You may be wondering: what are soft skills? Closely related to the level of emotional intelligence a person possesses, ‘soft skills’ is just a fancy way of saying ‘people skills,’ ‘interpersonal skills,’ ‘social skills,’ or any number of synonyms.
If you’re aware of what ‘hard skills’ are, you’ll understand how soft skills differ – how they’re oxymoronic. If you’re unaware, I’ll explain. Hard skills are easily quantifiable, objective, teachable abilities – you know, boring stuff like math, reading and writing. Possessing strong hard skills is essential for gaining employment; however, you may be the greatest software developer in the world, but if you lack the necessary soft skills to work within a collaborative environment, then you might as well work from home because no company is going to risk disrupting the balance and efficiency of their collective workforce for one employee.
Finding the right balance between soft and hard skills is the key, and it’s something that every prospective employer looks for when searching for a new employee.
Here are five of the most important soft skills employers are looking for right now.
1. Communication Skills
Have you ever found yourself arguing with someone who is so vehemently opposed to every point you’re making, despite the fact that every point you’re making is indeed a fact? No matter how hard you try—or how many different approaches you take—to communicate your message, they’re just not willing to budge, leaving you both frustrated and essentially in the same place you started.
These people lack what is arguably the most important soft skill – communication. Poor communication skills breed misunderstanding and tension which can be very bad for business. Being a good communicator is often about changing the way you communicate in the face of adversity. Possessing strong communication skills—both verbally and written—shows potential employers that you’ll be able to solve problems and form positive connections with your colleagues.
2. Leadership Skills
Where do you see yourself in five years? For most people, this is an incredibly difficult question to answer. For some, it’s easy – leading and managing a team. If you’re asked this question by a potential employer, they’re not seeking a detailed outline of exactly where you see yourself in five years and how you’re going to get there, but they’re looking for something very important: ambition.
I’m willing to go out on a whim and assume you’re not seeking employment to remain at an entry level position for the rest of your life, right? I’m also willing to assume that the majority of employers aren’t looking for people content with remaining in entry level positions for the rest of their lives, either. They’re looking for ambitious people who want to learn and develop the skills required to become leaders within their organisation. You need to show prospective employers that you have a willingness to listen, learn, evolve, self-motivate, show initiative, and ultimately, lead.
3. Ability to Self Analyse
Feedback—good or bad—is something you’re going to encounter in any workplace. You’ll receive feedback from your employers, colleagues and most certainly your customers. Good feedback is often hard to get but very easy to receive – show me someone who truly doesn’t like compliments and I’ll show you a liar. Negative feedback, however, is an entirely different beast, which isn’t quite as easy to take.
In my eyes, there are two common traps people fall into when responding to negative feedback: getting angry and shifting blame. They’re both massive red flags for employers. More often than not, negative feedback isn’t a personal attack – it’s coming from a place of disappointment. A person expected something a certain way and it didn’t eventuate. Not giving in to anger shows employers that you can see the benefit in someone pointing out a potential flaw in something you’ve done. Accepting responsibility shows employers that you have the capacity to listen, evolve and better yourself.
Being able to take negative feedback onboard and turn it into something positive is a massive plus for employers.
4. Time Management Skills
Whatever hours you work, you need to be able to show your employers that you have the ability to complete your work within that timeframe. You’re always going to have deadlines, so you need to make sure you manage your time effectively to ensure they’re met. Curveballs and obstacles will inevitably come your way. It’s how you handle and move past these that will make you stand out.
Depending on which industry you find yourself in, it’s highly likely that your employer will expect you to work on multiple projects at the same time, often with multiple groups of people from different areas. Showing initiative by working efficiently and within a schedule will go a long way to earning yourself some serious brownie points.
Pro tip: arriving 10 to 15 minutes early for work is a great place to start.
5. Ability to Handle Pressure
Pressure: one of the most feared eight-letter words in the English language. Some people thrive under it, while others simply can’t handle it. More often than not, the people who don’t handle pressure well do so because they consciously avoid situations that may lead to potential pressure. This is the wrong attitude. If you avoid pressure wherever possible, it’s almost certain that you’ll never make progress. Pressure facilitates performance – do you think Michael Jordan ever asked to sit on the bench in the fourth quarter of a tied game? I don’t think so.
Showing your employers that you can not only handle pressure but actively seek out challenges and embrace them is a huge positive. Not only does it prove to your higher-ups that you can work independently, but it’ll also show that you have the potential to progress into leadership roles in the future.
