Soft skills are the personal attributes and social skills that we need in order to interact with others effectively. They include things like communication, teamwork, and problem-solving. This blog will talk about the essential soft skills for resume.
Let’s get started!
What are Soft Skills?
“Soft Skills” is a catch-all term referring to various behaviors that help people in working and socializing effectively with others. These are the non-technical skills that relate to how you work, interact with your colleagues, solve problems, and manage your workload and time. Someone can have strong technical, job-specific skills, but they may struggle in the workplace if they can’t manage their time or function in a team. Soft skills are generally sought by hiring managers since they contribute to a person’s success in the workplace. According to LinkedIn’s 2019 Global Talent Trends report, 89% of recruiters say it’s usually due to a lack of soft skills for resume when a hire doesn’t work out.
Soft skills training can be difficult to quantify, but recent research shows that it can provide a significant return on investment for businesses while also helping employees. Soft skills are very crucial in customer-facing positions. Listening to a customer and providing helpful and courteous service necessitates a number of soft skills. Even if you’re not in a client-facing position, you’ll need to get along with your coworkers, managers, vendors, and other people you interact with at work.
Difference Between Soft Skills and Hard Skills
Your emotional intelligence and natural ability to interact successfully with people are referred to as soft skills. They’re useful across all industries and are transferable. Hard skills, on the other hand, are technical or job-specific skills that can be acquired through traditional education or training. Every profession has its own examples of hard skills and soft skills. Depending on your job role, you may need to be a brilliant writer, grasp mathematical concepts, or be competent with programming languages. These are concrete examples of hard skills that often require training to learn. Soft skills, on the other hand, are abilities that are difficult to quantify but may be used by recruiters to clearly distinguish between candidates. These skills are much more challenging to teach as compared to job-specific skills.
Also Read: Hard Skills Vs Soft Skills – Definitions and Examples
Top 10 Soft Skills
1. Time Management
The process of organizing and planning how to split your time between various activities is known as time management. It enables you to work smarter, not harder.
SMART Goal Setting
Goal setting is the first step of the time management process. A goal properly set is halfway reached. It provides direction and helps in meeting deadlines and improving focus. The goal that you set should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound).
Setting Priorities
Priorities are essential for achieving your goals. Priorities assist you in determining which tasks must be completed and when they must be completed. Remember the 4 Ds- Do, Defer, Delegate and Delete. You need to analyze what you need to do immediately, what you can delay, what you can delegate to someone else, and what you can completely drop. It all comes down to your understanding of separating urgent and important tasks from non-urgent and unimportant tasks.
Here are a few time management tips to increase your productivity-
- Always have a time check.
- Always set a realistic time limit for your tasks.
- Prioritize your tasks.
- Focus on one task at a time.
- Learn to say “No”.
- Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.
2. Communication
Communication is the ability to convey or share ideas and feelings effectively, and it’s among the top soft skills employers require across all fields. Every communication involves three main parts – at least one sender, a message, and a recipient. The different categories of communication include spoken or verbal communication, non-verbal communication, written communication, and visualizations. You can take up an online spoken english course to improve your command on the language.
The examples of most common communication skills include-
- Active listening- Active listening is paying attention to a speaker, comprehending what they’re saying, responding and reflecting on what’s being said, and retaining the information for later use. The purpose of active listening is to gather information and listen in order to comprehend individuals and circumstances before responding.
- Constructive feedback- Constructive feedback is intended at producing a positive outcome by providing someone with comments, advice, or suggestions that will benefit their work or future.
- Empathy- Empathy is the ability to understand and relate to another person’s thoughts, emotions, or experiences. Empathy is crucial because it allows us to understand how others are feeling so that we can respond appropriately.
- Public speaking- Public speaking is more than just a means of conveying information; it can also be a potent tool for change. It will allow you to make a difference in your life, business, community, and career.
- Written communication- Written communication is an essential ability in today’s information era. Most jobs include written communication, whether it’s via email, formal letters, notes, text messages, or internet messaging. You can effectively give direction if you have good written communication abilities.
