As you progress through your career, you may hear about ‘soft skills’ as part of your wider skill set. These skills are vital for becoming a well-rounded professional and are typically desirable to employers as they’re highly transferable.
You should focus on developing soft skills throughout your career, as they can benefit you across multiple roles, even if you change industries.
The opposite of soft skills is hard skills, which are technical skills that are typically more specific to a single role or industry.
In this article, we explore what soft skills are, the different types of soft skills you can build over time and how to demonstrate them during a job application.
What are soft skills?
Soft skills, sometimes referred to as transferable skills, can be utilised across a wide range of roles and are largely non-technical, meaning they don’t relate to a specific industry or career path.
These skills sit alongside your ‘hard skills’ and together, can help you become a much more well-rounded individual.
An easy way to visualise soft skills is to think about the more general, non-technical abilities that you might utilise in a job. If being able to use Excel is a hard skill, the ability to provide constructive feedback would be a soft skill.
You’ll use soft skills during all of your job roles, and they’ll dictate how well you operate in the workplace, solve problems and advance throughout your career.
Related: What skills are employers looking for?
Why do you need soft skills?
While employers tend to place an emphasis on technical skills in job descriptions, you can only become a well-rounded professional by also developing your soft skills, which often contribute to how well you fit a company’s culture and day-to-day operation.
If you’re a good listener and you can provide feedback in a constructive, empathetic way, for example, you’ll not only be a stronger team member but also generally more well-regarded.
Soft skills are desirable to employers as they demonstrate you’re able to operate as part of a team within a professional environment.
At the same time, by building out these universal skills, you’ll vastly improve your chances of advancing along your chosen career path, especially if you’re aiming for a management role.
With that in mind, what are the key benefits of improving your soft skills?
Soft skills support better communication
Good communication is the most important skill you can have if you want to thrive in a professional environment.
Communication skills impact nearly every interaction you’re likely to have in the workplace, whether you’re relaying information to management, supporting co-workers on a project or reporting to clients.
When you have clear communication you’re in a much better place to build collaborative, enriching professional relationships which could lead to opportunities in the future.
The term ‘communication’ is an umbrella term and can impact everything from non-verbal cues to the language you use on an email.
Related: What are communication skills (and how to improve them)?
Soft skills improve your problem-solving
Whatever role or business you’re working in will bring its own challenges; the key is how you approach and solve these problems.
Problem-solving is always a popular skill with employers, as it’s a clear indicator of proactivity, initiative and the ability to act independently whilst still providing value.
Critical thinking, active listening and empathy all impact how you solve problems, making them useful individual skills to have.
Similarly, good problem-solving skills may help you identify challenges before they even happen, leading to further professional success over your career.
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Soft skills impact your overall productivity
How productive you are as a professional directly affects how successful you’ll be in your career.
If you have great time management, organisation skills and an exceptional work ethic, you’ll naturally be more productive and thus a beneficial asset for businesses going forward.
Being able to demonstrate soft skills that impact productivity is a good way to make a great first impression with employers, especially as it’s relatively easy to provide context around how you implement these skills in the workplace.
What are the different kinds of soft skills?
There are several different soft skills you may use during your career, including:
Time management
One of the easiest soft skills to ‘train’ is time management. Understanding how to properly manage and utilise the time you have at work is one of the easiest ways to demonstrate your value and achieve professional success.
Good time management directly impacts your ability to meet deadlines, provide a high-standard of work and establish yourself as a reliable point of contact. In some cases, time management may also relate to your punctuality – an underrated but important part of demonstrating your dedication.
Teamwork
More often than not, you’ll be asked to work as part of a team in the workplace. One of the most common reasons for people leaving a role – whether voluntarily or involuntarily – is because they can’t operate as part of a larger team.
If you establish teamwork skills early on in your career, you’ll be better at collaborating on tasks, being positive in group settings and supporting co-workers in reaching deadlines. Remember, if you have good teamwork skills, you not only improve your own performance but the wider team around you.
Adaptability
Adaptability is a great skill to have in the modern workplace. If you can handle change in a positive way – such as organisational changes or delays – you’ll generally be a more effective employee.
This is especially true in a world where job roles constantly shift. In any given role, you may be expected to take on new responsibilities, learn new technology or adopt different processes, which is where adaptability can separate you from the competition.
In the long-term, being adaptable can also support your own career development – helping you learn new skills and increasing your potential for career progression.
