Graduate Jobs: Glossary of Terms

Soft skills - The group of personality traits, social graces, communication and language skills, personal habits, friendliness, and optimism that characterise relationships with other people. Screening or training for personal habits or traits, such as dependability and conscientiousness, can bring significant return on investment for an organisation. For this reason, soft skills are increasingly sought out by employers, in addition to standard qualifications.

1. Communication Skills – ability to communicate orally, in writing, or via electronic means, in a way appropriate to the audience.
2. Professionalism – the ability to present oneself appropriately to an audience, both in attitude and appearance.
3. Business Etiquette – all about interacting with people, conveying the right image and behaving in an appropriate way for your environment. This is relevant to your appearance, humor and sensitivity, emails, mobile phones, work phone, meetings and respect/admiration for your co-workers.
4. Innovation – referring to a new way of thinking or completing a task. Bringing a new vision to an old concept or simply coming up with a new concept of your own.
5. Self-awareness – literally, consciousness of oneself. Where you are in your career, professional development and personal growth.
6. Commercial Awareness – a candidate's general knowledge of business and their understanding of the industry they're applying to join. This includes frequently reviewing newspaper articles, and online web content related to your specific industry or field.
7. Mentoring– a senior colleague who acts as a counsellor and provides advice on professional development and career opportunities.
8. Coaching – includes directing, instructing and training either a person or group of people with the intention of assisting them to achieve a specific skill or goal.
9. Leadership – the ability to influence individuals or a group of people towards the accomplishment of common tasks or goals.
10. Key Strengths – certain skills of an individual related to the positive contribution to a role or an environment. These can be either professional or personal.
11. Transferrable Skills – any skill or skills (attitudes or behaviors) that can be transformed across many professional fields . (also see "soft skills")
    1. Managing time
    2. Ability to multi-task
    3. Delegate responsibility
    4. Motivating others
    5. Train or teach others
12. Ad hoc – Latin meaning "specifically for the purpose of". Can often describe a solution designed for a specific problem or task and usually on a temporary basis. Example: a group of people put together as a committee to implement a new office strategy would be referred to as an "ad hoc" committee.
13. Personal Brand – an individual's reputation, standing or public perception as developed through a consistent attitude or behaviour. This includes, but is not limited to, the body, clothing, image and knowledge contained within. Your brand isn't your marketing. It's how people view every single thing you do.
14. Interpersonal Skills – often measured within business context, a person's ability to operate within a business environment through social communication and interaction.
15. Numeracy Skills – ability to reason with numbers and other mathematical concepts. Comfortable with logic and deductive reasoning.