The Importance of Soft Skills
What sets the most successful candidates apart from the rest? Soft skills. These types of skills are not easily acquired by simply reading a textbook, attending a class, or researching the Internet-which is why they can be so valuable for a job seeker to attain. Although these skills may be difficult to define, they are becoming increasingly important in competitive job markets.
Important Soft Skills
According to a recent Monster article, the most important soft skills are those that grow relationships and create opportunities. It is obviously necessary for a candidate to perform the technical elements of a job proficiently, however being able to contribute to a team by leading and communicating effectively is just as important.
The perfect candidate needs to be able to have the social and interpersonal skills necessary to work efficiently and effectively with their team as well. In a recent CareerBuilder article, it is stated that professionalism and interpersonal skills are of great importance during the hiring process. A candidate that has the perfect technical skills, but lacks interpersonal skills may be surpassed for a candidate that can adequately perform both.
Problem solving and adaptability are also soft skills that hiring managers may take note of during the interview and hiring process, as stated by Forbes. It may be problematic to hire an employee that hinders productivity due to lack of flexibility, adaptability, or problem solving abilities. A candidate brings great value to a team/company when they are able to focus on a problem, explain it, adapt, and solve it in order to complete important tasks and projects.
How To Utilize Soft Skills During Your Job Search
A great way to show soft skills on your resume is to highlight specific projects where you have utilized and excelled using these specific skills-for guidance refer to this article. Although it is more difficult to quantify soft skills, it is important to highlight these as strengths with as much detail as possible.
Interviews are also a crucial time to show your soft skills. Body language and ability to carry a conversation fluidly are the easiest ways to show you have soft skill abilities. This is also a great opportunity to give specific examples of times you have shown leadership, problem-solving, or adaptability skills within a professional setting.
Increasingly competitive job markets means that job seekers must highlight their technical abilities as well as their interpersonal and dynamic abilities. Although soft skills may not be as easy to list off on a resume or explain during an interview, they can make all the difference in the hiring process- so it is important they do not get left out!
Marquee Staffing recruiters specialize in placing talent in some of the most desirable areas in Southern California, including Irvine, San Diego, Orange County, Oceanside, Silicon Valley, and Carlsbad. We also provide the benefit of our knowledge and experience to help you improve employee retention, productivity and much more.