This world has witnessed and felt some of the most majestic and influential people of all time. From Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi to Elon Musk and Ratan Tata, people of such an extraordinary perception and intelligence having the ability to inspire the masses are well remembered and recognized by our history. But, Have you ever thought? What separated them from the rest of the population? and What made them so special? The answer to these questions lies in the leadership qualities and skills that these people timeless people possess. If you want to replicate success and aspire to become as popular and successful as them, you ought to have a few leadership qualities and attributes in you. Through this article, we would list the 21 best leadership skills that every job seeker must inculcate and develop in his or her attitude, approach, and perception.
21 Best Leadership Skills For Job Seekers
1) Active Listening
While performing and executing your tasks and duties at your workplace, you will be required to handle customer complaints, problems of the subordinates, or issues pertaining to third-party vendors and suppliers. Having a developed sense of active listening would not only help you to understand the core of the problem but would also enable you to resolve all the issues with a better understanding of the situation.
The primary aspect of being a leader is that everyone approaches him or her in order to get a superior resolution. By using active listening skills, you will be in a better position to resolve the problems.
2) Honesty
Integrity or honesty is the primary aspect of being a leader. This makes you credible, trustworthy and would enable you to gain respect from your colleagues, seniors, and subordinates. Post this, you can inspire your following with your every action and word.
3) No Place For EGO
Are you aware of the full form of EGO? I believe you are, but let us just reiterate. EGO stands for Eliminating Growth Opportunity. A leader completely understands and appreciates the fact that one must not possess any kind of superiority complex or a sense of chauvinism at any walk of one’s career. Having a negative attitude that reflects your ego, would severely deplete your stature and respect in the eyes of your followers.
4) Futuristic
If Elon Musk had never thought about making electric cars or even sending private rockets to space, then I wonder, we would ever have someone as successful and as rich as him. Similarly, if Jeff Bezos had not planned a digital revolution in Amazon, then the world would have been robbed of such an exciting enterprise.
What we can learn now? We can understand that leaders are visionary and futuristic. They have immense faith in their own capabilities, approach, and action, which is enough to change the world. Hence, if you want to be successful in your professional career be a visionary and have faith in your talents and skills.
5) Patience
When a job seeker applies to a variety of different institutions in order to earn regular employment, it is unfortunate enough to get a call from only a handful of organizations. But a candidate must know, that getting regular employment is a slow task and must be patient enough to wait for your own opportunity. Losing heart or becoming sad, is not what leaders are made of. They always stand tall and try to achieve their goals and objectives, come what may.
6) Problem Solving Ability
This is one of the most crucial skills that every person must possess, no matter at what stage of career you are. You might be a job seeker or an active working professional, but you ought to have a knack for solving several problems of the business organization. There might be consistent problems related to finance, vendors, suppliers, or logistical issues, a candidate must have the capability to resolve them and take an active business decision.
7) Impressive Communication Skills
A candidate aspiring to do a job at his or her dream institution must have an excellent sense of communication. Effective communication skills, help a leader to not only express his or her ideas in a comprehensive manner but also enables a better understanding of other people. In addition to this, there will always be certain unexpected issues at your workplace, like strikes, protests, or demonstrations outside your office or factory premises. It is only through, impressive and influential communication that these issues could be resolved,
8) Follow No Distractions
When you are a job seeker, you might be having a lot of buzz around you. There might be people that criticize you and might undermine your strengths and capabilities. But, like a leader, you must not pay any attention to such blarney or gossips. These are nothing but distractions, which when paid heed to, have the capacity to rob you of your mental peace and comfort.
9) Optimistic
There is a high possibility that you might not get an interview call in your first five or even ten job applications. There are chances that you might even be screened out at the very stage of application processing. But, please be optimistic. Destiny is a lazy fox but when this giant rises, it gives you everything you ever wished or desired for.
10) Handle Criticism
Whether you are a job seeker or actively working at an organization, you are bound to receive criticisms and negative comments about your working procedures and method of operating at your workplace. However, a person must not lose heart after receiving such comments, rather, like a leader, he or she must stand tall and try to improvise upon the shortcomings.
