Top skills you need to survive in the workplace. Hint: They don’t teach these in school

08/17/15

So you think you’re qualified to apply for your dream job because you have a degree. You’ve spent four or more years slaving over notes and exams at school to earn your diploma that is your so-called ticket to success. What your professors didn’t tell you is that once you’re in the workplace, you need to unlearn most of what you learned in class. This is so you can make room for new knowledge you are yet to acquire on your own.

Here are the essential skills you must acquire and develop in order for you to survive the workplace.

 

Saying “No”

In the work place, you will be required to learn how to multi-task and manage your time on a whole new level. You are expected to meet the demands and deadlines that are more rigorous than what you have experienced in school. All tasks assigned to you are important, and you are expected to finish them all within a given deadline. What you need to do is learn which tasks to prioritize, and which tasks to decline. You need to be aware which ones are worth your time and which are just mindless chores.

 

Strategic thinking

According to the Harvard Business Review, many smart people struggle with strategy as it requires coming up with ideas about an uncertain future. At work, you will be forced to come up with the right answers for abstract problems. This requires flexibility, imagination, and most importantly, resilience. To do this, you have to be comfortable with the possibility of failing and not get intimidated by ambiguity.

 

Social Intelligence

Working will require you to meet plenty of people with varied personalities. Having the ability to connect with them in a way that is meaningful and deep will help you in your success. Good communication with others will allow you to finish projects harmoniously. Not only that, this will also help you build your network which can be useful in the future.

 

Brevity

Everyone’s busy – your clients, your boss, your officemate, the girl in the customer service hotline. They all have their own jobs to do. If and when you happen to need something from them, you have to express your concern as briefly as possible without sacrificing clarity. Similarly, you have to be able to write powerful emails that would get noticed and yield your intended response.

 

Resistance to love

Now, before you go berserk, we don’t mean you defer from having relationships during the span of your career. What we mean is for you to learn how to resist staying in a company because you “love” it. Sure, they may have great perks and great people that may serve as reasons why you’re staying; but once your realize that you’re no longer growing as a person, and you’re not learning anything new, have the courage to take the next step and leave.

 

Despite what you’ve learned in college, there are far more important skills you need to master other than memorizing tables, terms, and formulas. During your career, you have to be able to constantly adapt and learn to grow and eventually succeed. You need not have graduated top of your class to survive the workplace. With these tips, you’re sure to climb your way up the ladder.

What do you think are the most important skills that spell success? Share us your thoughts in the comments section below.

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