What makes you marketable?

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Over the past few weeks, My husband Alex and I have experienced a whirlwind of job changes. Alex was recently offered a new position as a team leader. He started that position and is quickly learning new things, experiencing being a leader and is in the process of hiring new team members.  It has been a great transition for him in his career. I have also transitioning to a new position by taking the tasks I do daily and moving them to the operations department.

This process brought to mind the question, what makes someone marketable?  While we were reviewing our resumes, we made suggestions that would make each other stand out so a hiring manager would be more prone to selecting our resume. We found great tips that may be beneficial to you as you search for a new job:

Communication skills - Communication is defined as 'the act or process of using words, sounds, signs, or behaviors to express or exchange information or to express your ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc., to someone else'.  Workplace communication can occur in many ways: words, emails, meetings, memos, instant messages or notes. It is important to have these skills before you enter the workforce. Make sure to always remain professional and keep your audience in mind.

Personality - From the second you step foot into an interview, to coworker luncheons, to meetings - your personality will be what sticks out. Do not hide behind your insecurities, be proud of the person that you are.

Be willing to work any job - When I started looking for jobs graduating from college, I found that I was not qualified for many of them, even entry level positions. After searching, I realized that I needed to start somewhere. My first position was an administrative assistant. I started by opening mail, organizing schedules, ordering office supplies and answering phones. As I proved myself, my boss gave me more responsibilities which led me to be able to accept other positions in the future.  You have to start somewhere and it is important to always work hard. One day you may be ordering lunches, but be the best person to ever order lunches.

Adaptability - Managers love employees that will do whatever is needed. Try to be flexible with your daily schedule and make yourself available to others. I have learned many new things by asking for more tasks and it increases my superiors' trust in my skills.

Computer skills - We live in an age where using a computer or mobile device every day is the norm. To be a success in the workforce, I believe that it is important to know how to use a computer. A few key items are mail merges on Word; using the many features of Outlook including meeting invites, adding signatures, and creating rules; and understanding basic excel functions. Webucator offers free online classes on Microsoft Office to help you on your path to success.

This post was written in partnership with Webucator.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.