The 4 Skills You Need Most to Make it In the Job Market Today

What are the skills most valued by employers, yet most rare to find in employees?  A recent 2016 job skills report by Bloomberg has the answer.  And it might surprise you.  The most important and hard-to-find qualities that recruiters are looking for are not work experience, ability to work collaboratively....or even analytical thinking.

According to the Bloomberg survey, the 4 rare skills most sought after by employers -- the qualities that are most important, difficult to find and that will set you apart from all other job candidates -- are:

1. Creative Problem Solving
2. Leadership
3. Communication
4. Strategic Thinking

For tech minded individuals, it’s important to note that Communication and Creative Problem Solving are both highly sought after as two of the most important factors in the fields of technology and consulting. These qualities are also among the hardest qualities to find in those sectors.  In fact, Creative Problem Solving is THE most difficult quality to find in Consulting and Technology sectors.

Here at the MTM Program, we produce technology leaders with exactly these rare and sought-after qualities and skill sets.  Our curriculum is highly aligned with the 4 rare skills-- including leadership, strategy, innovation and practicum courses that give students real-world experience in creatively solving challenges.  Communication is key to everything we do, but perhaps most on display at the events of the New Venture Competition, in which student teams pitch their ideas, partner with investors and tech advisors and win cash prizes to continue incubating their companies.  

But don’t take my word for it. Take a look at the Bloomberg interactive data visualizations (which are really cool!) and then compare with the MTM curriculum to see how they align.  I think you’ll be inspired, as I was, to realize that the MTM degree is not just training technology leaders with the skills that they will need to succeed at tech ventures, but it’s also training them in exactly the rare and hard-to-find qualities that employers and recruiters are looking for.  That’s a winning combination!

 

--The Master of Technology Management (MTM) program at UC Santa Barbara is designed to catapult engineers and scientists into leadership positions — within both startups and established companies. This 9-month, intensive program is designed to teach the frameworks, skills, and techniques you need to be a successful technology manager. No fluff, no filler.  The MTM degree will get you further, faster.