What Skills Matter in a Job?

1994 AIP study: 1000's of physicists in industry, government and academe ranked skills used most frequently in their jobs:

A 1996 NAS report on Careers in Science & Engineering identified non-technical skills essential to "survival:"

• Communication skills include clarity of expression
  ability to organize thoughts
  empathy for & interest in lives/interests of others.
  
• Communication skills will be used to:
  • Find a job; a potential employer wants you to work effectively with all colleagues;
  • Sell your ideas to others, without a technical background;
  • Describe projects/ideas to customers, press or public.
  
  
• Writing is a subset of communication skills,
  • Without the benefit of face-to-face encounter to answer questions and to use your personality.
  • Where ideas must be tailored for specific audience: in terms of quality/clarity & organization/presentation.
  
  
• The other skills -- teaching, mentoring, teamwork and leadership -- all rely on communication skills.

Note: useful reference on communication skills. reference on