HELPFUL RESOURCES

Soft skills are defined as personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people. So how are these skills going to help you land a job or even a promotion? Let's find out!

Creativity.  Collaboration.  Adaptability.

These are just three of the soft skills employers are looking for and showing you have them could be the difference between whether get the job or not. LinkedIn Learning created a list of the top soft skills employers find most valuable. Rounding out the top five are persuasion and time management.

Creativity

When you think of ‘creative’ people usually artists, musicians or authors come to mind. But you can be creative in business as well. Think about how most people can be taught how to do a job. A creative person, however, looks at how to do the job better, perhaps in a way that has not been tried yet. A good example is the number of apps that are available to do so many things. For example, it took a creative person to say, what if we made an app so it would be easier for people to track what they eat? Seeing a need and figuring out a better way to meet the need is creativity at its best. Stefan Mumaw, author of six books on creativity, says creativity can be learned, just like any other skill. So if you are looking for ways to increase your creativity, you can try Mumaw’s Creativity Bootcamp training session.  Or you can just begin to think about innovative and better ways to do the same things you have been doing, challenging your mind to find a more “creative” solution.

Many people are uncomfortable with negotiating for a salary. Regardless of the reason, there will come a time when you feel the need to negotiate a salary and these tips should help you navigate the process and come to an agreement with an employer.

First, you need to do your research.

There are numerous websites, like Salary.com, Payscale, Glassdoor, which can give you the high, median and low wages for the position you’re considering. They will also narrow down the wage scale to your geographic area. You can then compare your skills and experience and see where your salary ought to be in order to be competitive in your market.

You can also check the Bureau of Labor Statistics for industry-specific wage information.

Next, you should calculate the minimum amount you’re willing to accept.

Remember, this is just a guideline to help you narrow down your options, as salary is not the only consideration when deciding whether or not to accept a position.  Knowing your bottom line will allow you to remove yourself from consideration if you can reasonably calculate that the job offer will not be close to meeting your needs.

Networking events are great ways to learn about new opportunities, make important connections and grow professionally.

But for many people, they’re intimidating – primarily because you don’t know what to say, or how to start a conversation, especially if you don’t know anyone else in the room.

Remember, the goal is for both of you to talk about yourselves and get to know each other. And if you ask the standard “what do you do” question, you’ll get a canned response. So here are some ideas from ProStaff, Top Resume and Business Insider that can help you creatively break the ice.

General

There are some general questions that will serve you well at a networking – or any – event, and they’re easy to remember:

Did you know that the State of Ohio has a comprehensive job portal called OhioMeansJobs? It is a great place for resources that you should be taking advantage of! Each county in the state also has a local physical center where individuals can use various services. Whether online or in the local offices, you can search for jobs, find information about in-demand careers, partake in training and career planning and even search for schools and scholarships for your training. In Wood County, the OhioMeansJobs Center is part of Job and Family Services in Bowling Green.  In Lucas County, it’s called Work Ready Lucas County (formerly The Source) and it’s in downtown Toledo. If you need to find a specific center, you can use this map. Two of the best services that the centers provide are job training assistance, and resume and interview assistance. Let's discuss how these can help!