At my college, we liked to joke that majoring in Communications was an easy way out. After all, Communications majors are just learning to do something that college graduates do naturally, right?
Apparently not.
When I asked 551 employers about what skills they look for while hiring young college graduates, sixty-two percent of my respondents indicated that the Ability to Communicate was "Critical". Only 11 respondents thought the skill was less than "Important" in their hiring decision. Also, sixty-six percent of respondents marked the Ability to Communicate as one of the top three skills it is important for job applicants to be good at.
If 66% of my survey respondents felt the need to emphasize that the Ability to Communicate is so important, it is likely that many job applicants do not excel at it. For that reason, a job applicant's Ability to Communicate can frequently make the difference in whether they are hired for a job or not.
Imagine that you are an employer who must sort through many prospective job applicants who have similar educational backgrounds and skills. On paper, all the applicants appear to be the same. So how do you decide?
Most likely, you'll bring each candidate for an interview and give them a brief chance to showcase their unique strengths verbally. There you'll observe to see how the interviewee "really is". Are they confident, arrogant, or very meek? How well do they listen to what you say? What does their body posture and non-verbal signals say about them?
And those quick impressions are tremendously important because you, as the interviewer, will be deciding during that brief interaction how well that job applicant will fit into your organization. Will they get along with others? Can they work effectively in a team? How well will the applicant follow instructions? How well will they keep their supervisors updated on any projects they do? If your organization operates between different cultures, how well will the applicant manage to further understanding between different groups? Is this person the kind of employee you want to interact with your customers? Are they able to work independently? Can you trust them?
Seem like a lot to think about? Of course! But that's why the Ability to Communicate with Others is so important to employers! Everything from the status of customer relationships to workplace environments to workplace communication depends on an employee's ability to express themselves and absorb information from others both verbally and non-verbally.
A bad communicator can do a lot of damage in many, many areas of an organization. An excellent communicator, on the other hand, will stand out from the crowd and impress potential employers greatly.
Dying to know what makes a great communicator? Stay tuned... I'll continue this post on Wednesday!
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