Verbal Communication Is the Top Skill for New Grads

Verbal Communication Is the Top Skill for New Grads Verbal communication tops the list of skills employers look for in recent college grads. In fact, a recent survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) reports that verbal communication outranks both the ability to work in a gruppe and the ability to make decisions and solve problems the two skills that tied for first place in last years version of the survey.Why is verbal communication so valuable to todays employers? Communication is directly linked to productivity, making it quite possibly one of the most critical skills for any candidate to have.Imagine youre in a sales role. Effective communication is going to play a crucial part in winning and maintaining accounts. If youre an internal management candidate, your ability to communicate goals to your team andyour ability to effectively communicate with cross-functional teams aretied to your success.Think about it this wa y If you have to keep explaining things to people due to poor communication skills, productivity will ultimately go down. Your team may have started attacking a project one way, only to be forced to switch gears once the communication is finally understood. The project will certainly get done, but was the completion of the project delayed? Absolutely, and in todays 24/7 work environment, the phrase time is money rings truer than it has atany previous point in business history.Poor communication skillscan also cause a lot of frustration on both sides. Managers may end up seeing their teams as lazy or not capable of taking direction, and team members may start to feel resentful of being told they didnt understand the objectives and now have to spend valuable time correcting the project. Over time, these seemingly small things cancause talented people to leave jobs theyd otherwise have loved to stay in.Communication Skills The Packaging That Makes the DifferenceBut back to our job seek ers. Think of how you buy products. You read reviews and you look at the price. Things that tip the scales, however, are usually things like great packaging. You may not end up buying theproduct,but you certainly cant help being drawn to somethingingeniously packaged.Dont ever forget that you, the job seeker, are the product. Someone is going to look at your reviews in the form of references and, of course, the price has to be right. But your packaging might just be the thing that gets you hired over another equally qualified candidate.High-level verbal communication undeniably elevates you in the eyes of potential employers. For example, if you share the same idea as another candidate, but you do so much more effectively and powerfully, youll come out on top.Whats Holding Your Communication Skills Back?The biggest factor that can damage the communication skills of an otherwise well-spoken candidate is nerves. Practicing is the best way to overcome this particular obstacle. Most co llege career centers will have someone who can help with mock vorstellungsgesprchs. Use that resourcefor all its worth.The second biggest factor is unpreparedness otherwise known as winging it. The more in command you are of your content, the more effectively youll be able to communicate. Unfortunately, candidates make the mistake of not preparing for interviews because, well, its their experience. How could they not be in command of answers to questions about their own work history?However, when faced with specific questions that really go deep, its pretty easy to get flustered if you havent really thought about how to communicate your experience in very detailed terms.Interestingly enough, realizing that youve underprepared in an interview tends to make you nervous. So even if you arent naturally nervous, a lack of preparation may have you sweating in your seat.The interview isnt the place for you to test out material. Its not open mic night. Practice as much as you can with a fe w different people. Thatis the best way to build a consensus regarding your answers and what you can do to fix them.If you really struggle with nerves or putting together your thoughts, try a public speaking class. Many classes also tackle persuasive speech, so youll not only be comfortable talking in the interview, but you also just might convince the interviewer to hire you. The benefits will stay with you forever.Michele Mavi isAtrium Staffings resident career expert.