Employers continue to realize the value of employees with strong interpersonal skills, also called soft skills. Interpersonal skills are our behaviors and personality traits surrounding how we interact with other people. They are called soft skills because they are difficult to measure. These soft skills are the qualities that set employees apart from one another. Employees with strong soft skills are usually top performers and work well with others at all levels within an organization.
Hard skills, those skills that are easy to quantify, are important. You still need that degree, knowledge, experience, certification or license. However, if your qualifications are outstanding, but you’re not getting any response to your resumé, it may be because you haven’t included any of your soft skills in your resumé. If you’re not getting that promotion you think you deserve, you may need to work on your soft skills.
Employer Desired Soft Skills
The National Association of College and Employers (NACE), Job Outlook 2019, rated the career competencies employers want to see on new college graduates’ resumés. Soft skills rated high on the list. Critical thinking/problem solving was the top desired skill. The ability to work in a team came in at a close second. Followed by professionalism/work ethic which scored slightly higher than oral/written communications and leadership.
The LinkedIn 2020 Workplace Learning Report identifies building soft skills as foundational to every employee’s success. Participating L&D companies scored leadership and management, creative problem solving and design thinking, and communication as their highest priority skills.
As you can see, results will vary between surveys as they do between industries and among companies within any given industry. Regardless of the survey results, soft skills are important in today’s career environment.
Communicating Job Requirements
Technical requirements and responsibilities (hard skills) of a position have always been found in job announcements. At one time few, if any, listed soft skills. These announcements used to recruit employees were often mirrored as job descriptions further keeping the requirements vague to employees. The rise in importance of soft skills has led more companies to list their most desired soft skills in job announcements.
Being curious about the communication of soft skill requirements by employers to candidates, I decided to conduct a little unofficial research of my own. So I examined 100 job announcements in 6 different fields (accountant, project manager, nurse, engineer, clerk, and network support). The search was limited to the United States but not any specific area of the country or industry.
Many companies value soft skills equal to or higher than technical skills and most employers say they are a major factor considered when hiring candidates. Still, almost 38% of the job announcements reviewed listed no soft skills.
Verbal and written communication occurred as a required skill in 34% of those reviewed. In addition to communication, traits most frequently desired were: must be highly organized, detail-oriented, ability to work with a team, and problem solving. Overall, I found 15 different soft skills listed in the job announcements reviewed. Thought not an official survey, it does support the increased importance of soft skills in today's job market.
6 Steps for Developing Soft Skills
We’ve heard people say things like, “She’s a born leader” or “He is so charismatic”. While soft skills may seem to come more naturally for some, these are behaviors that can be learned when studied and practiced. How do you get started? Here are some steps you can take to help identify and improve your soft skills.
1. Take some time for self-reflection. What have others said about you? Are you praised for getting the job done on time, for being a great mentor, being kind and understanding, helping others, being a team player? Or have you been criticized for always be late, tagged as lazy, accused of misunderstanding others, have problems making decisions, or lack self-confidence.
2. Rate yourself. Review the list of soft skills below, then do the exercise (bullets) at the end of the list. The list is not all-inclusive but a good place to get started.
Communication (Verbal & Written)
Critical Thinking
Organized
Problem Solving
Detail-oriented
Leadership
Ability to Work with a Team
Confidence
Flexible/Adaptable
Positive Attitude
Disciplined
Decision-making
Stress/Pressure Management
Negotiation
Professionalism
Reliability
Responsible
Honest/Trustworthy
Time Management
Work Ethic
Kindness
Empathy
Generosity
Initiative/Self-motivated
Rate yourself in each soft skill area. (Strong [5] to Weak [1])
Identify each area where you could use improvement. (Rated 3 or below)
Identify your current skills in each area where you are strong. (Rated bove 3)
3. Make a list of accomplishments and activities that demonstrate your soft skills.
4. Update your resumé. If you are job searching, it is essential that your resumé highlight your soft skills, especially any called out in a job announcement where you will apply. Provide examples that showcase your relevant soft skills and get your resumé noticed.
5. Work on your weak areas. You could start by researching the area(s) for improvement. In today's environment, data is readily available. Reading books on the subject area is a great way to gain knowledge. Numerous books have been written on soft skill topics, such as leadership, time management, communication, and team building, to name a few. Many are available as audiobooks.
You may wish to consider taking a training course to strengthen your skills. Online courses have been created which make it easier to fit the training into your schedule when compared to attending classes. One site, themuse.com, has identified eleven online classes you can take to improve your interpersonal skills. They have listed each option with links to the sites and the price for each course.
YouTube is one of my favorite places for instructional videos. In the search field, type the title of the skill you are investigating. Scroll through the results and select the video that best suits your need. I’ve found watching several videos on a subject from different sources gives both the reinforcement and depth of subject that I need.
6. Take action. Start practicing your interpersonal skills daily and with anyone you make contact with, whether professional or personal. Honing skills such as empathy, kindness and generosity will improve relationships with friends and family as well as professional associations.
Sir Richard Branson (Virgin Atlantic) stated, “The most important skills I had to learn to be successful were people skills.” You may not aspire to achieve the same level of business success as Sir Richard Branson, but by developing strong soft skills you can improve all areas of your life, both personal and professional.
The quote, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is a good foundation for interpersonal skills. Though a Biblical quote, one does not have to be religious to see how this practice can help us improve our behavior with others. So start improving your soft skills by being conscious of how you treat others and how you want to be treated.
Develop the Soft Skills employers want and boost your career!
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