To answer questions regarding what factors contribute most to job search success in business and a business career, what specific courses contribute most to career success, and what would be the basic skills of an ideal manager, a study assessed the relative importance of various factors, skills, and courses in the hiring and advancement of employees of business, industrial, and governmental agencies based in the United States. Answers to a survey questionnaire, sent to 1,000 personnel managers listed as members of The American Society of Personnel Administrators in the United States, included 428 usable responses. Results indicate that the skills most valued in the contemporary job-entry market are communications skills (including oral communication, listening, and written communication). (Four tables of data are included, and 14 references and a questionnaire are appended.) (MS)