Ten skills that employers want

I can admit it now; I  was completely clueless about a lot of things in my first job out of college. From navigating complicated office hierarchies to knowing exactly what to wear in the workplace, and just exactly how I was supposed to figure things out myself when I had no idea what I was doing. It took me a while to understand the etiquette and unspoken rules of the workplace that now seem so obvious.

Of course, I learned with time and would probably not trade my then-naivety for anything else. It did, after all, force me to learn lessons that are so drilled in my head now as a working person. If it wasn’t for my cringeworthy expectation that I was always going to be given clear instructions and then realizing I was wrong, my brain wouldn’t be set to the “automatically anticipate needs” mode that it’s on today. If it wasn’t for me being completely unhappy (and useless) in my first job, I might not have been brave enough to take the plunge and pursue the career that I really wanted.

You already know that asking for help in your job search is a smart thing to do–that’s why you did it. Research suggests that the vast majority of job offers come by networking (no surprise there), but especially through those “weak connections” in your professional circle–that intern manager from a few years back, the marketing exec you met briefly at a conference and forgot to take out for coffee afterward.

Since it’s these sorts of people who actually tend to prove most helpful, it can be tricky to enlist their support. They’re not close friends or colleagues, so they may not have a strong personal stake in seeing you succeed. But many are willing to offer a hand, just as long as you don’t give them reason to regret it. Here are some of the most common ways job seekers wind up stepping on their contacts’ toes or wasting their time, and what it takes to avoid doing so.

All job hunters hear the advice to “stand out,” “be different,” and “separate yourself from the crowd.”

But what exactly does that mean with regard to your job search? Do you send a fruit basket to your interviewer? Record a video of a company cheer you composed? Or maybe you just try to be your “best self”—whatever that means!

Here’s the scoop: You will face competition when applying to most jobs, so the greater the gap you create between you and your fellow applicants, the better. But it’s important to remember that there’s a right way to stand out and a wrong way.