5 In-demand Soft Skills To Put On Your CV

Soft skills are becoming increasingly important for career progression in organizations globally. But why?

Firstly, what are soft skills?

Soft skills are a combination of interpersonal people skills, social skills, communication skills, character traits, attitudes, career attributes, and emotional intelligence among others.

Soft skills can tell a lot about how a candidate will interact in the workplace, how they might react under pressure, or what their professional potential is. As such, a lot of employers prioritize hiring employees with the right soft skills over hard skills.

Having worked for a recruitment agency I have learned that there are some soft skills in a CV that can ruin your chances of getting a job.

For job seekers, it can sometimes be tempting to include every skill you can think of when you write your CV. Unfortunately, that’s exactly the wrong approach to take! Since your CV should be designed to highlight your qualifications and relevant skills, it’s important to weed out any skills that don’t add to those qualifications.

Why? Because all those extra, unnecessary skills can distract attention away from your true qualifications. Worse, when you include certain types of skills, it can make an employer less likely to consider hiring you. With that in mind, here is a list of 5 in-demand soft skills that you should include in your CV.

1. Communication

We communicate in many different ways every day. So, what are employers looking for in potential employees as it relates to communication skills?

First, the ability to effectively articulate ideas, whether in writing or verbally is important. Further, you must know your audience. Having the ability to change the level of complexity for different audiences is important. The way you speak with co-workers is different compared to how you speak with clients.

Conflict resolution, the ability to build team morale, and many other skills fall under the communication category. No matter what your role is communication skills matter.

2. Team Player Attitude

The ability to play well with others is a soft skill you’ve been working on unknowingly since your first day of pre-school or daycare. You might not have known it when you were fighting over blocks or figuring out the rules of a made-up game, but you were actually preparing for a lifetime of workplace collaboration.

Whether you’re an individual contributor or a people manager, you have to work with other people; in meetings, in brainstorms, and on various cross-functional projects within your company.

A positive, can-do attitude when it comes to working with others is essential to team harmony, which means you need to be able to run an effective and inclusive meeting, be open to new ideas, and work respectfully with others.

3. Adaptability

Adaptability and flexibility are essential skills for embracing and adjusting to change.

These are some of the best soft skills to have when working in fast-paced or constantly evolving work environments such as public relations, event management, tech, nursing, and advertising.

4. Problem-solving

Being able to analytically and creatively solve problems will come in handy no matter your job.

After all, there’s no job in the world where you won’t have any problems to deal with. That is why creative problem-solvers are always in high demand.

5. Emotional Intelligence

EI relates to how we perceive and manage emotions both our own and for those around us. It often comes down to knowing yourself and how you work or come across to others. It also involves the ability to understand and empathize with others.

Lastly…

Want to know if your CV really tells your story and if you’ve adequately demonstrated the soft skills employers are looking for? Share it with us and we’ll give you our feedback!

Get your CV reviewed here.