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Employer Quotes
The quotes below are from employers in this industry: Financial Services
They are talking about this topic: Occupation-Specific Skills
The quotes below are about this issue:
Employers mention that candidates with a variety of both general and occupation-specific skills are most marketable.
| "I think long-term we're a succession organization, so we always need those people driving to get to the top. We need that driven ability and we need people with good accounting skills, good people skills, and good sales skills." | Central |
| "Educator: This is super interesting to me. I'm really glad I'm here, and I want to say that there's a temptation from the university point of view...that there's a conflict between majors and Liberal Arts curriculum. There's a tendency to have the majors grow and grow and grow and shift Liberal Arts curriculum to online. I think your soft skills are not going to be developed if you increase through, let's say, one more course in software or one more course in a technical area because that means you're getting one less class in literature or one less class in critical thinking. So, I just wanted us to think about what happens if you force young people—particularly at schools where you're taking working-class kids and turning them into middle-class kids—if they are taking their first two years online where they're not meeting professors and they're not learning how to have those soft skills. Those are learned in classrooms, in small groups, and in office conversations with the professors. So, I think we need to bear that in mind. We're talking about preparing students to succeed in business, but some of that is learned in small classes where maybe a working-class kid for the first time is meeting that educated faculty member, meeting people from around the world. So, I think we need to think about that as we move forward as a higher education institution. How do we maintain those soft skills? How do we maintain funding for the core function of the university the first two years, where you learn to read, where you learn to write, where you learn to listen, and how do we keep students in the classroom rather than sitting behind a desk and not interacting?" |
Metro |
| "I had never thought of that, but he's right. Those soft skills just make or break someone, and my comment about whether I have trouble hiring accountants or bookkeepers, and the answer is usually no. But the problem in my industry—because most people in nonprofit, of course, aren't accountants or finance people—they're psychologists and chemical-health counselors. And accountants and their worlds don't mesh very well. So, they have to have those soft skills to be able to work with people that don't think like them, and so you're right. That was just really fascinating." | Metro |
| "Employer 1: I feel for you, because I hire a lot of people that...because banking is changing—it used to be financial transactions and now they're expected to do sales—and there's a whole lot of the population that doesn't want to do sales. Employer 2: Absolutely. Employer 1: Plus, it's kind of counterintuitive to the other skills. People who are good at sales don't necessarily want to do detail work, and people that do detail work don't necessarily want to do sales. So that seems to be a dropping-off point; I get people that come in and say that they don't want to do the sales part of it. Employer 2: You need a lot of skills to be successful." |
Metro |
| "Employer 1: I would like to ask you about the critical thinking skills? And how important is it for the IT people to be able to communicate and have soft skills? Employer 2: Very. They need to have the communication skills and they need to have the critical thinking skills to be able to take a business problem and develop a technology solution. I mean, they're working in teams, but that is still a critical point. Employer 1: And for us, they also have to have the communication skills, and I would say leadership skills, too." |
Metro |
| "Interviewer: Okay, imagine I'm applying today for this job. What are you looking for in my resume? For software skills? Employer 1: Programming classes, transferable programming classes or languages, math classes, and math skills. Interviewer: So, you want calculus and beyond? Employer 1: Yes. Employer 2: And GPA. Employer 1: And, yes, we obviously look at GPA. Employer 2: Yeah, we look at 3.5 and above. Employer 1: Yes, 3.5 and above." |
Metro |
| "The way that we look at it right now is how can we multi-task them? Not only do they have to do transaction-oriented items, but we want them to be very much socialized. And we want them to provide referrals and act kind of as a sales lead to the next person. So, really getting out from behind the counter and doing transaction after transaction after transaction. And really understanding that consumer, that consumer experience, and how can that feed into our other divisions? We have a mortgage division. We have an investment services division. We just launched our own insurance agency. So, how can we use that contact at the front-line for them to have a better understanding and critical thinking of who they are talking to? And what would be the next best product or service for this member as they're making a deposit or whatever the minor transaction is? So, being really analytical and looking at—going back to your point earlier in terms of data analytics—that's a huge portion of our world, too. Understanding those analytics behind the scene, but how can we give them a glimpse up-front of what would be the next best product when they're live, physical, in our branch location? And then directing them to a particular person in that division." | Metro |
| "I think that's where our shortage usually is—in those soft skills. If they're doing everything online and not having the ability to take classes that are more interactive and that have a team environment and that create the opportunity to work in small groups, then that's something that we have to teach once they get here. And we don't want to take the time to do that. We expect that that should be a part of their learning environment prior to getting to us. Understanding prioritization, time management, leadership—all of those things that I think are very core in the first couple of years at school—and if they're doing everything online, they're not getting that interaction with their counterparts. They're not learning how to work with others that may not work the same way that they work. So, that's a huge component." |
Metro |