What Are the Top Ten Business Skills Employers Want in Australia?

Top 10 Required Business Skills:

Having the capability to work cohesively in teams, using effective communication skills, and analytical and problem-solving abilities are highly desirable skills in employees; a report by the Directorate-General for Education and Culture says.^[i]

Apart from sector-specific skills, and basic computer knowledge, graduate recruiters believe the following skills to be “very important” in an employee: teamworking skills (67%), communication skills (60%), problem-solving (58%), and decision-making (46%).^[i] Alongside these, planning and organisation, flexibility, and leadership are other important skills employers consider essential.

Various surveys, including the Job Outlook 2016 survey by The National Association of Colleges and Employers^[ii], and survey by LinkedIn^[iii], found that the top skills that employers look for in prospective employees include:

Communication	1	Use verbal and non-verbal indicators to improve communication
Leadership	2	Control and coordinate diverse personalities and tasks for getting the best results
Problem Solving and Decision Making	3	Ability to solve problems and resolve conflicts without negativity
Personal Productivity	4	Prioritise and organise work to maximise productivity
Assertiveness and Self-Confidence	5	To assert yourself without offending others, and express your views positively
Team Communication	6	Know how to work as a team, communicate within a team, and be a team player
Organisational Skills	7	Plan, priortise and organise to handle tasks professionally
Emotional Intelligence	8	To recognise behaviors and moods of others and yourself so as to manage them properly
Time Management	9	Manage time to get more from a day without working more
Critical Thinking	10	Use critical thinking to solve issues