Soft skills are sometimes referred to as transferable skills or professional skills.
As this term implies, these are skills that are less specialised, less rooted in specific vocations and more aligned with the general disposition and personality of a candidate.
Soft skills relate to your attitudes and your intuitions. As soft skills are less about your qualifications and more personality-driven, it is important to consider what your soft skills are and how you might show evidence of them before you apply for a job.
Why Are Soft Skills Important?
Soft skills are the difference between adequate candidates and ideal candidates.
In most competitive job markets, recruitment criteria are not limited to technical ability and specialist knowledge.
Every job role requires some interaction with others, whether they are colleagues or customers, so soft skills will be important to most employers.
Earlier in your career, recruiters will be looking for people who have the potential to become leaders.
They won’t expect you to have all the qualifications and experience from day one, but they will need to know that you have the qualities that will allow you to learn and grow in the role.
Top 5 critical soft skills employers want
Soft skills are the more intangible and non-technical abilities that are sought from candidates.
Here are the 5 key soft skills employers are looking for:
- Communication
Communication is one of the most important soft skills.
Able communicators can adjust their tone and style according to their audience, comprehend and act efficiently on instructions, and explain complex issues to colleagues and clients alike.
A key, often forgotten, communication skill is listening.
Whether you are dealing with a customer complaint or working with your colleagues, good listening skills will help you learn and respond correctly to the circumstance you have been presented with.
Equally as important are your verbal and non-verbal skills.
Verbal skills are key to fostering relationships that are collaborative and respectful, and ultimately, productive. This also applies to your written communication.
A lot of business communication is now played out by email, so it’s important to know good email etiquette and give instructions clearly and concisely.
- Self-Motivation
Having a positive attitude and the initiative to work well without around-the-clock supervision is a vital soft skill for any employee.
Not only does it demonstrate reliability and commitment, but it also shows that you can fit efficiently into an organisational structure without the need for constant supervision.
- Leadership
Leadership is a soft skill you can show even if you’re not directly managing others.
Those with strong leadership skills will have the ability to inspire others and lead teams to success. Therefore, it is a particularly sought-after skill.
People with good leadership skills will have a range of skills that are useful in the workplace.
Even if you are applying for an entry-level role, don’t be afraid to demonstrate your potential by showing how you have positively influenced others to lead a project to success.
- Responsibility
Responsibility is a seldom talked about but highly valued soft skill.
Colleagues who fail to take responsibility for their work will be less productive and less successful overall.
To demonstrate a high level of responsibility, make sure you can master these skills:
- Trustworthiness
- Discipline
- Motivation
- Conscientiousness
- Accountability
Taking responsibility means taking ownership of not only your goals but the wider company goals. This will mean taking the initiative to make improvements, accepting responsibility for any failures, and really caring about working your way to success.
- Teamwork
Like leadership, good teamwork involves a combination of other soft skills.
Working in a team towards a common goal requires the intuition and interpersonal acumen to know when to be a leader and when to be a listener.
Good team players are perceptive, as well as receptive to the needs and responsibilities of others.