Non-Traditional Skills in a Business Setting

It's the soft skills that matter most. How often do business students hear that? A piece of advice often shared within business circles refers to how it can be just as valuable to strengthen your soft skills, such as good communication and working well in teams, as it is to build your technical skill set. As important as technical skills are, they are not what usually sets candidates apart from others when interviewing or trying to make a lasting impression at their position. So what other skills should students develop that are not traditionally thought of as business skills? How do these skills impact professional abilities? Tori Bianco offered her perspective on these questions. 

Tori Bianco graduated OSU in 2023 with a marketing major and a women, gender, and sexuality Studies Minor. She was a member of WIB throughout her time at OSU, serving in roles such as SVP, VP Special Events, VP Philanthropy, and a member of the Philanthropy Committee. She remembers her time with WIB very fondly, sharing that “I loved being a part of an empowering organization where I could grow both personally and professionally surrounded by passionate women”. She also met the recruiter for her current position at a Fisher School of Business event, where she was attending as a representative of WIB. They were seated at the same table at the Fisher Diversity Dinner and it was suggested she apply for the position. 

After graduating from OSU, she joined Mettler Toledo's early career program on the marketing and business track. This program was rotational and every three to four months she was working in a different team within the company. Over her two years in this program she had seven rotations and in the summer of 2025, she moved into her permanent position at the company as a Marketing Program Specialist for their Service Marketing Team where she leads the Service Marketing Team and is in charge of several programs such as marketing communications. 

Working in this position, she describes strong communication and organization as skills that are imperative to her day to day responsibilities. Many of her responsibilities are centered around being able to lead teams and projects, this would be impossible without clear and consistent communication. Bianco spoke of her daily schedule, remarking that whether its meetings, emails, or sharing company messaging she could not be a strong leader without the use of good communication. Similarly with organization, Bianco describes taking notes and time management as critical for her success. Especially as her schedule becomes more and more busy, she utilizes organization to stay on top of everything. Both of these are exemplary of how soft skills are extremely important to her success. 

When asked about the most unique skills she uses in her day to day that might not usually be considered to students trying to build themselves into great candidates, she brought up her company’s use of SharePoint. This is Microsoft’s internal website platform, which Bianco’s company uses to organize their digital content. She spoke about how it was her time within the company’s rotational program that really helped her develop this skill. As she moved into a leadership role she realized that her abilities within this platform were unique among her peers. This made the skills she had with this program "more important and indispensable”. She also referenced how she did not interact with this program at OSU and learned how to use it during her time at Mettler Toledo.

Bianco recognized that the ability to use a specific program might not be considered a skill, but her abilities with SharePoint were exemplary of her deep knowledge of her company and the critical technologies used to make the company successful. She spoke that it was because of her rotational program that she could develop this knowledge and understand how so many different aspects, teams and departments affected one another and were interconnected. She explained that it has even been surprising to her how a comprehension of the company’s processes and structure has been so helpful when solving problems within her own team. She described this process by sharing “I am able to reframe the problem and connect it to the products and people I know who are possibly experts”.

While her use of communication and organization demonstrated the importance of soft skills, her acknowledgement of the importance of knowing your company as a whole entity can be understood as exemplary of a skill that might not be traditionally thought of as important. With her experience with SharePoint she demonstrated how important it is for an employee to learn and understand components such as technical programs that are important to your company or your role specifically. This also demonstrates the importance of being adaptable, as she had not worked with this program before working with her current company. 

She reiterated the importance of learning everything you can about your position and company when asked what advice she would give someone entering a similar position to hers; “...remember that people genuinely want to help and answer your questions” Bianco shared. This is another non-traditional skill that Bianco expressed was important to her success, curiosity. In entry-level positions it is important to learn all that you can about your role, about your company, and about different ways to succeed and prove yourself to be "indispensable" to your team. 

Regarding curiosity, Bianco also shared how crucial building a network can be. She describes how working in her rotational program helped her meet many new people and see what kind of team was the best fit for her. Through the relationships she built as part of this program, she was able to build a strong network full of people who had different strengths and different advice to give. Bianco also mentioned how finding people within your network to act as mentors can be helpful as well, even if they are not within your company. She recalls how important her former manager Keira was in helping her transition into a full time role. 

Bianco’s advice and experience concerning unique skills all demonstrate the importance of learning all that you can and being open to the skills that those opportunities present. Whether it's new technical software, new structures and procedures, or new places, it is important to let yourself ask questions and learn from the people around you. She shares “Other people love sharing their knowledge, and there are so many skills you can explore or work on.”