When a job ad says "excellent communication skills"

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When a job ad says "excellent communication skills" do you immediately think, "ok, that's not for me."

I'm looking for work and I occassionaly see this phrase or "good interpersonal skills" required in the job advert and decide not to apply.

All I want is a job. I get on fine with my colleagues and I am nice to customers. I am not good at building rapport. I don't know how the customer's dog is for instance and probably wouldn't ask about their kids. But I am pleasant enough.

However, I would never have the confidenct to apply for a job that requires good communication skills in the ad. I would feel like I had no hope of getting it and if I did I would soon be a dissapointment.

All jobs require "excellent communication" skills.

All they mean by that is "can you get through an interview without making an idiot of yourself." After that, once you get the job, all "excellent communication" skills means is that you can take phone calls or provide people with information. In any kind of work "communication" is pretty much scripted and based on what and how much you know about the company and its product more than how well you actually get along with people.

"Excellent communication skills" is a completely meaningless phrase and if you can present a good image of yourself in a job interview you should be fine.

Oh, thanks. I think because it is something I am very aware of as being my weak point I panic when I see this phrase.

Same here, I usually think "right, that's it I'm screwed"
Thankyou yupa.

Don't get down on yourself. If you have the basic skills for the job go for it. I botched a job opportunity last week when I said I might not be fast enough and did not get a call back. I then thought to myself. I don't even know what their idea of fast is so how do I really know that I would not work. Communication skills should build after you have settled into the routine.

I don't think the jobs that put "excellent communication skills" expect any more in this area then jobs that don't put it. Everyone knows they want communication skills; the only difference is that some jobs just try to save words so they don't say it. And, on the other hand, no one goes out of their way to test you for this, either. So I would usually just ignore that and apply anyway. Besides, you have nothing to lose: if you apply and fail, you won't get a job; if you don't apply you won't get it either. So might as well apply.

Yes!! ! and between age 18 and 19 I've even felt depressed and extremely suicidal feeling that wasn't good enough to have a job. I'm better now but man when was a teen life really sucked. when I did have a job I was always yelled at for not knowing what to say to people and picking up social cues. I thought my brain was broken and that I wasn't good enough to be alive. When I walked in the doors my boss would say in a happy tone Hello how you doing today and I would respond in a monotone voice I'm fine and he'd give me a dirty look and I didn't understand why until someone explained it to me which didn't happen till two years later after I quite that job.

I have excellent communications skills because I am an excellent writer and a mediocre speaker. Most of my work is writing. Your writing looks good so you should not have a problem.

^Yes, 'good communication skills' in a job ad usually means 'can you get a concept across articulately' not 'are you good at chit-chat and relationship building'.


If they want you to ask about the customer's dog and kids, that's where the phrase 'people skills' will pop up.

If you like the job, apply, and let the hiring manager decide. It's hard enough to find work without putting *yourself* out of the running.

Yes, thank you yupa, I will try to ignore the phrase.

And I will try to remember that.

This phrase has often put me off applying for jobs too - I took it literally. Oh dear.

I think what that is implying is that you should be able to communicate to your other employees whatever you need to about your job. Doesn't mean you have to be chatty or anything like that. I worked as a Communications Coordinator at an environmental nonprofit for 2.5 years and I barely talked to my coworkers - just made sure they were informed via e-mail or occasionally a face-to-face conversation or usually in a meeting. I left everyone with the impression that I have AWESOME communications skills, even though they often found me puzzling and strange. You just have to be able to be able to keep people in the loop about what you're doing in my experience.

"Excellent Communication Skills" to me means, "Keep on looking in the classifieds!" With the perfect storm of bad communication skills at my belt, I know that I won't last long unless I keep my mouth shut and just comply with what I am told. Kinda robotic, but it's the only way I was able to last two years at the cafeteria here and why I've sealed my fate as not working there anytime soon.

I read the phrase good communication skills as you'll need them because most of are customers are our annoying and needy, and you'll have to be nice even when people need a good slap in the face 8O