On the hunt for a new job in the Windy City? Here’s a bit of insight into what execs are looking for.
The folks at the University of Phoenix engaged in a study that took a look at what execs in Chicago, Philadelphia and L.A. are looking for when they hire new employees, and it produced some interesting results. According to the research, the top five skills that employers look for in a potential employee are:
- The ability to analyze and synthesize new skills
- The ability and willingness to learn
- Critical thinking and problem solving
- Interpersonal communication
- Collaboration
The execs from all three cities overwhelming agreed that those five skills were most important when finding new employees, but the similarities didn’t end there. All three cities surprisingly cited “social media and online communication skills” as the least important skill. Although 32% of Chicago execs thought it was an important skill (no doubt thanks to our growing tech and startup community), only 17% of Philadelphia employers saw it as a necessary skill. “Project management” and “software skills and business processes” also rated surprisingly low, rounding out the bottom three.
Are you looking to add these skills to a startup in need? Check out some Chicago startups, or learn more about Google’s new initiative to support entrepreneurs.
