E-business manager skills for your resume and career

First, I would not recommend a gap year. One of the skills that is critically important, regardless of the time period, is adaptability. Learning how to adapt to the circumstances around you is a skill that is valued in the workplace, regardless of the year. This is a key part of problem solving. Solving problems with the conditions and resources on hand will prepare you for a lifelong success in any field. As a graduate develops a reputation for problem solving, they emerge as a "go to" employee and will be seen by others as a leader, in their department or company.

Technical skills are often industry and/or position specific. Applicants should highlight any technical skills related to the position advertisement and those that add value to the position/organization. Most importantly, requirements for technical skills change with time and technological advances. This means employers value workers capable of adapting to change and continually improving and acquiring new technical skills. Thus, it's usually more important to demonstrate you are capable of learning and developing technical skills than it is to have a specific skill set upon hire (although this is not true for some positions/industries).
That said, technical skills related to online presentations, virtual meetings, virtual networking, remote working and the like are hot commodities right now. While most organizations were in the process of adopting many of these technologies and ways of doing business pre-pandemic, the pandemic accelerated the process. Organizations are making it work, but they often don't know best practices or the most efficient means of working in the largely virtual, pandemic environment. Post-pandemic, many of the remote/virtual changes the pandemic brought will stay in some form. Technical skills that support this type of workplace will make applicants stand out to many employers because they need/want to do virtual/remote business better.

Soft skills or conceptual skills are critical in today's business world. Lack of such interpersonal skills is a major reason highly qualified professionals are not promoted (Lee, n.d.)

As a former recruiter for Xerox Corporation, I looked for problem-solving, decision-making, and time management skills. Problem-solving supports creativity allowing workers to evaluate and prioritize options to determine the best solution. Much time and money can be wasted in selecting the wrong option.

Proper decision-making allows companies to quickly react to internal problems, customer concerns, changing market trends, and the use of ever-advancing technology in the workplace. The increased use of empowerment in the workplace, which has been enhanced due to the pandemic, has allowed employees to make more decisions, which requires strong decision-making capability. In addition, the pandemic has caused many businesses to use alternate work structures such as working from home, leading to less direct supervision. Consequently, employers are looking for people who are self-motivated, self-directed, and who employ good time management skills.

Teamwork is one of the most commonly required skills in the work environment. The ability to work together is essential. Due to downsizing, there are fewer managers within companies. Since few individuals possess all the knowledge and skills needed, teamwork has become essential. Getting along and working together to achieve objectives and meet deliverables is critical to project completion. Managers are also looking to teams to provide a greater range of ideas and innovation. Teams can also motivate each other for the timely completion of tasks.

Conflict management enhances decision-making abilities and increases creativity which produces innovative solutions for ongoing problems. The ability to handle conflict productively helps solve problems resulting in demoralization, absenteeism, and turnover. Productive resolution of such problems leads to increased trust and increased employee involvement.

For those aspiring to management positions, leadership is key. Leaders need to promote the company's mission and vision among their subordinates. They need to influence employees to achieve goals by motivating them, resulting in a higher level of performance. This type of leadership is paramount in today's marketplace for company advancement, expansion, and survival.

Other important soft skills include verbal and written communication, persuasive skills, negotiation, and listening skills. Communication is vital to company performance. The ability of company personnel to communicate clearly, succinctly, and accurately will increase productivity. Good communication requires being observant of both verbal and nonverbal signals.

Persuasion and negotiation, two other soft skills, require good listening skills. In today's work environment, employees are no longer subject to a hierarchical structure, a structure of non-questioning of their manager's requests. This requires managers to be more persuasive. Negotiation is practiced by all of us on a day-to-day basis, and more so in business. Strong negotiation skills are essential internally (managers and employees) and externally (sales negotiations, contract negotiations, etc.).

We often forget the skill of listening, as most of us prefer to talk rather than listen. However, it is essential to understand what your company and customers want. This is not just "hearing" but actually practicing listening skills by asking questions, confirming content heard, and providing feedback. Listening requires effort; it requires concentration and attention to what is being said.

Most technical skills required in today's marketplace are associated with task requirements in specific functional areas. However, some skillsets can be considered general, such as using Word, Excel, or Zoom. Technical skills relevant to social media are also critical. The ability to construct a web page and post on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter is essential. For [CBC1] functional areas, examples of needed technical expertise would be Microsoft Project for project management and SAP for supply chain management.