If you want to get ahead in your career in the coming years, adopting a growth mindset should be at the top of your priority list. Studygreen.info is delighted to present to you these 10 Most Selling Soft Skills that will help you grow and aid your employability.
Soft skills are sometimes referred to as transferable skill or interpersonal or meta skill. As this term implies, these are skills that are less specialized, less rooted in specific vocations and more aligned with the personal attributes and personality of a candidate.
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.
Soft Skills vs Hard Skills
A soft skill which is different from hard skills (also known as technical skills) is a more intangible and non-technical abilities that are sought from candidates. It’s important to distinguish between soft skills and hard skills, both of which are valuable and required by employers across all industries and working environments.
While soft skills are more to do with your personality and non-technical abilities, hard skills are skills that can be taught through formal education or training. These skills might be developed through university or college attendance, online courses, on-the-job training or other classes or training environments.
A hard skill for a carpenter, for example, might be the ability to operate a power saw or use framing squares, or his ability of the carpenter to communicate effectively with coworkers and clients.
Recommended: Skill-Up with these Free Online Courses by Top World Organizations
Regardless of the job to which you’re applying, you need at least some soft skills.
In order to succeed at a job, 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 candidates already have the soft skills to be successful.
What Are the 10 Key Soft Skills?
- Leadership
- Problem solving
- Responsibility
- Communication
- Critical thinking
- Teamwork
- Time Management
- Decisiveness
- Flexibility
- Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
Top Soft Skills | Let’s Dive into Details…
These most important soft skills are the skills employers mostly would be looking to see in a candidate. The list includes subsists of related soft skills that employers tend to seek in job applicants.
My advice to you is this; develop these skills and emphasize them in job applications, resumes, cover letters, and interviews. Showing the interviewer that you have the skills the company is seeking will help you get hired.
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. This is why it is a particularly sought-after skill. 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.
People with good leadership skills will have a range of skills that are useful in the workplace, including: A positive attitude and outlook. The ability to make quick and effective decisions, Exemplary problem-solving or conflict management skills and The ability to communicate effectively.
Problem Solving
Problem solving does not just require analytical, creative and critical skills, but a particular mindset; those who can approach a problem with a cool and level head will often reach a solution more efficiently than those who cannot. problem solving simply means having a certain kind of mindset.
This is a soft skill which can often rely on strong teamwork too. Problems need not always be solved alone.
The ability to know who can help you reach a solution, and how they can do it, can be of great advantage.
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, and less respected.
To demonstrate a high level of responsibility, make sure you can master these skills: Trustworthiness, Discipline, Conscientiousness, Resilience and Adaptability.
Taking responsibility means taking ownership of not only your goals but the wider company goals, plus don’t forget this is a respond to ability, in this case a respond to the soft skill you have. This will mean taking the initiative to make improvements, accepting responsibility for any failures and really caring about working your way to success.
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.
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
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 to others. Listening is a particularly important skill in customer service jobs. A key, often forgotten, communication skill is listening.
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.
Critical Thinking
Critical thinkers have been known to express; creativity, , critical observation, flexibility, design aptitude, adaptability, artistic aptitude, and a desire to learn
No matter what the job, employers will prefer 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.
Teamwork
Like self-motivation, good teamwork involves a combination of other soft skills. 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.
Good team players are perceptive, as well as receptive to the needs and responsibilities of others.
Time Management
Employees who manage their time well can efficiently priorities tasks and organize their diaries while adopting an attitude which allows them to take on new tasks and deadlines.
Many jobs come with demanding deadlines and, sometimes, high stakes. Recruiters prize candidates who show a decisive attitude, an unfaltering ability to think clearly, and a capacity to compartmentalize and set stress aside. Time management is closely related to the ability to work under pressure, as well as within tight deadlines.
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, and be able to achieve all this under pressure.
Decisiveness
Decisiveness is characterized by the ability to make quick and effective decisions. It does not mean recklessness or impulsiveness. But your ability to put things into perspective, weigh up the options, also to be able to assess all relevant information and anticipate any consequences, good and bad.
As a decisive employee you will be able to take effective and considered action quickly, especially when under pressure by taking responsibility for the consequences of you decision and adapt when mistakes are made. This will ensures that you don’t miss opportunities by lengthy analysis or debate.
Flexibility
As a flexible employee you will be more willing to help out where needed, take on extra responsibilities and can adapt quickly when plans change.
Flexibility is an important soft skill, since it demonstrates an ability and willingness to embrace new tasks and new challenges calmly and without fuss. Employers are looking for candidates who can show a willing and upbeat attitude, and who are unfazed by change.
Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
To be an adept negotiator is to know how to be persuasive and exert influence, while sensitively seeking a solution which will benefit all parties. This is another of those soft skills which employers look for in potential leaders.
Similarly, conflict resolution depends on you strong interpersonal skills and your ability to establish a rapport with colleagues and clients alike. Negotiation and conflict resolution means a Growth mindset which is your ability to learn continuously and your willingness to adapt to change also creativity in developing new ideas, applying new solutions to address existing problems and focus mastery which is harnessing concentration to make better short- and long-term decisions while being innovative, cultivating better communication skills.
You May Like: Top 10 Business Ideas for Students Working from Home
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.
- Good attitude
- Business ethics
- Follow rules
- Business trend awareness
- Follow regulations
- Ergonomic sensitivity
- Follow instructions
- Knowledge management
- Independent
- Proactiveness
- Motivating
- Tolerance
- Positive work ethic
- Troubleshooting ability
- Results oriented
- Safety conscious
- Scheduling
- Self-awareness
- Self-supervision
- Stress management
- Technology savviness
- Technology trend awareness
- Willingness to learn
- Trainability
- Work-life balance
Â