The implications for graduates' perception of skills are less clear. Almost all
graduates promoted in their listings subjective skills, which are often difficult
to evaluate, certainly in smaller firms. For example, creativity was viewed with
some suspicion by SME managers, who inferred that graduates could set in
motion too many uncontrollable processes. Subjective evaluation was used to
decompose the listing of 31 skills into the two categories ± personal and
business ± and these were tested among the responding managers; few
reservations about the components were recorded. It appeared that the
categories were favourably endorsed and approved by managers as expressing
an appropriate listing of personal and business skills relevant to current
business needs.