Candidates with strong soft skills are in high demand for many different types of jobs. What are soft skills, and why are they so important?
Soft skills are the interpersonal attributes you need to succeed in the workplace. What Are Soft Skills?
Soft skills are the skills that enable you to fit in at a workplace. They include your personality, attitude, flexibility, motivation, and manners. Soft skills are so important that they are often the reason employers decide whether to keep or promote an employee.
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Soft skills are different from hard skills (also known as technical skills), which are directly relevant to the job to which you are applying. These are often more quantifiable, and easier to learn than soft skills.
A hard skill for a carpenter, for example, might be the ability to operate a power saw or use framing squares. A soft skill would be the ability of the carpenter to communicate effectively with coworkers and clients. they are how you work with and relate to others—in other words, people skills.
Important: Regardless of the job to which you’re applying, you need at least some soft skills.
In order to succeed at work, you must get along well with all the people with whom you interact, including managers, co-workers, clients, vendors, customers, and anyone else you communicate with while on the job. These are the types of skills all employers value.
Employers want employees who are able to interact effectively with others. These skills are also very hard to teach, so employers want to know that job candidates already have the soft skills to be successful.
List of Soft Skills
Below is a list of the most important soft skills employers look for. The list includes sublists of related soft skills that employers tend to seek in job applicants.
Develop these skills and emphasize them in job applications, resumes, cover letters, and interviews.
Communication
How well do you communicate? Communication skills are important in almost every job. You will likely need to communicate with people on the job, whether they are clients, customers, colleagues, employers, or vendors. You will also need to be able to speak clearly and politely with people in person, by phone, and in writing.
You will also likely need to be a good listener. Employers want employees who can not only communicate their own ideas but who also listen empathetically to others. Listening is a particularly important skill in customer service jobs.
- Listening
- Negotiation
- Nonverbal communication
- Persuasion
- Presentation
- Public speaking
- Reading body language
- Social skills
- Storytelling
- Verbal communication
- Visual communication
- Writing reports and proposals
- Writing skills
Critical Thinking
No matter what the job, employers want candidates who can analyze situations and make informed decisions. Whether you are working with data, teaching students, or fixing a home heating system, you need to be able to understand problems, think critically, and devise solutions. Skills related to critical thinking include creativity, flexibility, and curiosity.
- Adaptability
- Artistic aptitude
- Creativity
- Critical observation
- Critical thinking
- Design aptitude
- Desire to learn
- Flexibility
- Innovation
- Logical thinking
- Problem-solving
- Research
- Resourcefulness
- Thinking outside the box
- Tolerance of change and uncertainty
- Troubleshooting
- Value education
- Willingness to learn
Leadership
While not every job opening is a leadership role, most employers will want to know that you have the ability to make decisions when push comes to shove and can manage situations and people. The ability to step up to the plate in a difficult situation and help resolve it is something employers look for in prospective employees.
Note: If you are interviewing for a job that has the potential for advancement, the employer will want to know that you have what it takes to become a leader.
Other skills related to leadership include the ability to resolve problems and conflicts between people and to make executive decisions.
- Conflict management
- Conflict resolution
- Deal making
- Decision making
- Delegation
- Dispute resolution
- Facilitation
- Giving clear feedback
- Inspiring people
- Leadership
- Management
- Managing difficult conversations
- Managing remote/virtual teams
- Meeting management
- Mentoring
- Motivating
- Project management
- Resolving issues
- Successful coaching
- Supervising
- Talent management
Positive Attitude
Employers are always seeking people who will bring a positive attitude to the office. They want employees who will be friendly to others, eager to work, and generally a pleasure to be around. Being able to keep things positive is especially important if you’re working in a fast-paced, high-stress work environment.
- Confidence
- Cooperation
- Courtesy
- Energy
- Enthusiasm
- Friendliness
- Honesty
- Humorous
- Patience
- Respectability
- Respectfulness
Teamwork
Hiring managers look for job candidates who can work well with others. Whether you will be doing a lot of team projects or simply attending a few departmental meetings, you need to be able to work effectively with the people around you. You need to be able to work with others even if you do not always see eye to eye.
Some skills related to teamwork include the ability to negotiate with others and to recognize and appreciate diversity in a team. Another related skill is the ability to accept and apply feedback from others.
- Accepting feedback
- Collaboration
- Customer service
- Dealing with difficult situations
- Dealing with office politics
- Disability awareness
- Diversity awareness
- Emotional intelligence
- Empathy
- Establishing interpersonal relationships
- Dealing with difficult personalities
- Intercultural competence
- Interpersonal skills
- Influence
- Networking
- Persuasion
- Self-awareness
- Selling skills
- Social skills
- Team building
- Teamwork
Work Ethic
Employers look for job candidates with a strong work ethic. Such people come to work on time, complete tasks in a timely manner, and stay both focused and organized.
They are able to budget their time and complete their work thoroughly. While they can work independently, people with a strong work ethic can also follow instructions.
Tip: A strong work ethic is difficult to teach, so employers will be impressed if you can demonstrate it in your job application.
- Attentiveness
- Business ethics
- Competitiveness
- Dedication
- Dependability
- Following direction
- Independence
- Meeting deadlines
- Motivation
- Multitasking
- Organization
- Perseverance
- Persistence
- Planning
- Proper business etiquette
- Punctuality
- Reliability
- Resilience
- Results-oriented
- Scheduling
- Self-directed
- Self-monitoring
- Self-supervising
- Staying on task
- Strategic planning
- Time management
- Trainability
- Working well under pressure
More Soft Skills
Here are additional soft skills for resumes, cover letters, job applications, and interviews. Required skills will vary based on the job for which you’re applying, here is the list of skills listed by job and type of skill.
- Assertiveness
- Business ethics
- Business storytelling
- Business trend awareness
- Customer service
- Effective communicator
- Emotion management
- Ergonomic sensitivity
- Follow instructions
- Follow regulations
- Follow rules
- Functions well under pressure
- Good attitude
- Highly recommended
- Independent
- Interviewing
- Knowledge management
- Meets deadlines
- Motivating
- Perform effectively in a deadline environment
- Performance management
- Positive work ethic
- Problem-solving
- Process improvement
- Quick-witted
- Results-oriented
- Safety-conscious
- Scheduling
- Self-awareness
- Self-supervising
- Stress management
- Team player
- Stress management
- Team player
- Technology savvy
- Technology trend awareness
- Tolerant
- Trainable
- Training
- Troubleshooting
- Willing to accept feedback
- Willingness to learn
- Work-life balance
- Works well under pressure
Source: thebalancecareers
