---
title: What's Your Most Valuable Career Skill?
description: MONEY asked people in New York what their most valuable career or job skills are. Here's what they had to say.
authors:
  - name: George Mannes
    url: https://money.com/author/george-mannes/
    at_money_since: 2009
    articles: 10
    covers:
      - Career Advice
      - Credit Cards
      - Education
      - Investing
      - Personal Finance
    social:
      - https://x.com/dogbitesmannes
    former_staff: true
published: '2016-05-16T22:00:44.000Z'
modified: '2024-04-17T01:57:15.000Z'
section: Career Advice
tags:
  - best career skills 2016
  - Careers
  - Jobs
  - Mannes on the Street
word_count: 137
canonical: https://money.com/most-valuable-career-skill/
type: Article
source: structured-blocks
---

> **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/).

![money on the street vid skills](https://img.money.com/2016/05/money-on-the-street-vid-skills.png)

What skills make you a valuable employee? Which abilities help you succeed at your job? Money’s George Mannes entered New York City’s Times Square to find out what skills workers feel are their best assets -- and to and see if any matched up with those Money and data compensation site PayScale.com found to be the [21 Most Valuable Skills](https://money.com/most-valuable-career-skills/).

The results? Many people touted soft skills such as communication or customer service. One mentioned knowing how to fix a [printer](https://money.com/best-printer/). But several people hit on a couple key skills that Money found in its own research, such as negotiating prowess and financial analysis.

To learn which skills are most in demand for your own job, see Money's list of the [Highest-Paying Skills for 100-Plus Jobs](https://money.com/highest-paying-skills-job-career/). For full coverage of Money's Best Career Skills 2016, click here.

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@graph": [
    {
      "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
      "@id": "https://money.com/most-valuable-career-skill/#breadcrumb",
      "itemListElement": [
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 1,
          "name": "Home",
          "item": "https://money.com"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 2,
          "name": "Career Advice",
          "item": "https://money.com/career-advice/"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 3,
          "name": "Professional Development",
          "item": "https://money.com/professional-development/"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 4,
          "name": "What's Your Most Valuable Career Skill?"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "@type": "WebSite",
      "@id": "https://money.com/#website",
      "url": "https://money.com",
      "name": "Money",
      "publisher": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/#organization"
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "WebPage",
      "@id": "https://money.com/most-valuable-career-skill/#webpage",
      "url": "https://money.com/most-valuable-career-skill/",
      "name": "What's Your Most Valuable Career Skill?",
      "isPartOf": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/#website"
      },
      "datePublished": "2016-05-16T22:00:44.000Z",
      "mainEntity": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/most-valuable-career-skill/"
      },
      "inLanguage": "en-US",
      "breadcrumb": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/most-valuable-career-skill/#breadcrumb"
      },
      "dateModified": "2024-04-17T01:57:15.000Z"
    },
    {
      "@type": "Article",
      "headline": "What's Your Most Valuable Career Skill?",
      "articleSection": "Career Advice",
      "image": [
        {
          "@type": "ImageObject",
          "url": "https://img.money.com/2016/05/gettyimages-450814291.jpg?quality=85",
          "width": 5500,
          "height": 4132
        }
      ],
      "author": [
        {
          "@type": "Person",
          "name": "George Mannes",
          "url": "https://money.com/author/george-mannes/",
          "@id": "https://money.com/author/george-mannes/#author",
          "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/05/14-05-21_bio_authors_mannes.jpg?quality=85&w=190&h=190&crop=1",
          "email": "gmannes@moneymail.com",
          "sameAs": [
            "https://x.com/dogbitesmannes"
          ]
        }
      ],
      "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization",
      "datePublished": "2016-05-16T22:00:44.000Z",
      "description": "MONEY asked people in New York what their most valuable career or job skills are. Here's what they had to say.",
      "abstract": "MONEY asked people in New York what their most valuable career or job skills are. Here's what they had to say.",
      "@id": "https://money.com/most-valuable-career-skill/",
      "inLanguage": "en-US",
      "dateModified": "2024-04-17T01:57:15.000Z",
      "wordCount": 137,
      "keywords": [
        "best career skills 2016",
        "Careers",
        "Jobs",
        "Mannes on the Street"
      ],
      "about": [
        {
          "@type": "Thing",
          "name": "Career counseling",
          "sameAs": [
            "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Career_counseling"
          ]
        },
        {
          "@type": "Thing",
          "name": "Professional development",
          "sameAs": [
            "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_development"
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```