The 8 most important professional skills

These are the most valued skills in the professional context, associated with good jobs.

Do you know what we mean when we talk about professional competencies? These are the skills and abilities needed to perform a job effectively. These can be grouped into three categories or groups: core, technical and transversal competencies.

Within each group, although it is true that each field of work gives more importance to some competencies or others, we do find competencies that are more sought after than others in the business sector.

In this article we will learn what each of these three groups of competencies encompasses, and what are the 8 most important professional competencies in general.

The 8 most important professional competencies at work

Professional competencies are those skills, abilities and aptitudes that people have and that allow them to perform a certain type of work successfully.

Professional competencies, in addition, enable the individual to put his or her knowledge and skills into practice in the context of a work environment, and make employees more valued in their industry.They make employees more valued in their sector.

However, we should know that professional competencies are classified into three groups: core competencies, technical competencies and transversal competencies. We will learn, through this classification, the 8 most important professional competencies within each group. We will also see examples of each of them:

1. Core competencies

Basic skills are all the basic knowledge that allows a person to access a certain type of training or employment.. It is the "minimum" that a person must have, in relation to certain knowledge, in order to be able to apply for a training or job.

Examples of basic skills are: knowledge in the use of ICT, knowledge of a certain foreign language, etc.

Although there are many basic skills, let's look at the most important ones (or the most valued by companies, in general):

1.1. Knowledge of foreign languages.

This would be an example of a basic skill, being currently one of the 8 most important professional skills, since nowadays work environments are becoming increasingly internationaland people of multiple nationalities and speaking multiple languages can work in the same job.

So, nowadays, knowing more than one foreign language, offers many points as a candidate for a particular job (especially in skilled sectors).

1.2. Knowledge of ICT (Information and Communication Technology)

In an increasingly technological and digitalized work environment, computer literacy (at least a minimum level) is becoming more and more essential. This extrapolates, logically, to the selection processes in which we are immersed when looking for a job.

Thus, this basic skill would imply knowing how to use a computer, the Internet, e-mail, being able to create an online CV, signing up for job portals, and so on.registering on job portals, etc.

2. Technical skills

Another of the 8 most important professional competences are the technical competences (or hard skills), which are all those skills that are acquired as we are trained in a specific area..

These are job (or sector) specific competencies, i.e. they are very different from one field to another. To understand it better, let's think of a person who has been trained in cooking; a technical competence that he or she should have, at the end of cooking studies, is the mastery of knives, or certain food cooking techniques, for example.

Technical skills are very specific to each fieldIt is therefore difficult to say which are the most important. We have therefore selected three from three different fields of work.

2.1. Marketing: web positioning

One of the most important professional skills, at a technical level, in the marketing sector is SEO. This involves mastering SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques, as well as having the knowledge to design and implement SEM (Search Engine Marketing) campaigns.

2.2. Psychology: administration of psychological tests

A highly sought-after technical skill in the field of psychology involves knowing certain psychological tests (for example, a test to diagnose autism, such as the ADOS-2 or the ADI-R), as well as knowing how to apply them.

To be able to administer certain psychological tests, specific training (and official certificates) are available.

2.3. Computer engineering: knowledge of programming languages

In the field of computer engineering (or programming), one of the 8 most important (and most sought-after) professional skills, at the technical level, is that which involves knowledge of different types of programming languages, such as C++, PHP or Python.. It is understood that we are referring to: knowing, mastering and knowing how to use them.

3. Transversal competences

On the other hand, transversal competencies are those personal characteristics that make a person adapt to a job and also perform it effectively. This type of competency, used in the workplace (but also in other areas), makes it possible to transform knowledge into action. allow transforming a knowledge into an actionThey are highly valued by companies, as they differentiate the professional within his or her sector.

Examples of transversal competencies are: teamwork, initiative, interpersonal skills, effort, willingness to learn, versatility, etc.

The most important transversal professional competencies that appear in this article are the following (although it should be noted that for each sector or job, there will be competencies that are more important or necessary than others).

3.1. Ability to work in a team

It consists of the ability (and willingness) we have as individuals to collaborate with a team in a coordinated collaborate with a team in a coordinated way in the accomplishment of a certain task or in the pursuit of a or in the pursuit of achieving an objective.

This ability can be really useful in the work environment as well as in the academic or even personal environment.

3.2. Capacity for initiative

Initiative is another of the most important professional competencies at a transversal level, and it is an ability that is increasingly valued by companies, as they are generally looking for people who are eager to contribute their ideas and are enterprising.

Initiative consists of the capacity, or ability, to make contributions, propose ideas and try new things.. If these ideas also have the mission of improving the product or service, then we are talking about innovation capacity (another transversal competence).

3.3. Conflict resolution skills

The ability to resolve conflicts (or problems) implies being able to face situations and respond to them, through the application of a certain strategy or resolution method.

It generally involves identifying the problem, making a diagnosis, formulating solutions, implementing them and evaluating the results.. In this sense, companies are looking for professionals who know how to react and act effectively in the face of unforeseen events; in colloquial words, who are able to "pull their own chestnuts out of the fire" at all times and in the face of possible obstacles.