Computer skills and the ability to communicate persuasively are the two most important skills to have on the job, office workers say.
In a straw poll of 800 office workers in their 20s and 30s by Research & Research for the Federation of Korean Industries, 77 percent cited computer skills as the most useful attribute and 49 percent communication skills.
Being computer-savvy is a plus since it speeds up work, 54 percent of respondents said, and gives workers an extra edge in compiling reports, according to 36 percent.
Speaking skills come in handy when delivering presentations to superiors or clients, according to 53 percent, and in communicating with coworkers, according to 30 percent.
In contrast, paper qualifications and foreign degrees proved rather less useful than they are believed to be with 23 percent and 10 percent. And a surprising 77 percent said English-proficiency test scores are no help in getting the job done.
Lee Cheol-haeng at FKI said, "The main things jobseekers try to acquire are good foreign-language test scores and various paper qualifications, but on the job, the most useful things are the ability to communicate effectively and have good computer skills."