The New Job Requirement –Multi-Tasking

If you have spent any time looking through help wanted ads or job postings, you are quite familiar with the term multi-tasking. It seems to appear in every job description known to man these days!

What is multi-tasking? It is the ability to perform multiple tasks at the same time. For example, can you answer a ringing phone, while typing a document and updating a calendar with new meeting details all at the same time? You better be able to if you want to get hired in today’s world!

Remember when employers only expected you to complete one task at a time? Today that is considered being unproductive and extremely inefficient! Employees are expected to handle numerous projects at one time, coordinate tasks simultaneously and never miss a beat! Sometimes you can feel like you are juggling 6 balls in the air and if even one should fall you risk losing them all.

It’s a face paced world and we are supposed to keep up or get out of the way. Every single interview now includes the question “are you able to multi-task?” With the age of technology multi-tasking takes on yet another definition.

You should be able to shoot off an email, update your contacts, format your document, update the formulas on your spreadsheet, create a presentation and at the same time remember to send out your twitter, update your social networking sites, take the incoming calls using your Bluetooth ear piece, and for goodness sakes do not forget to sync your blackberry!

In the past just being able to answer a phone and take down an understandable message meant you were doing a great job! Today if that is all you can do, you might as well stay home!

The world is changing and we must change with it. We need to be diligent in keeping our skills current, but we must also be able to think on our feet, and make decisions quickly and effectively on the fly.

If you do any work on the computer, odds are you have 3 or more windows open at the same time all the time. You spend your day bouncing from one screen to another updating, changing, reading, and sharing information. It is just part of using a computer!

I saw a job posting the other day that was seeking an administrative assistant. I used to know what that title entailed. Usually taking calls, replying to correspondence, managing a schedule, perhaps travel arrangements, picking up dry cleaning and generally making sure your boss stays on time for each of his commitments.

I read the job description out of curiosity and wow was I surprised! Multi-tasking was the first requirement listed! The duties were quite different from what I expected! They wanted someone who would be able to handle all social networking updates for them, including twitter, FaceBook, MySpace and many others. You should also be quite familiar with blogging and participating on forums. Some SEO experience and keyword knowledge required. The final requirement was simply restating the importance of being able to multi-task; do not even consider applying unless you have exceptional ability to multi-task.

It is a new world folks! If you need a job you better practice doing 12 things at once and be able to juggle 6 balls in the air, make coffee and know everything there is to know about the internet!