How to be a global job candidate

Language skills are back in vogue with Chinese, French and Arabic the three most in demand languages after English amongst the international candidate jet set.

That’s the message from recruitment giant Hays after it quizzed its clients in 31 countries.

Speaking to CareerOne.com.au from Melbourne, Australian-based Hays director Nick Deligiannis said a total of 10 skills were on the must-have list for those wanting to compete in the international talent market.

Soft skills such as communication sit alongside hard skills such as procurement and negotiation for short listed candidates.

“Talent shortages are a global problem,” Mr Deligiannis explains. “For anyone considering their career options in our globalised economy, these are the skills to focus on.

“Our list is broken down by soft and hard (job-specific) skills and it shows there is a common global perception that candidates do not have a sufficient standard of soft skills. In terms of hard skills, current economic circumstances and long-term demographic trends are driving demand.”

Mr Deligiannis says the best way to communicate your hot skills is to use real life examples from your work history.

He says employers will want to know what the issues were and then how you tackled the issues drawing on specific skills as well as the outcome of your efforts. He does warn that candidates need to be mindful of commercial confidentiality and business etiquette around discretion when answering questions.

Mr Deligiannis adds that while certifications and degrees serve as proof of your qualifications, real life examples are the sort of evidence candidates need to put forward.

The top ten skills for the mobile careerist are:

Soft Skills

Language skills

Mr Deligiannis says employers are increasingly looking for language skills in addition to English. Not surprisingly, spoken Mandarin, also called Putonghua, is the number one language in demand. Written language skills would be a bonus. Other languages in order of demand are French, Arabic, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Japanese, German, Italian, Korean and Turkish

People & Communication

An ability to build relationships, collaborate with a team or external people and an ability to present to senior management and clients are all important. Think of concrete examples of where you have done all of these things in your career and document to use in interviews.

Team management and leadership

Mr Deligiannis says there is a shortage of these skills across all industries and sectors. The GFC and continuing economic uncertainty has seen a decline in investment in education and training that could be the reason why these skills are in short supply.

Candidates with the appropriate education might have an advantage but again, real life examples of where you have managed a team with a good result (just managing a team is not enough) or lead a project that came in on time and under budget would be the examples you would want to promote to an employer.

Organisational

Given the current global economic conditions, employers want staff capable of organising their day efficiently to make the greatest possible contribution to the business and add the greatest value.

Hard Skills

Financial and budgetary: An increasing number of organisations are looking for greater financial and budgetary awareness, but in many countries outside Australia there is a shortage of local candidates with these skills.

IT: Specific IT skills that in short supply globally include JAVA, .NET and C++ as well as IT skills specific to individual industries. Even for those working outside of an dedicated IT role, understanding how technology drives business success is important.

“Understanding the link between how technology is used in your business to make sound commercial judgements is important,” says Mr Deligiannis.

Green skills:  A fairly new and growing area Mr Deligiannis says roles in particular demand in Australia and elsewhere include environmental engineers, ecologists and scientists. The construction industry has a particular demand for green skills.

Procurement & negotiation: As businesses seek to cut costs and make savings, demand is soaring for skilled professionals capable of making these savings and getting the best deals.

Research & development (R&D): Technology, consumer goods, industrial and life science companies all foresee severe R&D skill shortages.

Healthcare: As people live longer, the requirement for healthcare grows and the lack of healthcare professionals is cited as a major threat to the global economy over the next 20 to 50 years.