The Top 10 Soft Skills For All Jobs!
Whether you’re looking to make it into a new job, or make it up the ladder at your current job, your success depends heavily on your soft skills!
What are “Soft Skills”?
You have a lot of skills in your toolkit. Some of them are hard skills, and some are soft skills.
What separates these two categories is how specifically measurable they are.
Hard skills are often accompanied by some sort of credential. For instance, if you have First Aid skills you more than likely also have a First Aid certification. Or maybe you have a degree/diploma from school to prove you have mastered the fundamentals of your field of study.
Alternatively, you might be able to prove your hard skills with a portfolio of work. Maybe you’re a self-taught programmer with no formal degree, but you do have a cool app you can show off! Or maybe you’re a creative graphic designer with hundreds of example logos you’ve designed.
Soft Skills are typically earned through interpersonal experience, and display themselves gradually through the way we interact with others. Essentially, they are social skills.
Soft skills are beneficial ways that we’ve learned to behave in group settings, and by ourselves, that make it easier to work with others.
In the next section, we’ll go over 10 specific soft skills that you need to succeed!
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#1 Being Detail-Oriented
Do you have an eye for detail? Do you catch things others miss? Then you have a lot to offer employers that expect perfection!
Being thorough is also a sign of being disciplined, analytical, and observant. This batch of skills is important for people who work with many moving pieces, or manage many different processes, such as an accountant who oversees the billing for several departments.
#2 A Strong Work Ethic
The real benefit of having a strong sense of work ethic is that you can demonstrate consistency.
By valuing your work, and holding yourself to moral standards about how you do that work, you let employers know that you are reliable.
Jobs that suit this skill set in particular are jobs which require a lot of trust and responsibility, such as personal care workers, first responders, and business leaders that others depend on!
#3 Empathy
Being able to respect and understand people on an emotional level isn’t something that can be taught — but it can be learned. And those who have discovered how to do so are leaps and bounds above the competition when it comes to social skills.
Empathy informs how well we practice tolerance, how close we keep our relationships, our sense of humor, and so much more. Empathetic people are perfect for jobs that allow them to help people feel heard, such as counsellors, crisis workers, and even customer service staff!
#4 Ability To Lead
Many people take courses in business leadership, or read hundreds of books on how to become a better leader — because your ability to lead is a determining factor for your success, and the success of those you lead!
Leadership is a combination of charisma, communication, and confidence. Sometimes you will need to be a mentor, gently guiding others. Sometimes you will need to address negative points, and have difficult conversations that need to be had. But like the captain of a ship, you always care for your crew so you can all get where you need to go!
Leadership skills are most valued in jobs with lots of teamwork, such as large corporations or the military.
#5 Imagination
Einstein once said “Imagination is more important than knowledge” — and the same is often true in your career!
Also, creativity is not simply for people in the creative fields like designers and illustrators. It’s also for anyone! Your imagination will allow you to innovate at any job, and help you think out of the box when solving problems no matter what type of work you do.
#6 Being A Team Player
Good teamwork typically means putting people before problems. As a strong team player, you are always open and willing to mediate and resolve conflicts so everyone can accomplish what they need to.
If you have at least one coworker at your job, then this is an important soft skill to have. It will allow you to collaborate and coordinate, perfect for jobs where everyone relies heavily on each other, such as kitchen staff.
#7 Problem-Solving Ability
There’s a reason most interviewers ask “tell me about a time you encountered a difficult problem at work, and how you overcame it”. Your ability to analyze, rationalize, and overcome obstacles is a universally sought-after skill.
Jobs that require logic as well as creative solutions, or brainstorming and decision making are best suited for this skill, such as programmers, event planners, or lawyers.
#8 Flexibility
Can you juggle 10 different tasks? What about when you’re suddenly given 10 more?
That ability to go-with-the-flow is important for work environments that experience a lot of flux. That could be because there’s a lot of turnover with coworkers, or because your client list is constantly changing, or your company cares about staying as cutting-edge as possible.
Jobs you need this skill for include marketing, freelancing, and temp work.
#9 Communication Skills
It’s not what you say — it’s how you say it! Good communication requires understanding the medium, such as best practices for emails versus phone calls, or tweets versus blogs.
It also means being able to explain things simply and succinctly. But perhaps most importantly, it involves active listening!
Jobs that require strong communication skills include sales positions, teaching, and writing.
#10 Organizing Skills
Whether it’s organizing your time, your workspace, or the goals for your entire team, being able to organize means being able to succeed!
Coolheaded planning also means keeping your stress levels low, so you can more comfortably tackle your priorities without the anxiety.
Jobs that require organizational skills in particular include administration, research, and freelancing.
Conclusion
Want to know more about how you can develop your soft skills, or which jobs currently available are best suited to your skill set?
Book your free 1-on-1 appointment with META to get started!
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