Leadership and communication top City 'must have' skills poll

Strong leadership and communication skills, attention to detail and honesty are essential qualities for career progression in the financial services sector, according to research.

More than one third (34%) of the 300 financial services employees polled by recruitment consultancy Badenoch & Clark ranked excellent communication skills as the most important factor in career development.

Almost half (47%) rated attention to detail in first, second or third place out of 11 characteristics, followed closely by leadership (45%).

Technical competence was also ranked highly, with 39% of financial services professionals rating it in first, second or third place.

Just under one third (32%) said honesty was an important characteristic for getting ahead, and one in five respondents (20%) said cultural fit.

About 20% also rated networking skills, but only 4% said good self-publicity was essential.

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