Unit 6. Looking for a job

What Skills Do You Need to Get a Good Job?

Making a positive career choice is a problem which worries many people nowadays. What am I good at? How can I find a well-paid job? What kind of knowledge and what traits of character should I have to succeed? These are the questions that people often ask themselves. Nowadays employers demand perfect knowledge, work experience, a range of transferable skills and such qualities as efficiency, punctuality, practicality, creativity and many others. If you want to get a good job, you must convince your employer that you are the best candidate for it. Choosing your future job you should take into consideration your interests, abilities and opportunities. Besides, you should know your employer's requirements.

If you want to become a good specialist, to keep your job and to get a promotion, you should be competent. Competence is a requirement for a person to properly perform a specific job. In other words, it is a combination of knowledge, skills and behaviour, the ability to perform a specific role. Today executives and managers don't only speak of skills and qualifications of their employees, but of their competencies that measure a person's appropriateness for a particular job. There are a lot of competencies but as a rule they are divided into two large groups: technical competencies and personal competencies. Technical competencies comprise the skills and knowledge that are essential in order for a person to do a particular job appropriately (for example word processing). Personal competencies include characteristics that people use together with their technical competencies in order to do their work well (for example, initiative and sociability). Competence development is a long process that requires training and personal development. Competence grows through experience.

The ability to make the right decision is crucial in the world of business. A well considered decision will lead your team to success; a poor decision can result into failure. A good employee should demonstrate problem-solving capability and think about what is to be achieved and how it is to be achieved. Many companies need people who can work effectively in different countries and cultures, in other words, people who can function in a global context. Therefore it is important to develop intercultural competence. This requirement stems from the mass globalization of business and the development of cross-cultural contacts. Intercultural competence is the ability to understand people of other cultures and to work effectively with them. A person must remember that the traditions and customs that he or she is used to may be inadmissible in another country. That is why one should be aware of intercultural differences to avoid mistakes, misunderstanding or offence and to achieve one's business goals.

Negotiating is part and parcel of working life that is why negotiating skills are essential no matter what kind of job a person has. The most important thing is to take into consideration your personal style and your partner's expectations and reaction. You should be calm, reasonable, self-confident and convincing. You should try to win your partner's favour and make him trust you. It is useful to take into account all details: your speech, body language, physical contact, eye contact, etc.

Relationship-building is a new popular term that means building good relationships with partners and clients. You should understand their needs and respect their rights. You should also maintain good relationships with supervisors and peers. It is very important to handle appropriately criticism and complaints, to deal respectfully with cultural and racial diversity and never to engage in harassment of any kind.

Modern life is full of stress that is why it is essential to be able to cope with stress and fatigue. When a person is busy achieving his aspirations, he often forgets about work-life balance. Many people suffer from the conflict between work and family. They are too much preoccupied with their career and they have no time for rest, pleasure and spiritual development. Don't forget that if you want to make a career, you should be healthy and happy. And if you want to be healthy and happy, you should not forget a simple rule: don't overwork, take breaks and remember that we work to live but not vice versa.