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Soft skills are defined as your character traits and interactive abilities that affect how you work and interact with others.

Your soft skills are your natural abilities that can’t be taught at school, they are also referred to as your “people” skills and therefore are directly correlated to your EQ level.

 

Soft skills are very useful across all industries and trades and employers now more inclined to hire individuals who exercise high-levels of EQ over their technical ability (hard skills), this is because job-specific skills are easily taught through educational and training programs.

 

Let’s take a look at what the top Soft Skills employers are looking out for when hiring:

 

1.Communication

Communication skills can be defined as either oral or written which allows you to express yourself effectively in the workplace. Your ability to communicate in your position is critical for anyone in the workplace, any issues or challenges faced can be quickly resolved with effective communication.

 

2.Teamwork

How well do you operate within a team? Teamwork is the easiest way to accomplish tasks efficiently and successfully and often the best results are achieved when collaborating with a team. Teamwork is crucial for careers in market research, event coordination, and software engineering.

 

3.Adaptability

Are you open to embracing change? An important skill to have is your ability to work with change, as our world moves towards newer technologies, staying calm and not folding under pressure when something changes, or a problem occurs will aid your success in your role.

 

4.Problem-solving

Regardless of what industry you’re in, if something goes wrong, you can either point and blame or take action. Employers are always looking to hire people who exercise high levels of problem-solving skills, it shows independence and initiative.

 

5.Creativity

20 years ago, companies looking to hire creatives outside of a creative-focus role was almost non-existent. As most business processes are becoming automated or controlled by software, the demand for creative thinkers and innovation across all departments is becoming a higher priority.

 

6.Work ethic

Demonstrating work ethic should important for everyone in their career. Your work ethic could be the deciding factor in that promotion or salary increase. Your ability to show the importance of your work shows dedication, a skill no employer will ever look past!

 

7.Interpersonal Skills

Adding to the first point, interpersonal skills and communication work hand-in-hand. Your ability to understand another’s point of view and how you interact with those who are in constant contact (colleagues and management) is vital to the cohesion of the company’s culture. A short temper and constant complaining about the people you work with won’t put you in good stead.

 

8.Time Management

A bit of a no brainer, time management is an age-old soft skill that is never overlooked. Time management relates to how efficiently and productively you complete your projects and tasks. People who are excellent at time management generally have lower stress levels and are well organized.

 

9.Leadership

Although not a common soft skill in everyone, leadership has become an important trait to a lot of companies hiring. It’s a great advantage to have leaders amongst your team to take charge of certain situations should problems arise. However, too many leaders in a team can cause conflict!

 

10.Attention to Detail

An important trait for anyone in any industry. The more thorough and accurate in your work, the more trust you will gain from your employer and colleagues. Careless mistakes can be frustrating and time-consuming, taking a few extra minutes to go over your work won’t cause any harm.

 

Soft skills are just as, if not more, important than your technical ability to do a job, Susan Vitale of iCIMS said, “hard skills might get your resume looked at” but soft skills “help you stand out and get you hired.” Take some time to identify your best soft skills to help prepare you for your next interview!

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