5 qualities all employers look for

By Chris Mayhew

In this tough economic climate there are thousands of people in this country who are still looking for work. Speaking from experience, the most frustrating part of not being able to find a job or being unsuccessful in an interview is the fact that you know full well you would have been great at that job.

Sometimes you just need someone to take a chance on you and give you a break but for them to be willing to do that you need to display some impressive qualities. Here are five main attributes that any employer will find hard to resist if they see you display them.

1. Confidence – This is a tricky one to get across in an interview situation but if you can show that you are confident it will be well received. Confident people are more likely to be able to work under their own initiative and won’t require constant babysitting. Showing this involves nothing more than a good initial first greeting, a strong handshake and an ability to present well worded answers without too much hesitation. There’s no need to overdo it.

2. Resilience – A lot of jobs will involve dealing with a certain amount of failure so it is important that you show a desire to carry on and learn from your mistakes. Failure is part and parcel of life but it’s the way you react to this that employers will be impressed by.

3. Creativity – How creative we are often determines the ability we have to set ourselves apart from others. In any interview situation there are sure to be other candidates vying for the job so it is important to stand out. Employers will love to hear about the new and inventive ways you approach your work and the problems it may throw up. Creativity is also linked to team work. Creative people are more likely to be able to throw ideas around amongst a team and use other peoples’ input as well as their own to nurture an idea from conception to finished product.

4. Attention to detail – This is another good way of standing out in comparison to other candidates. There will always be a large number of people that are good at the obvious, core techniques that will mainly be used for the job, they wouldn’t have gotten to the interview stage otherwise, but there will be significantly less who display a sense a detail. Use examples from previous jobs or other areas of your life to show that you take notice of the finer areas resulting in great success.

5. Loyalty – Believe it or not most employers don’t enjoy having to conduct regular interviews. They would much rather have a loyal work force and not have to waste time by constantly having to hire and train new staff. Show them that you are a loyal person who will be committed to the course even if it gets tough. Give relevant examples of when you have shown loyalty in the past and let them know how important getting the job is to you.

Chris Mayhew writes here on behalf of Now Go Create. They specialise in improving creative thnking and brainstorm facilitation for businesses by offering a range of training exercises and workshops.