Interview Chatter: 7 Survival Skills for Job Seekers

December 4, 2008 by blackgirlgrown
Filed under job loss, work

Survival of the fittest is an appropriate term in the climate of our global culture today. Not just America, but overseas – only the strong survive. Phil Gerbyshak from Slacker Manager features an article written by Tony Wagner author of The Global Achievement Gap, called Hiring the Right Skill Set and Motivating the Millennials. The article is excellent, whether you are a millennial, a baby boomer, or any other generational job seeker. It doesn’t matter where you are on the life line of employment. If you are a job seeker and you want to survive these challenging times, you need to develop these 7 Survival Skills. Take a look at the 7 Survival Skills with my spin on them!

7 Must-Have Survival Skills

1. Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving – Can you look at a series of issues or problems facing an organization and process solutions when there is no obvious answer available? Your ability to bring solutions to the table in an organization will keep you employed long past your “expiration date”. In other words people who can articulate solutions that move organizations to new levels are employable. If you are the problem, you will find yourself in the unemployment line often.

2. Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by Influence – Influence moves people, “big sticks” hurt people. If you can influence people and maintain authority at the same time, that is a valuable commodity and organizations will pay you well for that skill set. Your ability to influence unmotivated employees, or clients that don’t want to yield to what your organization is or is not capable of doing, will keep you sitting in the board room, rather than home in the den scanning the internet looking for employment.