HR experts discuss key skills for landing your next job

AMMAN — Leadership skills, soft skills, communication skills and credibility are essential features to find the right kind of talent that companies want, experts said on Tuesday at a panel discussion at the Talent Forward event in Amman. 

The panel which discussed “The art of attracting the right talent” gathered specialists in human resources to explore how different companies working in various sectors employ and recruit talented employees at the Talent Forward event. 

Speaking at the panel, SVP Internal Control at Pharmacy 1 company Lara Abbassi said that the “right talent” is not only someone qualified but must also be aligned 100 per cent with the goals of the company for growth and business development. 

“At the early stages of the company’s establishment we thought that recruiting A-students and graduates with excellent degrees is the right thing but we discovered that technical skills are not enough for doing the role [of the job]” Abbassi, the company’s HR manager, said. 

While Moatasim Salameh Head of HR of Pepsico Jordan said that his company counts on a leadership model in employing talents that are basically characterised with eagerness for challenges to ensure the growth of the employee along with the company.

Edward Zreik, CHRO of Orange Telecommunications Company said that the gap between the quality of job applicants and the needs of a company makes recruiting the right talent more challenging. 

Salameh stressed that the problem with jobseekers in Jordan lies in the possession of soft skills such as communication skills and English language, especially those with years of expertise. 

Abbassi agreed with Salameh and said that universities fail to teach students these skills, citing the example of a pharmacist’s soft skills that enables him/her to attend to a customer whose baby is crying in the car and provide medical advice in 30 seconds. 

Abbasi noted that companies need to be part of the change by providing students with skills through different educational methods, such as the virtual pharmacy model applied by Pharmacy 1 in various universities that helps the company in attracting the appropriate talent they are looking for. 

Zreik said that recruiters can offer a talented candidate with fewer skills than the required for a job with induction and training.  

However, recruiters found it difficult to distinguish the wrong candidate who passed the recruitment stage due to their good self-marketing skills but had lower than expected performance.

Salameh urged jobseekers to be honest in their resumes and their interviews when it comes to describing their capabilities and competencies. 

Sevan Tchakmakian, HR business partner at Aramex, said that one of the major challenges for employers is to retain the employee who has passed training and has achieved significant career growth within the company. 

The event was organised by Bayt.com, a job site that connects job seekers with employers looking to hire.