Qualifications in demand

Many of us are familiar with the following scenario: an individual would like to apply for a job with a certain company and creates a personal curriculum vitae for this purpose. Over the years spent in the working world, he or she has gained additional qualifications. Nevertheless, the key question is: What do recruiters in the human resources departments actually pay the most attention to?

How you can stand out thanks to digital competencies, the right soft skills and a good command of English 

Skilled employees in the fields of electronics, electrical engineering, information and communications technology and life sciences have the best prospects to get a job in the Austrian labour market. The Austrian list of shortage occupations (Mangelberufe) provides detailed information on which professions are searching for employees in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, with which qualifications can you stand out when applying to get a job with your desired employer? Academic qualifications, language or communications skills? Find out which capabilities are well received by Austrian employers.

Many of us are familiar with the following scenario: an individual would like to apply for a job with a certain company and creates a personal curriculum vitae for this purpose. Over the years spent in the working world, he or she has gained additional qualifications. Nevertheless, the key question is: What do recruiters in the human resources departments actually pay the most attention to?

A recent study also offers us interesting information. (The data was derived from: Sandra M. Leitner and Oliver Reiter, Employers’ Skills Requirements in the Austrian Labour Market: On the Relative Importance of ICT, Cognitive and Non-cognitive Skills over the Past 15 Years.)

In December 2020, the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw) published this new study on the qualification requirements of Austrian employers. You can download the complete analysis here in English. A total of 1.5 million online job offers in the years 2008-2019 were analysed within the context of the study.

Digitalisation is also leaving its mark on personnel recruiting. Demand for digital know-how has more than doubled over the past fifteen years.

The skills most frequently required by Austrian employers are:

• Formal academic qualifications
• Professional experience
• Digital skills

Language skills are considered to be particularly important. In addition to German, many employers attach great importance to English proficiency.  

The study also examined which soft skills applicants should have. Not much has changed over the past few years when it comes to soft skills. Social and personal competencies have always been in demand.  

The following soft skills were most often mentioned:

• Capacity for teamwork
• Communication skills
• Independence
• Flexibility
• Precision

The ability and willingness to work in a team was mentioned by close to half of all the job announcements. Every third job vacancy being advertised require communications skills and independence.

The applicant and the potential employer will likely only first be able to judge whether or not the chemistry between them is right after a face-to-face meeting. Here you can find tips on how you should organise your application documents. This is a good way to ensure that you will be invited to a job interview.

Frequently a distinction is made between academic qualifications (degrees) and certificates acquired abroad with those people are familiar with in Austria. Here you can find out how you can have your qualifications recognised and verified in Austria.