What are soft skills?
Soft skills are a bundle of productive personality traits that characterize one’s relationship in an environment. These skills can include Language skills, Communication abilities, Time management, Leadership qualities, Social graces, Team-work traits, Personal habits, and Emotional empathy.
A recent report by iCIMS hiring insights finds that 94% of recruiting professionals believe an employee with stronger soft skills has a better chance of being promoted to a leadership position than an employee with more years of experience but weaker soft skills. It is clear now that individuals with better soft skills are much more preferred compared to those who are not. –Forbes
Some of the most important professional skills for workers and employers alike can’t be taught inside a classroom or measured on a paper. These qualities are more crucial to your job search and overall career than you think. You can be the best at what you are doing, but if your soft skills are not supporting you, then you are just limiting your chances of getting excellent career job opportunities. Dive into the blog to learn more about these soft skills and how they can be used to increase your chances at acquiring better jobs in the future.
Read more about soft skills vs hard skills.
Soft skills are further divided into three categories:
- People skills
- Social skills
- Career attributes.
All the skills mentioned above are considered to be critical for being industrious in today’s workplace. In today’s world, Soft skills are a major differentiator, more like an essential part for employability and success in life. A recent study at Harvard University noted that 80% of the success and achievements in one’s life are determined via soft skills and only 20% by hard skills.
Many suggest that soft skills training should begin at the academic level of a student, to perform well in academics as well as in their future workplace. One of the reasons for soft skills being overpriced is that they help flourish human connections. They also help in gaining clarity, building essential relationships at the corporate level, and even creating more opportunities for an individual.
A person’s soft skill is vital for their contribution to the success of an organization. Organizations, where there is face-to-face interaction with the clients, are generally more efficient and successful if the employees are good at soft skills.
Moving ahead, there are about 7 major soft skills when it comes to the corporate world and they are as follows:
- Leadership skills
- Teamwork
- Communication Skills
- Problem-solving Skills
- Work Ethic
- Flexibility/Adaptability
- Interpersonal Skills
These are the 7 soft skills you need to increase your Career job opportunities. Now let’s understand what they mean in detail.
👉 Check also our article with career goals examples.
Leadership skill
Employers desperately need quality leaders. A recent survey showed that leadership is the single most urgent talent gap in the manager’s face. There are a lot of qualities which combine to form a leadership skill. They include Trustworthiness, Motivation, Commitment, and Goal Setting. These days’ companies are looking for individuals who know how to supervise and direct other workers. Someone who can cultivate relationships up and down and across the organizational chain. Encourage and discipline workers, build teams, resolve conflicts and help to create the desired work environment.
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Teamwork
A majority of employees are part of a team/department/division, and even those who are not in the unit/team need to collaborate with other employees to create a smooth and harmonious workflow. One might prefer to work alone, but it is important to demonstrate that you understand and appreciate the value of joining forces and working in a partnership to accomplish an organization’s goals.
Communication skills
No matter what a job entails, finding the right job is essential to have excellent communication skills. If you can present ideas in a logical manner and are well-received, you have some serious advantage over others. You should be able to deliver impactful speeches in small or large groups. Listening plays a big role in the communication criteria, understanding and empathizing with others points of view, Convincing someone to adopt a new viewpoint and presenting compelling reasons for taking all kinds of actions even in a critical situation would make you look good in more than one aspect.
Problem-solving skills
If you excel at thinking out of the box, you probably have excellent critical thinking skills. Though a majority of people shirk from problems because they don’t understand that companies hire employees majorly to solve their problems. Bumps in the road, Glitches and stumbling blocks are a part of the job, and it is up to you to stop or carry on with the journey. Using your knowledge to find answers to suppressing problems and formulate workable solutions will expatiate your journey and demonstrate that you can handle your job.
Work ethic
Although you have a manager, companies and big organizations don’t like to spend their time managing employees. It is the last thing on their mind or to-do list. They expect you to be responsible and do the job that you are getting paid to do, which includes being accountable for your mistakes if at all you make any or being punctual at your workplace, meeting your deadlines and making sure your work is error free. Here commitment to your work plays an important role; going the extra mile will show your dedication and commitment towards the company.
Flexibility/Adaptability
In today’s world, the organizations and companies change at the speed of light to maintain their stronghold or the position which they are on. So workers/employees who can change their speed and adapt to the fast changing environment of the company will always be appreciated. Also, in some companies, there are times when an employee needs to perform a task which might be out of their comfort zone but by being flexible one can easily take up the task and complete it.
Interpersonal skills
Interpersonal skills are the qualities and behaviors an individual uses to interact with others properly. In the corporate domain, this refers to an employee’s ability to work well with others while performing their job. Interpersonal skills are heavily associated with emotional intelligence, and this skill set is used to determine how well an employee uses their knowledge to achieve the best results. It also includes the ability to build and maintain relationships, develop an understanding between two people and also the use of diplomacy.
This clearly shows that soft skills are really important for an individual to increase their growth in an organization, which is why the majority of academic boards throughout the globe have made it a compulsion to include activities and classes related to soft skills development for students who are yet to enter the business world. This will increase a student’s graph in many ways. Currently, we are already at a stage where almost every other company needs employees who are well aware and brushed with their soft skill.
Author Bio:
John Miller is a PR strategist and writer, with extensive professional management experience in the public and private sectors.
Such a helpful post. Thanks for sharing it! 🙂