Our paper is aimed at examining what principal business competencies (can) enhance the success and competitiveness of employees according to the employers and we also wish to explore what personality traits have a decisive effect on the decision-making mechanism in taking on new staff. At present employers can make selection from a lot of fresh graduates in economics so for them it is essential to know the competencies by which they are classified and ranked by the employers. However, it is also important to bear in mind from which aspects their opinion meet the employers' expectations. Based on surveying the employers' expectations, the required competencies play a vital role in the hiring process and they are mainly acquired in practical trainings. An answer is also sought to the question of how the rank order of competencies have been changed, how their role was appreciated and reevaluated and what skills and abilities are no longer or only to a slight extent necessary for success in the labour market vs. the ones that were not required previously but have become indispensable these days. One of our further objectives was to create and test a competency structure tailored to the current Hungarian labour market situation and specialities on the basis of the professional literature.