4 Important Leadership Skills You Can Learn From an Entry Level Job

When you are in your entry level job, you hardly know what to do, who to talk to or where to go. And when you think you know, on most occasions you will find that you start to question your decisions. That’s how you end up with the wrong crowd in your first job and on the wrong side of your boss.

In most open positions today, recruiters will ask that suitable candidates possess leadership skills. If you have never been a leader in your life, you may think you are not qualified for the position. But this is not true.

Some leadership skills do not require you to have worked as a leader, you just need to have gone through an entry level job. This could include a common school internship or your very first job. Here are important leadership skills you could be possessing and don’t even know.

 Important Leadership Skills You Can Learn in an Entry Level Job

1. Ability to Build Relationships

As a leader, the importance of forming and maintaining relationships cannot be overstated. Good leaders should be able to work well with teams and manage different people at the same time. To do this successfully, the ability to effectively interact with all characters and temperaments is vital.

You will only excel at your entry level job if you are able to form relationships with the right people. That’s why you find some people getting hired immediately after an internship. Not because there was favouritism or the boss was a relative, no. But because they decided to build relationships with the decision makers.

Also Read >>> What Never to Do on Your First Day of Work

2. Ability to Solve Problems

Another important skill that every employer in Kenya is looking to find in job seekers today, is the ability to quickly solve problems.

At entry level, you are still learning the ropes. You only have classroom knowledge, which is basically theory and has nothing to do with practical application. However, you can make the experience worthwhile by asking your boss to let you in on the difficult tasks.

Taking on challenging work can help you learn the skill of problem solving faster than your peers. You can also volunteer to help out on other challenging tasks from different departments. This will come to pay off later in your career.

3. Willingness to Ask for Assistance

For you to excel as a leader, you need to know when, how and be willing to ask for help. Just because you are a leader does not mean you are supposed to know everything and do it all by yourself. No one can. Even successful people know they need to ask for assistance every now and then, and will always take pride in it.

You too should take up this mentality if you want to succeed in your career and move up to leadership positions. In an entry level job, this is where the opportunity to learn the art comes in. This is because you hardly know how to perform the tasks you are given.

So instead of striving to do it on your own, because you are afraid someone will think less of you, learn to ask for help. Your first and second try may feel overwhelming, but in time, you will get used to it and experience better results.

Read Also >>> 5 Top Skills that Will Get Your CV Noticed

4. Confidence

While being confident may come naturally to some, others need a class or years of training until they can master confidence. As a leader, there is no compromise on confidence, neither is there an alternative. Confidence is what determines your effectiveness as a leader, and whether you earn the respect of your team.

Luckily, an entry level job is a great opportunity to gain confidence. For instance, you could decide to share an idea in a board meeting despite your hands and lips shaking like crazy from lack of confidence . It may be embarrassing and feel like your entire body is on fire, but a repeat of similar situations will make you more confident.

In the End…

Most people fail to get hired immediately after an internship because they didn’t do more than was assigned. You go to work and only wait to be told what to do. You don’t ask other departments where you can help out. You don’t offer assistance to other employees even when you can clearly see they are slammed. And you never ask your supervisor for more challenging tasks.

Employers like to work with people who are eager to learn. Instead of being just another employee in your entry level job, strive to learn about the industry and your profession as much as you can. This will prepare you for a better job in the future, or even for a new position at the same company.

Got a query about your career? Leave a comment below and we will get back to you.