11) Keep Improving
You are not getting enough interview calls or you are even not getting screened out. There is a high chance that there is a serious defect in your resume r the way you fill your job application form. Please analyze it and look out for the defects or shortcomings. If you keep on repeating the defective resume, you will not be getting any job. Hence, please mend your mistakes and keep improving your skills and become better with every passing day.
12) Delegation Of Duties
No person can perform all the duties or execute all the tasks by oneself. However, these can be managed. Delegation is an important aspect of leadership, wherein a leader delegates and allocates the different tasks to different individuals depending upon their talents and skills. For Example, If a person is good at verbal communication, he or she could be given a task related to sales, or a person high in creativity and rich in arts, could create marketing campaigns for the organization. Choosing the right person for the right task is the true meaning of delegation.
13) Time Managament
This is one of the most important skills not only relevant to a fresher but also to an industry veteran. There is a widespread saying that, if you do not give respect to time, then one day, time will simply destroy you. Hence, if you want to ascend forward in your career and want to climb up the corporate ladder, manage your time skillfully.
14) Be Skillful
Time is changing and so are the various requirements and expectations of the business organizations from its employees and job seekers. In the 1990s, no one would have ever imagined a person to promote an organization on social media platforms. But, today we can see a huge influx of digital marketers and campaign managers. Hence, move with these changing times and keep on learning new software, skills as well procedures.
15) Passionate
Whatever you do, be it writing a tailor-made resume or giving an interview in front of an expert panel, just be passionate enough, so that you look energetic, committed, and pretty much serious for the job opportunity. No business organization wants to hire pessimistic or lethargic job seekers who known nothing but loves to spread negativity and lethargy.
16) Discipline
This is another important leadership skill that a job seeker must possess. A person at almost all the times of his career especially when seeking a job, must be disciplined and committed towards his goals and objectives. A person who lacks discipline and regularity, would not be able to prepare to the best of his abilities for the interview process and as a result, will not be able to match the expectations and requirements
17) Agile
There are a few candidates who are quite adamant and strict in their approach. If a particular process of seeking employment opportunities is not working, then you must be flexible or agile enough to make suitable changes. By remaining adamant, you will not be able to identify your mistake and hence will not be able to prepare appropriately.
18) Innovative
An interview session consists of a variety of interview questions that would test your personality, approach, and mindset. Some questions of an interviews session are repetitive in nature and are available on several online websites as well offline publications. However, in order to produce a stellar interview performance, you ought to be creative and innovative, so that you are able to give unique answers and not following the generic ones.
19) Responsibility
This is one of the important traits of being an effective and successful leader. As a job seeker, you will be required to show your interviewer that you are responsible and accountable enough to handle the tasks. You are ready to accept your mistakes and have the willingness as well as an approach to mend the issues.
20) Quick Wits
An interview session would test you with all of its varieties and colors. However, if you have a developed sense of critical thinking and quick wits, you will be able to deliver impressive answers to each and every question, thereby increasing your chances of selection manifolds.
21) Hard Working
No one can become successful and influential in life if he or she does not work hard in life. This is a plain, simple truth that everyone must learn, appreciate and follow. Being a job seeker, you are expected to work hard and keep inclined towards your goals and objectives. Always prepare for your interview questions by reading more and more frequently asked interview questions and keep revising your university notes.
References
- https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3461778.3462049
- https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=KBYtEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Top+21+Leadership+Skills+For+Job+Seekers+-+All+You+Want+to+Know+in+2021&ots=eDRoEWhMil&sig=U8UnyUj3ZCD_AfGoQmMqUGxlO1Y
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Sandeep Bhandari is the founder of PrepMyCareer.com website.
I am a full-time professional blogger, a digital marketer, and a trainer. I love anything related to the Web, and I try to learn new technologies every day.
All the team management, content creation, and monetization tasks are handled by me. Together with the team at PrepMyCareer, the aim is to provide useful and engaging content to our readers.