- Non-verbal communication- Face expressions, gestures, posture, and voice tone are all effective communication techniques. Non-verbal communication is important because it improves a person’s capacity to relate, participate, and form meaningful interactions in daily life.
3. Adaptability
The only constant is change. But there’s a catch: no one likes change. Companies and work environments change all the time. As a result, you must be able to adapt to a variety of scenarios at work. Your adaptability demonstrates how well you can accept and adjust to change. It refers to the ability to be flexible in order to succeed. It is because you know how to adapt that you are a quick learner. You can improve your adaptability skills by attempting new things and putting your problem-solving abilities to the test.
4. Problem-Solving
The existence of business would be unnecessary if people had no problems. After all, there isn’t a career on the planet where you won’t encounter problems. That is why problem-solvers with a creative bent are always in demand. Problem-solving skills will assist you in identifying problems at work and efficiently resolving them in a timely manner. Individuals with problem-solving skills are often self-sufficient, able to see an underlying workplace issue and implement a viable solution.
Any problem can be solved in an efficient and effective manner with this four-step IDEA method-
I- Identify the problem
D- Develop solutions
E- Execute a plan
A- Assess results
5. Teamwork
The sum of the efforts undertaken by each team member for the fulfillment of the team’s objective is called teamwork. It is the backbone of any team. It enables you to collaborate efficiently in a group and complete projects. Idea exchange, collaboration, and conflict resolution are all part of teamwork.
6. Creativity
Creativity is the ability to think about a task or a problem in a unique way. It is about using one’s imagination to come up with fresh ideas. Innovation, mind-mapping, and questioning are all examples of creativity.
7. Leadership
Leadership is a process of social influence that leverages the efforts of others in order to attain a goal. The ability to turn a vision into reality is what leadership is all about.
The four fundamental leadership skills are-
- Self-awareness- Self-awareness entails being aware of various parts of one’s own personality, such as behaviors and feelings. Simply said, this involves understanding your strengths and weaknesses. Self-awareness is one of the most important leadership abilities for long-term leadership effectiveness.
- Communication- Communication expands to behaviors such as promoting discussion, building trust, communicating vision and strategic intent, and pulling people along with you as you move up the career ladder.
- Influence- Influencing skills are the ability to persuade others to agree with you on a subject without using force or compulsion while respecting their viewpoints.
- Learning agility- Learning agility is the ability to apply what you’ve learned from previous experiences to new ones. It is a critical capability for developing productive behaviors and adapting to changing situations.
8. Interpersonal Skills
Interpersonal skills refer to how well you connect with others, maintain relationships, and leave a positive impression on others.
Some examples of interpersonal skills are-
- Networking
- Humor
- Empathy
- Tolerance
- Diplomacy
- Patience
9. Work Ethic
Work ethic is the value placed on work and the willingness to put up the effort necessary to achieve results. By demonstrating your work ethic, you demonstrate to employers that you value work and the importance of putting up your best effort.
Skills related to work ethic include-
- Responsibility
- Discipline
- Dependability
- Commitment
- Professionalism
10. Attention to Details
When performing a task, paying attention to details refers to a person’s ability to focus on both minor and major elements. This personality trait leads to accurate and error-free work. Individuals who pay attention to details are known for being meticulous in their research and for being extremely efficient. The best strategy to improve your attention to detail skills is by eliminating distractions and avoiding multitasking. Multitasking can hinder your ability to focus on one task at a time.
Conclusion
According to Forbes, 94% of hiring managers believe exceptional soft skills outweigh experience when it comes to internal promotions to leadership positions. Simply put, soft skills are as important as hard skills for landing the job you want and advancing your career. You’ll always need technical skills to win the job, but you won’t be able to compete without solid soft skills.
“Hard skills might get your resume looked at. But, soft skills will help you stand out and get you hired by that recruiter or promoted by your manager,” says Susan Vitale, workplace expert, and Chief Marketing Officer at iCIMS.
