What are employers looking for? What skills do they seek in job applicants? What is it that convinces an employer to hire, or promote one person over another?

Questions like these are not easy to answer. Probably because there are as many answers as there are employers - and jobs.

Nonetheless, The Conference Board of Canada's Employability Skills Profile sheds some light on the topic -at least on part of it.

Early in the 1990s. senior executives from corporate Canada, from companies such as Noranda Forest Inc., CP Rail, Bell Canada and Inco Limited put their heads together and came up with an outline of the ideal job applicant. It was the basis of a report from the Conference Board called, The Employability Skills Profile: What Are Employers Looking For? The profile was updated in 2000.

Many people are confused and uncertain about the future now. And there's a lot of anxiety around as we attempt to anticipate the needs of the job market and use that information to develop our own training goals.

Educators, as well, working as they do to frame relevant training programs, want to know what the job market needs, what skills are required.

This Conference Board study was initially targeted at educators and intended to open dialogue between teachers, parents and young people about the skills most in demand in today's workplace. Despite its educational focus, however, the profile developed by these 25 employers has broad implications for everyone.

The Employability Skills Profile doesn't include labour force projections or specific job related skills. It doesn't look at how many accountants will be needed in 1995. Nor does it examine the skills mechanics need to deal with computerized car maintenance systems.

What it attempts to do is cut across all occupations and fields to define a set of universal skills that make people trainable, that give people "the foundation to develop and grow throughout their lives," according to MaryAnn McLaughlin who researched and wrote the report for the Conference Board.

"We were looking for skills that would apply no matter where a person wanted to work," McLaughlin says. "Whether as a social planner, or a cook, or an engineer."

Here's what McLaughlin's research indicated:

• Employers stress the importance of life-long learning and want to hire people who feel the same way.
• They look for people who communicate well, listen carefully and who understand, speak and write effectively "in the languages in which business is conducted."
• They want workers who think clearly, assess critically, act logically, and make decisions; people with mathematical abilities who can solve problems.
• They are looking for people who can "use technology, instruments, tools and information systems ... and can access and apply specialized knowledge from fields such as skilled trades, technology, arts and sciences and the physical sciences."
• People who feel good about themselves and who know how to manage their lives well and with integrity are high on an employer's list. Employers respond to applicants with positive attitudes and people who behave in positive ways. They're attracted to potential employees who have personal ethics and who display initiative and persistence.
• Today's employers want to hire people who take responsibility, who are accountable. They want people who set goals and priorities and who plan and manage their own time.
• They want adaptable employees who think creatively and who work successfully in a team. They want their employees to automatically include others in their decision making process and to show respect for the opinions and concerns of co-workers.

So, there you have it, an employer's wish list. It's a long list and a tall order. It's hard to imagine one person embodying all the characteristics employers say they want. Nor is there any indication of what these employers are prepared to offer should they ever stumble across a perfect job candidate.

Nonetheless, the profile provides a graphic glimpse of the self-management skills that employers in major corporations feel people need to successfully compete in their workplaces.

For a detailed list of the Employability Skills Profile 2000+ go to:
http://www.conferenceboard.ca/education/learning-tools/pdfs/esp2000.pdf

Or, contact The Conference Board of Canada, 255 Smyth Road, Ottawa, K1H 8M7.
www.conferenceboard.ca