Skills Still Matter (1)

Do you have the skills to get the job you want?

So often it's about being in the right place at the right time. And for landing a great job, add to that mix possessing the right skills to make the ultimate impression.

But those right skills aren't always what you think. Take, for instance, active listening, listening comprehension and critical thinking. Who takes a class in active listening? Yet listening to what other people are saying and asking questions is important in many of the nation's fastest growing jobs.

"These are also skills that are useful in almost any industry and occupation," says labor market analyst and New Jersey author Laurence Shatkin. Shatkin studied the Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest employment projections anticipated through 2022 to see what skills dominate the occupations that will be growing fastest. He summed them up and put them in descending order.

Other skills in the top 10 are: speaking, monitoring, coordination, social perceptiveness, writing, service orientation and judgment and decision-making.

Some of the skills are difficult for people to develop on their own. For instance, critical thinking is often learned as part of a larger curriculum or course.

Info Cloud
Sometimes students approach us and ask how can I become a good writer in English? Here’s our secret, read, read and then when you’re done reading, read some more.

Whether you’re trying to write in a foreign language or in your mother tongue, good writing starts with reading.

It’s true, all good writers started as good readers. Think of it this way, to have anything good coming out of your pen, you first need good stuff going into your brain.

That’s why it’s important, to find and read the best authors dead and living, find the best material all and new and get it into your brain.

As you read, take the things that grab your attention and study them, figure why you like them and then incorporate them into your own writing style. Go ahead, it’s okay to imitate, but don’t plagiarize. Eventually you’ll find your own voice.

That’s right. Writing is a lot like learning to play an instrument or learning to draw or paint. When you begin, you’re encouraged to study the masters but then after sometime and much practice, you’d discover that you’ve developed your own unique style.

Language Lab
ultimate adj.
/ˈʌltəmət/
greatest or most extreme — used to say that something or someone is the greatest or most extreme example of a particular type of thing or person
- Men think marrying a girl is the ultimate expression of their commitment.
- Johnson views his girlfriend breaking up with him as the ultimate failure in his life.

critical thinking 
using or involving careful judgment about the good and bad parts of something
- Critical thinking is crucial for a journalist. He or she should report a situation without any bias.
- The course aims to sharpen trainees' critical thinking skills.

projection n. 預測, 推測
an estimate of what might happen in the future based on what is happening now
- Our team successfully achieved our last quarter's sales projection.
project v.
/prəˈʤɛkt/
to plan, calculate, or estimate (something) for a time in the future
- Due to higher oil prices, the company's expenses are projected to rise by two percent.
project n.
/ˈprɑːˌʤɛkt/
a planned piece of work that has a specific purpose (such as to find information or to make something new) and that usually requires a lot of time
- This project will be finished by next week.

perceptiveness n. [noncount] 動察力, 理解力
having or showing an ability to understand or notice something easily or quickly
- This anchor is well received for her keen perceptiveness and compassion in her reports.
perceptive adj
/pɚˈsɛptɪv/
- This article is a very perceptive critique of the movie.

mms://203.69.69.81/studio/20160311baad23cba9a6dad927ef52832b3c81c008ba18cf78ddab506a6a585008357d71dfc.wma