The Most Important Soft Skills Employers Seek

When applying for a job, many people tend to emphasize their hard skills – the specific knowledge and abilities required for a particular job. These are typically skills that can be clearly defined and measured. It’s also necessary to highlight the most important soft skills you possess, to show why you’re the best candidate for the job.

When you are seeking employment, your soft skills can be as important as the hard skills that are required to achieve success on the job.

Soft skills are much more difficult to define and measure – they are the interpersonal or “people” skills that help you to successfully interact with others in the workplace. Regardless of the job, you have to interact effectively with supervisors and people above and below you on the work chart, as well as others possibly- such as customers, vendors, patients, students, etc.

Companies seek candidates with both types of skills when hiring for most positions. That's because if you have a negative attitude, can't get along with others, don’t communicate well, don't work well as part of a team, and aren't able to think creatively and critically, it may not matter how well educated and competent you are. You need to have some set of people skills to get along in any job, not just those working directly with the public. Indeed.com, the leading job site, has shared the most valuable soft skills for job seekers and employees.