What are the top ten most important skills that employers want?

Based on a number of surveys on the skills required by graduates undertaken by Microsoft, Target Jobs, the BBC, Prospects, NACE and AGR and other organisations, here is our summary of the skills which were most often deemed important.

VERBAL COMMUNICATION	1	Able to express your ideas clearly and confidently in speech
TEAMWORK	2	Work confidently within a group
COMMERCIAL AWARENESS	3	Understand the commercial realities affecting the organisation.
ANALYSING & INVESTIGATING	4	Gather information systematically to establish facts & principles. Problem solving.
INITIATIVE/SELF MOTIVATION	5	Able to act on initiative, identify opportunities & proactive in putting forward ideas & solutions
DRIVE	6	Determination to get things done. Make things happen & constantly looking for better ways of doing things.
WRITTEN COMMUNICATION	7	Able to express yourself clearly in writing
PLANNING & ORGANISING	8	Able to plan activities & carry them through effectively
FLEXIBILITY	9	Adapt successfully to changing situations & environments
TIME MANAGEMENT	10	Manage time effectively, prioritising tasks and able to work to deadlines.
Other skills that were also seen as important
GLOBAL SKILLS		Able to speak and understand other languages. Appreciation of other cultures. See
NEGOTIATING & PERSUADING		Able to influence and convince others, to discuss and reach agreement.
LEADERSHIP		Able to motivate and direct others
NUMERACY		Multiply & divide accurately, calculate percentages, use statistics & a calculator, interpret graphs & tables.
COMPUTING SKILLS		Word-processing, using databases, spreadsheets, the Internet & email, designing web pages etc.
SELF AWARENESS		Awareness of achievements, abilities, values & weaknesses & what you want out of life.
PERSONAL IMPACT/CONFIDENCE		Presents a strong, professional, positive image to others which inspires confidence & commands respect.
LIFELONG LEARNING		Continues to learn throughout life. Develops the competencies needed for current & future roles
STRESS TOLERANCE		Maintains effective performance under pressure
INTEGRITY		Adheres to standards & procedures, maintains confidentiality and questions inappropriate behaviour.
INDEPENDENCE		Accepts responsibility for views & actions and able to work under their own direction & initiative.
DEVELOPING PROFESSIONALISM		Pays care & attention to quality in all their work. Supports & empowers others.
ACTION PLANNING		Able to decide what steps are needed to achieve particular goals and then implement these.
DECISION-MAKING		Determines the best course of action. Evaluates options based on logic & fact & presents solutions
INTERPERSONAL SENSITIVITY		Recognises & respects different perspectives. Open to the ideas & views of others
CREATIVITY		Generates & applying new ideas & solutions