Hiring managers and recruiters often look for soft skills from candidates they’re considering for positions. Knowing what these skills are and how to communicate that you possess them could help you advance your career.

What are soft skills?

Soft skills are personality traits that help people excel in their professions. These skills aren’t specific to one job. They're qualities and attributes a person has that can be used to further one’s career and succeed in life.

Hard skills vs. soft skills

Hard skills, also called technical skills, are learned or developed through education or specific training. These skills are often, though not always, specific to one position or sector. This means hard skills may not be transferable or have limited transferability. For example, knowing computer programming languages is a key hard skill for people who code for a living, but they may not be as pertinent in other professions. In contrast, being able to speak a foreign language is a hard skill that could be valuable in numerous fields.

Soft skills are often transferable skills, as they’re traits people can apply to different situations. Communication is a soft skill that’s widely transferable, helping self-employed entrepreneurs and long-term employees of businesses alike. People often develop soft skills gradually and are less likely to learn them directly from taking a course. For example, organization is a soft skill one can develop through school or work experience.

5 soft skills employers look for

The specific soft skills hiring managers or recruiters prioritize depend on the organization and role for which they’re hiring. However, there are valuable soft skills that can help people in various roles, including:

1. Communication

Both oral and written communication skills are core competencies in the workplace. Being able to clearly, succinctly and persuasively communicate your ideas is helpful in numerous lines of work and facets of life. There are different components of communication you can highlight throughout the job application process:

  • Active listening: It’s valuable when you put effort into listening to others and demonstrate you understand what they’re saying. This can include repeating what they say to show you heard them and asking clarifying questions.
  • Writing: Written communication includes writing press releases, reports, emails and memos. Using the right tone and being clear can improve written communication and get your message across.
  • Oral communication (public speaking): Oral communication is integral to everyday interaction, and it can include delivering a presentation or discussing work with a colleague.

2. Critical thinking

Critical thinking is an in-demand skill that aids professionals in problem-solving and decision-making. Exercising sound reasoning and thinking analytically can help you solve problems or diagnose issues. It can also help you evaluate information objectively and make well-informed judgments.

3. Leadership

Leadership skills are important to highlight on your resume if you’re interested in a management role. Leaders frequently use their critical thinking, problem-solving and decision-making skills to direct staff, delegate tasks and resolve conflicts. Leadership may also involve clearly communicating expectations and leading by example, modeling the skills and behavior you hope to see in your team members.

4. Professionalism and work ethic

Different workplaces require varying degrees of professionalism. For example, one job may require formal business attire, while another has a casual dress code. When applying for a job, it’s important to present yourself as professionally as the position requires. Some facets of your professionalism that you can highlight include:

  • Dependability: Underscore this in your skills section or elsewhere on your resume to show your potential employer they can rely on you to fulfill your obligations.
  • Integrity: This can be one of the best soft skills to mention because it emphasizes your honesty and moral character.
  • Organizational skills: Being organized can never hurt, so it makes sense to include this soft skill on your resume.
  • Self-motivation: If you can convey on your resume that you’re self-motivated, an employer might be more likely to hire you, knowing they won’t have to push you to be productive.
  • Time management: A candidate can have every technical skill an employer is looking for, but without adequate time management skills, they’re unlikely to complete all their work on schedule.
  • Attention to detail: This is a soft skill you can both show and tell during the hiring process. You can mention that you pay close attention to detail and prove it by meticulously editing your resume and cover letter for errors. Being careful to avoid mistakes is often something employers look for in the hiring process.

5. Teamwork

As a job seeker, it won’t hurt you to highlight teamwork skills on your resume, as interaction with others is often a critical component of a job. Hiring managers often want to know if a candidate has the necessary social skills to fit into their organization and work successfully with other staff. On your resume, you can touch on both interpersonal skills and collaboration skills.

Interpersonal skills, also called people skills, help you communicate and build relationships with others. Collaboration skills can help you be productive with others and become a stronger team.

FAQs about soft skills

How do you feature soft skills in a resume?

It’s good to have a dedicated skills section as part of your resume, but you can also include soft skills in other sections. You can mention your soft skills in your professional summary, qualifications list, skills section and work experience. It can also help to check the job description for any key skills it mentions and work them into your resume and cover letter.

How do you communicate soft skills in an interview?

Using the STAR technique (which stands for Situation, Task, Action and Result) is often beneficial during an interview. Following the parameters of the STAR method, you can discuss your soft skills in your answers to questions such as:

  • What’s a time you managed your team through a difficult situation?
  • How do you prioritize tasks to meet multiple deadlines?
  • What’s a big problem you’ve solved at work?
  • How do you explain unfamiliar concepts to others?
  • What’s a time you experienced unexpected results, and how did you adapt?

What programs are best for learning soft skills?

You can develop your soft skills throughout just about any bachelor's degree program. For example, a liberal arts degree is broad and exposes students to various subjects. A communication degree program teaches students key communication skills that are valuable in multiple career paths.

Learn soft skills at Lynn University

Lynn University offers a variety of online programs that teach valuable soft and hard skills. Check out other resources, or request information today to learn more.