'Soft' skills crucial in workplace

In recent years, we’ve been hearing a great deal of buzz about the “skills gap.” Today, to get and keep a job requires a repertoire of technical or “hard” skills – such as the expertise required for a project manager. However, the demands of hiring managers have transcended basic technical proficiencies to also encompass other vital skills.

Today’s job seekers are measured by more than the content of their resumes, which simply outline their unique educational and employment achievements. There are a range of other qualities that recruiters look for in potential candidates. These are often referred to as “soft" skills.

In today’s highly competitive job market, the measure of an individual’s career success is highly dependent on their ability to apply their soft skills to adapt to any workplace environment or assignment.

According to recent survey of hiring managers and human resources professionals by CareerBuilder (www.careerbuilder.com), 77 percent of employers believe soft skills are just as important as hard skills when selecting candidates. In fact, 16 percent of the respondents actually considered a candidate’s soft skills more vital than hard skills.

What employers want

So, what are these so-called soft skills? These are the personal qualities, abilities and attributes that enable you to effectively relate to and interact with other people. While your technical skills may get your foot in the door, it’s your people skills that will influence your career and leadership growth.

According to the CareerBuilder survey, the top 10 soft skills companies say they’re seeking in potential candidates are: strong work ethic, dependability, positive attitude, self-motivation, team orientation, problem solving, working well under pressure, communicating effectively, flexibility and confidence.

Sometimes having the right soft skills may convince an employer to take a chance on someone who needs to grow and improve. Recent graduates may have limited expertise and little practical experience. However, their soft skills may convince an employer to give them a chance.

Why? A savvy manager recognizes that hard skills (such as computer programming), are teachable and can be developed on the job. However, if a candidate lacks basic soft skills, it can compromise the success of the organization.

The soft sell

Plastering your resume and cover letter with overused buzzwords or jargon is not recommended. In 2014, LinkedIn identified the most overused buzzwords as: creative, driven, responsible, passionate, expert and innovative.

Stop rattling off a list of qualities you think will land you the job and actually provide quantifiable examples on your resume that illustrate how you developed creative solutions, contributed to a team project or generated new business by solving a client’s problem. Describe how you “thought outside the box” as one of your key achievements.

Proposing new ideas, resolving conflict, being an attentive listener and fostering an open and honest dialogue with colleagues all boils down to understanding how to build and maintain relationships with people – and doing so diplomatically.

Boosting your soft skills gives you a leg up on a new job or a promotion, and helps you succeed once you get there.

Lenny Keitel runs Hudson Valley Resumes (www.hudsonvalleyresumes.com), a resume writing service in Monroe. He can be reached at info@hudsonvalleyresumes.com, 845-782-6714 or 914-391-5300.