When hiring the best candidate for a position, hiring mangers generally look at two things: experience and skills. And while specific skills vary across industries, there are several general skill sets all potential employees should demonstrate before they are even considered. The first is self-management. In the rapidly changing, decentralized work environment, employees who can keep themselves on track without micromanaging or excessive supervision is key. "At a quickly growing firm, [managers] don't have time to stand over employees' shoulders and make sure they're doing what they're supposed to do," said Bryan Lewis, chief operating officer of business research company Cognolink "[They want] to give them a task and have them do it." Real social media skills are also important. This doesn't mean the ability to post to Facebook or tweet, but the ability to promote a brand and understand how a social media presence can make or break an organization. The ability to organize and interpret raw data sets is also becoming more important, regardless of industry. "It takes a special kind of person to analyze [data], build a test plan, measure results, and implement winning ideas," said Rowan Gormley, CEO of customer-funded winery Naked Wines. "Part of this is easy to obtain—go and take a class or two about databases, learn SQL, etc. The other piece of the puzzle is knowing how to use that data.”