The Boston area is home to some of the world’s best universities, and is rapidly becoming a force to be reckoned with in global tech. But what should be a perfect match — between highly qualified students and the growing companies seeking to hire them — can be more complicated than it looks.
That’s because identifying a job applicant’s skills during the hiring process remains a time- and labor-intensive chore for companies and executives alike.

Case in point: LinkedIn Endorsements, which were introduced to socially vet someone’s expertise, also let you endorse people for “medicinal marijuana,” “embroidery,” “blue sky thinking,” and a long list of skills that aren’t necessarily backed up by hard evidence.

So what’s a job-seeker to do to stand out from the pack? I asked some of Boston’s top tech executives which skills they are looking for most in applicants, and found three tips you can take to attract their attention and land a highly coveted job.

Learn to Lead: Mike Troiano, the marketing chief at Actifio, said he’d most like to see effective leadership in new applicants, in part because it’s difficult to teach. That applies to both high-level executive strategy, he said, and the basic work of encouraging and inspiring your co-workers.

Not sure where to start for leadership advice? Ask for feedback from managers and peers on your leadership skills, and create a plan to tackle your greatest weaknesses. Creating a game plan for will pay off for many years to come.
Know Your Numbers: Data-driven people are in high demand regardless of industry, experience, or background. Joe Grabmeier, the chief financial officer at Adelphic Mobile, noted that the “ability to use analytical skills, past experience, and creativity to solve complex problems” is by far the skill most in demand in his company — and he’s certainly not alone.

An explosion in data is hitting many industries, from marketing to health care and beyond, making it vastly more important for people to understand how and when to use data for telling stories, tackling problems, or understanding an issue.

The notion of a company having a “numbers guy” to calculate metrics is a thing of the past. Today, most people in a company need to understand which metrics matter and how to meaningfully influence them. If you don’t know yours, it’s time to study up before your next job interview.

Got a Skill? Show It: Ralph Folz, CEO of WordStream, said his company could grow faster if it could add more technical architects and software engineers. The massive spike in people learning to code, taking digital design classes, and attending community workshops to improve their technical skills is fantastic news for the industry, but it also leaves companies investing significant time and energy to sort through who really knows their stuff and who is just getting started.

So if you’ve got a skill, prove it. Using an assessment or an online portfolio to showcase your skills and can speed up your path to a dream job (my company, Boston-based Smarterer, offers one option for skills testing).

With college graduation right around the corner, landing a job is a top priority for thousands of people in the Boston area. But when push comes to shove, your tangible skills are as important as your degree, particularly at top tech companies.

So if you’re looking to stand out, show what you know, demonstrate your ability to lead (even if you’re starting small), and know your numbers — Boston tech executives will thank you for it.

Image via Flickr

Sarah Hodges is a vice president at Smarterer, a provider of online professional skills tests.

From: betaboston.com