Soft Skills:
What they are and how to get them

"Soft Skills": maybe you’ve never heard the term.

Or perhaps you’ve heard it but are not sure exactly what it means.

Some people will be familiar with the term, and have an idea what it means, but not able to come up with more that a very few items if asked to compile a list of them.

If you are in the work force currently, or planning on getting into it soon, you need to know about soft skills. You need to know which you have and which you would benefit from developing.

Notice I say "developing": one cannot just read a book and learn soft skills. One has to experience and practice using them in the real world with other people.

The technical skills required for the job, say computer skills for example, are "hard" skills. These are the skills you can take a course and learn.

Knowing how to do the technical side of the job is necessary but how you carry it through is also just as important. It takes soft skills to take any idea to reality, because, in most cases, it will involve communicating with people directly.

Here is a partial list of Soft Skills:

- Able to handle personal matters without them influencing work performance

- Honesty / integrity

- Reliability

- Flexibility, Adaptability

- Team Working skills

- Cooperation Positive attitude

- Dependability

- Ability to work independently

- Energy / Drive

- Interpersonal skills

- positive thinking

- yielding

- sensitiveness

- openness

- Lack of resentment

- Lack of temper

- Lack of irritation

- Lack of stubbornness

- Lack of selfishness

- Able to Motivate others

- Self motivated

- Willingness to learn

- Practical

- Analytical

- Taking pride in self and work

- Attention to detail

- Good listener

- Willingness to take responsibility

- Perseverance / tenacity

- Willingness to learn new things

- Ability to get along with others

- Communication skills

- Talking/ listening

- Emotional responsiveness

- Empathy

- Clear thinking

- Lack of Confusion of interests

- Lack of Self deceit

How do Employers measure your Soft Skills?

Companies use various assessment tools including MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator), Emotional Intelligence Tests and Handwriting Analysis to help them see what soft skills you possess, and what your personality is like.

For many years it was only your IQ – intelligence Quotient that counted. It is generally agreed that IQ is fixed, more or less, from birth. But Soft Skills (sometimes called Emotional Quotient) can be improved upon should an individual be willing to work upon them.

Most agree that, although they still of course want the hard or technical skills required for any job, that it’s the Soft Skills that that employers are looking for (opens new window) to determine how successful an individual is, and how good an employee they will be.

Therefore, your resume will show your hard skills, plus, hopefully, some soft skills, but don’t be surprised if the interview focuses mainly on your soft skills – this is what employers are looking for in the candidate of choice.

How to do develop the Soft Skills you are lacking?

Once you’ve worked out what soft skills you would like to acquire or improve upon, look at the list below and decide which methods would be best to help you do so.

Analyzing:

Can you analyze objectively, giving accurate assessments without allowing your personal feelings about the issue or the person to get in the way?

When you mention a problem, do you try to offer a solution along with it?

Do you show optimism that problems can be fixed, or do you sound down and fed-up as though nothing is ever right?

If this is difficult for you, practice analyzing calmly until you can do it in most circumstances.

Get involved in a team:

Team work can only be learned by being a member of a team.

It could be any group, any where. But learning to be a contributing member of a team will stand you in good stead in any job.

Notice how you behave in a group. Notice how others behave, both positively and negatively, and learn how to fit in and relate to your fellow team members.

Organization / Time Management:

Very important in the work world is how you handle your time.

Do you do things in the most efficient manner, or do you do part of something, go off and do something else, and then come back … forget where you left off, so spend time working that out … and finish the first job? Or do you waste time in other ways.

It’s not always a case of working harder, but working smarter.

Notice as you go about your daily life, whether at work or elsewhere: do you get “your act together” and do what has to be done as efficiently as possible, or are you all over the place.

Each time you find you are disorganized, take a few minutes just to stop and think you more effectively you could do this thing.

Sensitivity to Criticism:

In most jobs, you hear how you’re doing from others, whether it’s praise or complaints.

Are you open to criticism?

Can you assess it calmly, discard what is unjust, and do your best to improve upon what is accurate?

Do you get upset? Avoid the criticizer? Justify yourself?

Pay attention to how to deal with criticism.

No-one likes to be criticized but it happens to us all. Learn to take it in your stride and as part of the learning process.

Ask People who know you well:

Ask “What do you most value me for?” and “What are my greatest weaknesses?

Ask several people and then notice what patterns appear throughout all responses.

Take pride in your strengths, and consider how to improve upon your weaknesses.

Know Yourself:

The better you know yourself, the more effectively you can:

- present yourself and your can-do qualities to an employer or to anyone.

- can perform in any work, get along with anyone, and move ahead to any concept of “Success.”

"Know Thyself: Before we can know the world around us and make wise choices, we must first come to grips with who we are and what we value." i> Socrates

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared with what lies within us." Ralph Waldo Emerson

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