# Business Skills List: What Employers Look For First Canonical URL: https://headwayskills.com/knowledge/soft-skills-at-work/business-skills-list/ Markdown URL: https://headwayskills.com/knowledge/soft-skills-at-work/business-skills-list.md Entity type: Article Last updated: 2026-07-07 Language: en Primary audience: professionals improving communication at work Owner: Headway Skills Contact: https://headwayskills.com/contact/ ## Short answer A business skills list in order of what employers screen for: problem-solving, communication, teamwork and more, plus how to prove each one on a resume. ## Key facts - Title: Business Skills List: What Employers Look For First - Category: Soft Skills at Work - Primary skill: Communication - Related skills: Influence, Decision-Making - Primary keyword: business skills list - Source page: https://headwayskills.com/knowledge/soft-skills-at-work/business-skills-list/ ## What this page covers - A business skills list in order of what employers screen for: problem-solving, communication, teamwork and more, plus how to prove each one on a resume. - Practical guidance for business skills list - How this topic connects to Communication ## Detailed explanation A business skills list has two halves. The technical half (financial literacy, data analysis, project management, sales and marketing basics) changes with the role. The people half (problem-solving, communication, teamwork, persuasion, initiative, organization and professionalism) applies in almost every job, and it is the half employers check first. That second point matters if you are about to [write a resume](/knowledge/soft-skills-at-work/career-skills-resume/) or prepare for interviews. A long list of buzzwords will not help you much. What helps is knowing which skills carry the most weight, and what counts as proof of each. The order below follows what employers actually look for, and the top of it may not be where you expect. ## The business skills list, in order of what employers look for ### 1. Problem-solving and decision-making According to NACE's Job Outlook 2025 survey, nearly 90% of employers look for evidence that a graduate can solve problems. That puts it ahead of every other attribute they screen for. The reason is practical: an early-career job is full of situations nobody has scripted, and no one will hand you the answer. Employers want to know you can work out a sound course of action on your own. In day-to-day work, problem-solving is mostly decision-making. You need to know [what you are allowed to decide](/knowledge/decision-making/decision-making-authority/), get a second opinion before a big call, use data where you have it, and accept "good enough" when perfect would take too long. On a resume, the word alone proves nothing. One example does: a problem you faced, the option you chose, and why. ### 2. Communication More than three-quarters of employers in the same NACE survey look for evidence of good communication skills. In a business setting, that mostly means everyday writing and talking: emails that lead with the main point, contributions in meetings that are brief and clear, and listening well enough to understand what a colleague or client actually needs. The notable detail is how much of this is routine. Writing a [formal email to someone senior](/knowledge/working-with-your-manager/how-to-write-email-to-senior-management-sample/), inviting an outside guest to a meeting, summarizing a decision for people who weren't there: these tasks look simple once you know how, and almost nobody is taught them. Strong communicators have usually just practiced them more. ### 3. Teamwork Roughly 80% of employers in NACE's Job Outlook 2025 survey seek candidates with strong teamwork skills. Business results almost always come through other people, so technical ability only pays off when it fits into what a team is doing. That means coordinating your work with others, sharing what you know, giving the team credit, and disagreeing on the topic without making it personal. It is possible to deliver every task and still miss this skill. One of the young people we interviewed about starting work found that out in a student job: > I think I became so focused on getting the work done and making sure everything kept moving that I gradually separated myself from the rest of the team. > > I was constantly thinking about the next task and what needed to be delivered, rather than paying attention to the relationships around me. Looking back, I think that made it much harder for me to really become part of the group. > > I regret that now, because eventually work became so much about pushing through and getting things done that I neglected the human relationships that are also essential to making a workplace function well. > > That is something I really want to learn from. I don't want to end up being the person who sits alone in a corner, focused only on the work, and eventually burns out. The lesson he drew is the heart of this entry: getting the work done and being part of the team are two different things, and you need both. ### 4. Persuasion and negotiation NACE's description of the communication competency includes persuasion and influencing, not just clear speaking and writing. That is because most business communication exists to get something done through others: agreement on an idea, approval of a budget, support for a plan. Persuasion is not a special talent reserved for sales roles. It is part of communicating at work. The skill is more methodical than it sounds. It starts with understanding what the other person gains from saying yes, continues with a simple, honest pitch that admits the drawbacks, and ends with listening fully to objections instead of arguing past them. Negotiation follows the same logic, with more at stake on both sides. ### 5. Initiative In NACE's Job Outlook 2025 survey, initiative was rated important by at least 70% of employers. That is the same level as technical skills. When an employer is choosing between two graduates with similar qualifications, the one who acts without waiting to be told usually stands out. Initiative at work is usually small and concrete. You volunteer to prepare the agenda, draft the first version, or organize the follow-up. You ask for the task you want instead of hoping someone notices. The worst answer is usually "no." For proof, think of a moment when you started something nobody had asked you to do. ### 6. Work ethic, time management and organization A strong work ethic was rated important by at least 70% of employers in the same survey. In practice, work ethic shows up as time management: prioritizing tasks, meeting deadlines and keeping several pieces of work moving at once. The mechanics are learnable. Before you start a task, clarify who is asking, what exactly they want and when it is really due. "ASAP" is not a deadline. Keep a to-do list, separate the important from the merely urgent, and break big tasks into smaller ones. Hardly anyone teaches these habits, yet in the first months of a job they decide whether people see you as reliable. ### 7. Professionalism Professionalism