SOFT SKILLS FOR INCREASED EMPLOYABILITY

As a prospective employee, there are certain skills that make you stand out from the ordinary. These skills are regarded as soft skills.

You may wonder what soft skills are. Why are they so important and why do you need to have them before getting that job you so much desire?

WHAT ARE SOFT SKILLS?

Soft skills are interpersonal skills that define a person’s relationship with others. These skills help you work better with other people.  It can be in how you speak to people, relate with them, help out in difficult times, etc. These skills define you generally as a human, because your actions and attributes as a person tells a lot about who you are.

You may never have thought these skills were important but they are. Just like water is essential to a fish in the river, likewise soft skills are important to an employer. They look out for these in anybody they would want to join their organization. No one wants a shabby person or one with a crude personality in their organization. Those are bad vibes and can probably chase the company’s clients away.

It will be good to note that soft skills are different from hard skills. While hard skills are taught, soft skills are mostly inbuilt – quite difficult to teach. Soft skills are qualities we pick up in order to improve our personal lives and character traits.

I am going to be highlighting some of the top soft skills you need to possess in order to tick the good books of your prospective employer.

COMMUNICATION

How effective you communicate and relate with others while talking to them matters a whole lot. This skill is key. Note that being an effective communicator and being a talkative are two different things. As an individual you must learn how to communicate effectively. Knowing how to pass your message across without being crude in your speech is a great quality everyone needs to have.

While being a great communicator is great and beneficial to you and your employers, it of great importance that you are also a great listener. You should be able to listen to instructions, and welcome ideas of others. Don’t be the type who always loves hearing his/her own voice, and tend to flush out that of others.

A good listener is practically a customer’s best friend. This is a great quality in Operations and customer service/support jobs.

Communication does not only involve speaking with the mouth, it can relate to your facial expressions, how you write, either on a note pad, or through text messages.

In general, communication is either verbal and non-verbal, and it is vital you are good in both.

ADAPTABILITY

Whenever you find yourself in a gathering and mostly an organization in this case, it is of great importance you get familiar with your new surroundings.  Adaptability involves you being flexible. Being flexible has to do with how swift you are to change. Companies sometimes (most times) undergo huge changes in the course of growth and as an employee you are required to move with their pace as a team member and take on tasks that may be a little bit above your regular activities in your job description, this is all for the benefit of your organization. This is where your flexibility comes in.  

LEADERSHIP

An employer wants employees that can hold the fort in absence of a higher authority. Someone who will be able to take the company to the next level without any form of supervision. Leadership comes with great responsibility, and as a leader, you should be able to weather the storm that you are likely going to come across.

A leader too is a follower, you can’t be a leader without first being a follower. You must put yourself in the shoe of a leader and be relatable with your followers, or your colleagues and team mates you are meant to lead.

PROBLEM SOLVING

A person who can solve problems is a gift to any organization. Any employer would definitely appreciate that team member who they can always count on to fix a problem when the need arises. That person who mostly have the solutions in chaos and dire need.

This skill is practically a talent, and any organization who has working personnels like this are in luck, and if you are that person you are of great value and of high demand wherever you find yourself.

TIME MANAGEMENT

This is a high organizational skill. This skill is actually a top skill. Knowing how to manage your time and knowing what to do and when to do it is a notable characteristic. Employers look out for people who are able to manage their time effectively and be productive when called upon.

Time management requires you being intentional, setting your priorities right, being focused, being structured and being self-aware. Do not get too busy and get lost, always be time conscious and be aware of what you have on your to-do list.

EMPATHY

The act of being able to discern moods (reading the room); being sensitive is one very important interpersonal skill. Of all the soft skills listed above, this has to be one of the most valuable if not the most valuable. This skill cannot be taught, it comes from within as a human. Sometimes, you can be taught how to speak or communicate, but no one can teach you how to feel or have compassion for your neighbor. The ability for you to understand your colleague, team mates and clients or customers and what they are going through is of inestimable value and will make you stand out in your work place or any organization you find yourself.

TEAM WORK

In joining an organization, you should and must to be a team player. You will be working with group of persons, and it is expected of you to be able work hand in hand with your team mates without hiccups. “Team work makes the dream work” as the saying goes, so if you decide to exempt yourself and not be a team player, you are harming yourself and your organization, and in most cases no company or organization will want to indulge someone who is not willing to be a team player and make the team work.

There are other soft skills and they include: conflict management, emotional intelligence, motivation, creativity, critical thinking, etc. The list goes on but most are branches under the above mentioned.

As a prospective employee the 7 listed above are necessary for you to possess if you want to get that dream job of yours and be in your employer’s good records.

Take note of these skills, improve on the ones you already have, try developing the ones you do not have. Then go out and thrive in that interview and job.