Let’s face it: Hiring employees for banking jobs and trusting them with your finances, your clients, and your business secrets takes a real leap of faith. It’s little wonder, then, that employers look for employees with certain positive characteristics and habits. Being aware of the top five habits employers want from their employees may make job hunting a little easier.
Punctuality
Punctuality means arriving when you say you will and not 30 minutes late. It means being on time to work, meetings and appointments. If your boss can’t count on your timeliness, why should he or she promote you to positions with even more responsibility? Some bosses, in fact, have started firing employees for excessive tardiness.
Good Time Management Skills
Most employers don’t have the time to be micro-managers. Once you are trained and comfortable in your job, they will expect you to start taking the initiative and completing assignments in a timely manner. This means you have to discipline yourself to avoid time wasters and procrastination and set a steady pace that will get the work done.
Willingness to Be a Team Player
Your employer expects you to function as a member of one or more teams in order to do your job effectively. Teamwork involves several important skills such as the ability to listen, to build solid work relationships, to make common cause with someone whom you may or may not like, to manage conflict, to communicate clearly and respectfully and to identify and guide your team towards win/win situations.
Responsibility
Responsibility entails taking a “the buck stops here” attitude. Rather then trying to blame others if something goes wrong, acknowledge your own errors and do whatever you can to fix them. Taking ownership of a mistake can mean the difference between being respected and being fired.
Integrity
Integrity actually refers to two things. One is the level of consistency between your own values and actions. The other is adherence to ethical or moral principles. People with a high degree of integrity make good employees because they are less likely to steal, to lie to supervisors, and to break rules in general.
Now that you know what potential employers are looking for when it comes to hiring for banking jobs as well as in other fields, work on developing these five habits until they become second nature to you.