Soft skills are core skills sought after in every profession.
Whether you’re a server in a restaurant or a big-shot CEO, your soft skills will be as decisive for your success as your technical know-how.
Motivation and time management, leadership, and open-mindedness – all of those are widely sought-after soft skills.
And these are just a few out of many!
But you might be wondering which soft skills are relevant for YOUR career? And which ones should you focus on developing?
This is where this article comes in!
What Are Soft Skills?
Soft skills consist of a combination of people, social, and communication skills, character traits, attitudes, and mindsets, as well as social and emotional characteristics, among others, which are sought for in all professions.
Some examples of soft skills include:
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Leadership
- Problem-solving
If you’re applying for a job, soft skills are key in setting apart ideal candidates from adequate ones – especially when recruiters are deciding among applicants with similar work and education experience.
Studies also attest to it – 97% of employers say that soft skills are either as important or more important than hard skills and that more than half of new employees that fail within 18 months do so because they lack soft skills.
Soft Skills Vs Hard Skills
Soft Skills Vs Hard Skills
There are two types of skills: hard skills and soft skills.
Hard skills, also referred to as measurable abilities, include anything from mastering Photoshop to emergency care knowledge. You obtain hard skills through your education, training, certifications, and professional experience.
Soft skills, also called people skills, are the mix of social and interpersonal skills, character traits, and professional attitudes that all jobs require. Teamwork, patience, time management, communication, are just a few examples. Soft skills can be personality traits or they can be traits obtained through life experiences.
Usually, you’d include both hard and soft skills in your resume as follows:
Top 10 Soft Skills Employers Love (For Any Profession)
- Soft skills can tell a lot about how a candidate will interact in the workplace, how they might react under pressure, or what their professional potential is.
- As such, a lot of employers prioritize hiring employees with the right soft skills over hard skills.
- But which soft skills are really important, and which ones are less so?
- In 2021, the most in-demand soft skills are as follows:
- Time management
- Communication
- Adaptability
- Problem-solving
- Teamwork
- Creativity
- Leadership
- Interpersonal skills
- Work ethic
- Attention to detail
