Mithun had to do a great deal of research for his presentation, which would include PowerPoint slides. He had to have good IT skills to find and collect all the information he needed. Good number skills are essential if you're working in the world of finance. Mithun had no problem there, but he soon found out that he also needed all of the other Key Skills to succeed in the job.

The Main Key Skills

Communication:
In this job you have to be prepared to talk to people from all levels and all backgrounds. You might be briefing support staff or attending interviews with company directors. This means communications skills are essential. Mithun did well by keeping good eye contact and asking relevant questions.

Research is essential in gathering information and facts. Your notes need to be clear and well organized. You also need to be able to prioritise and include only the most important and relevant points.

Mithun was asked to read through accounting policies. You need a good level of English to be able to check spelling, find errors and correct them.

Number:
Number Skills are essential in jobs involving finance. Mithun was asked to look for inconsistencies in financial statements. He needed to have enough confidence in his number skills to check that all the calculations were correct. Accountancy jobs will require you to carry out a number of calculations yourself. Knowledge of spreadsheets is going to help a great deal with this.

IT:
IT is very important in this role. You will be dealing with financial databases and compiling reports using a wordprocessor. You will also be relying heavily on spreadsheets. When it comes to presentations, knowledge of packages like PowerPoint is important. Mithun decided to use slides to make his presentation more effective. It is also useful to have a good knowledge of the Internet for research purposes.

Many firms use an intranet with relevant information for staff. Mithun made use of this when he needed to find out where people were in the building.