The Real Must-Have Job Skills For 2013
by Ron Shevlin
A Wall Street Journal article titled Must-Have Job Skills in 2013 asserts:
“For employees who want to get ahead, basic competency won’t be enough. To win a promotion there are four must-have job skills: 1) Clear communications; 2) Personal branding; 3) Flexibility; and 4) Productivity improvement.”
My take: Total and utter nonsense.
Let’s use me as an example to prove the fallacy of the article.
1. Clear communications. Perhaps this is a bit bombastic and egotistical (but really, what did you expect from me?), but I’m the best communicator in my company, and our job is communication. I’m the best writer among the analyst staff, and probably the best presenter.
2. Personal branding. I’m the most quoted analyst in my company, and my blog was voted 2nd best banking blog. That’s pretty good personal branding in my book. Happy to take on any of my colleagues who think their personal brand is stronger.
3. Flexibility. Tough attribute to measure quantitatively. Willing to give myself just an average grade on this.
4. Productivity improvement. The WSJ article says “In 2013, workers should find new ways to increase productivity.” No problem here. Two years running now, I’ve published the most reports of any analyst at my firm, blowing away the goal.