is one of NACE's named [career readiness competencies](/knowledge/employability/career-readiness-skills/). In business it covers the basics colleagues and clients notice first: being on time, treating everyone with respect, handling confidential information carefully, and behaving appropriately in meetings and with clients. People notice these signals long before they can judge your technical work. Getting them right early buys you the time you need to prove everything else on this list. ### 8. Analytical and quantitative skills More than two-thirds of employers in NACE's Job Outlook 2025 survey look for analytical and quantitative skills. This is the bridge between the people half and the technical half of a business skills list: using numbers and data to support a decision, rather than relying on instinct alone. It connects directly to the first entry. Data makes a decision easier to defend, and being able to explain what the numbers show turns analysis into something colleagues can act on. ### 9. Technical business skills The technical half of the list typically includes financial literacy (reading a budget, understanding costs and margins), data analysis, project management, sales and marketing basics, and customer relationship management. These are learned through study and training. They are also the part of the list that depends most on the role: a sales job leans on negotiation and customer skills, an analyst job on numbers and data tools. So tailor this half to the job you want, and treat the people half as constant. Those skills come with you into every role. ## How to turn a business skills list into proof Employers look for evidence of a skill, not its name. That is how NACE asks employers about candidates: what they seek *evidence* of on a resume. Writing "teamwork" or "communication" carries almost no weight on its own. A two-sentence example of when you used the skill, and what came of it, is what makes the claim credible. The practical move is to pair each skill on your list with one real situation. Coursework, group projects, student jobs and volunteering all count. A strong example says what the situation was, what you did and what happened as a result. Because NACE's career readiness competencies (including communication, teamwork, professionalism, and career and self-development) apply across industries, the same examples work whether you are applying in finance, marketing or operations. Choosing which examples to lead with is easier when you know your strengths. Before you decide, it is worth taking a few minutes to [find your strongest work skills](https://assessment.headwayskills.com/). The skills you can back with a good story are the ones that belong at the top of your list. ## What sits underneath the people half of the list Look back at the nine entries and a few capabilities keep showing up under different names. Clear emails, winning agreement, choosing a course of action under pressure: these come from three underlying skills. **Communication** is what makes every other entry on the list visible. Problem-solving, teamwork and initiative only register with an employer when they are explained clearly, with the main point first and nothing extra. In business, that mostly means the routine: concise emails, focused contributions in meetings, and adapting your message to the person receiving it. Good communication here is a set of practiced habits, not polished speeches. **Influence** is the business edge of the list. Persuasion, negotiation and initiative all come down to getting others to support an idea without having authority over them. It rests on a reputation for delivering results, on preparing around what the other person gains, and on following through after the meeting ends. This is not about sales tricks or office politics. It is ethical persuasion that works because it is honest about the drawbacks. **Decision-Making** is what "problem-solving" means once you are actually in a job. It means knowing the limits of your authority, asking someone experienced before a big call, using data when you have it, and catching traps like looking only for information that confirms what you already believe. Employers screen hardest for this because a sound judgment call is worth more than a perfect answer that arrives too late. If one of these three felt less solid than the others, the free Job Skills Test will [pinpoint where your gaps are](https://assessment.headwayskills.com/). It scores these three alongside nine more, **twelve work skills in all**, and every one of them can be built with deliberate practice. ## Where you already show up on this list You might recognize some of this from things you already do: the group project you quietly kept on schedule, or the email you rewrote until the request came first. Those are early versions of the skills employers screen for, and none of them is fixed. Each can grow with practice, and you don't have to become a different person to grow it. The people half of the list tends to count for more as your responsibilities grow, because more of your work runs through other people. The good news is that every one of these skills can be learned. If you have ever talked a group out of a plan you were sure would fail, you have already practiced persuasion and decision-making at once. The next step is to see which of your skills are ready and which to work on first. ## See where your business skills stand All that's left is to find out which of these you can already prove and which need work. The Job Skills Test is a **free** self-assessment of your work skills. It takes 7 minutes and shows where you stand across all twelve, including the three behind this list, so you know which ones will make the biggest difference to your applications. ## Who this is for - Professionals building practical workplace skills - Readers looking for specific, usable work advice - Managers, educators, and coaches supporting career readiness ## Common questions ### What is this guide about? A business skills list in order of what employers screen for: problem-solving, communication, teamwork and more, plus how to prove each one on a resume. ### Which Headway skill does this connect to? This guide connects primarily to Communication. It also relates to Influence, Decision-Making. ### What is the recommended next step? Use the free Work Skills Test to reflect on which work skill to improve next. ## Related pages - https://headwayskills.com/knowledge.md - https://headwayskills.com/knowledge/soft-skills-at-work.md - https://headwayskills.com/knowledge/communication.md - https://headwayskills.com/knowledge/influence.md - https://headwayskills.com/knowledge/decision-making.md - https://headwayskills.com/work-skills-test.md ## Citation guidance Use the canonical page when citing this content: https://headwayskills.com/knowledge/soft-skills-at-work/business-skills-list/ Preferred summary: "A business skills list in order of what employers screen for: problem-solving, communication, teamwork and more, plus how to prove each one on a resume." ## Change log - 2026-07-07: Content collection version published.