessing a candidate’s suitability for a role.
Competency-based questions, whether in an interview or an application form, will focus on the key traits mentioned in the job description.
It’s important to ensure you’ve identified these and can evidence them with relevant examples from your past work, education, hobbies, and travels.
Frequently Asked Question
When it comes to core competencies, more than five can be considered, and the exact ones an employer will be looking for can vary depending on the company and the role they are looking to fill.
Generally speaking. However, core competencies can be divided into five areas:
- self-awareness
- decision making
- self-management
- relationship skills
- social awareness
The qualifications a potential employer is looking for will vary depending on the role they are looking to fill. You should work on all the competencies, but doing it all at once isn’t easy.
If you’re looking to focus on and improve on particular areas, it’s a good idea to ensure you have strong communication, decision-making, and adaptability skills. Being strong in these particular skills will help you strengthen other areas.
There are more than seven core competencies, and it is impossible to know exactly what each employer will be looking for.
However, seven of the most desired core competencies are:
- problem-solving skills
- team working skills
- organizational skills
- adaptability skills
- decision-making skills
- leadership skills
- analytical thinking skills
The term ‘key competencies’ describes a set of skills employers look for in potential candidates when hiring employees. They are skills considered desirable for their ideal new employee in relation to the job they are hiring for and the company’s values as a whole.
Because of this, the key competencies a company will consider will vary depending on the business that is hiring and the role the candidate is applying for.
They are essentially the same thing. Some may argue that soft skills can be learned while competence is a personality trait, but it is a very blurred line. While some people are naturally organized or naturally good leaders, developing these skills for use within the workplace is also possible.
