Soft Skills Archives - The Voice of Job Seekers

Job Search News – November 4, 2017

This is your job search news with articles and resources so enjoy! I’ve read them, and you can feel free to comment on them in any form you’d like. Leave a message on the “send voicemail” button on your right. I’ll try to keep it short, fresh, and informative. If you have some news I need to know about, tweet me @MarkADyson!

#Resilience

Struggles are a part of life and makes us better to endure them. This Fast Company article shows up how we can endure and then thrive. Every job search episode has a struggle. Sometimes, it comes from our having to let resolve set in. We know we need to get it done, but there are times we haven’t found resolution and success eludes us. It’s good we learn from the process difficulties take us through. If any thing, we learn how to thrive so we can help others persist.

I like the way you move…people

via GIPHY

If you give people the security to feel their contributions matter whether manager or mail person. It’s your soft skills, baby!

94% of recruiting professionals believe an employee with stronger soft skills has a better chance of being promoted to a leadership position than an employee with more years of experience but weaker soft skills.

~Forbes, 8/18/17

They set you apart from the crowds if you can demonstrate them either through recommendations, references, or a recording of how you use them training others. The power of seeing them in action or someone speaking on your behalf makes you memorable. If you want to compete, understand how you can demonstrate the soft skill functionality in your profession.

🔥🔥🔥What’s 🔥 in soft skills?

This article is from 2016 but I don’t think the desired soft skills have changed. I find this list of soft skills useful and the same list seen on most surveys.

😒😒😒when soft skills go wrong 😒😒😒

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

10 Soft Skills Employers Want from You

This article was originally published on Career Metis!

In a recent study by Payscale, employer respondents indicated soft skills is a major factor new college graduates lack. Although the lack of soft skills is not exclusive to graduates, it is a concern as the skills gap continues to widen the gap in hiring talent.

In my discussion with Rich Thompson, Chief Human Resource Officer of Adecco North America, hiring managers will ultimately use his or her instincts as the determining factor. In other words, employers may identify the core skills needed for a job, but need to feel you will “fit” when you demonstrate learning and communication skills adaptable to the company’s work environment.

I have been in involved in the hiring process many times from beginning to end, and admittedly, most hiring managers can’t tell you what he or she doesn’t like until seen. Although much of it’s gut level, these are necessary:

1. Patience

Employers can sense desperation a mile away because most job candidates apply with just getting the job in mind. Most job seekers are not strategic nor intentional in putting their best foot forward. The way you ask questions during an interview or the way you follow-up after you first contact employers tell them everything they want to know about you. If you call back a week after they said to wait two weeks, or if you’re asking the same questions several times then you’ll fail their character test.

2. Personality

I have always maintained my position companies can’t train great characters. It’s hard for them to find qualified job seekers with required skills AND a personality. If you want to stand out and be memorable, show a smile, ease, responsiveness, and a little humor (appropriate and family friendly). It’s not just the way employers make you feel, but what companies experience with you after you leave.

3. Proactive

If you are networking with people in a company you want to work for, you should be learning what makes the environment tick. Then you can use the information to include on your resume, and to bring to the interview to impress employers. If you don’t know anyone, you should use resources such as Glassdoor or a LinkedIn Forum to see if you can gather more intelligence. Another way is to find out what the competition is doing when interviewing with other companies.

4. Honesty

In the news, we have seen every level fail in showing transparency and honesty even in the application phase. If you can prove your accomplishments through social media, or testimonies, you will immediately stand out to employers. But even without proof, your body language, actions, and speech will vouch for your integrity. References and testimonies about your work make this your most powerful tool. If you don’t have any references on your LinkedIn profile, make it a priority because it is the best place to show it’s a real person who is testifying about your work.

5. Resilience

Part of your career story should include how you were steadfast during challenges in mergers and acquisitions, changes in leadership, withstanding a hostile culture, or how you handled disappointment. I know managers who ask about how someone’s job search is going and sift out those who complain about the way other employers handle the interviewing process. Employers measure character as an essential part more than ever. You can show them you are steadfast in cultures requiring you to pivot constantly.

6. Quick and perpetual learner

Showing you’re a perpetual student also says you’re coachable and teachable. And for some jobs it’s everything. It costs employers a lot of money to train and if you can shorten training because you quickly absorb information will make you valuable. If you are positioning yourself to talk about your accomplishments and results such as, “I learned this system in this XXX time which is X% ahead of schedule.”

7. Persistence

People are drawn to individuals who are persistent especially when coupled with enthusiasm. Where it matters is after meetings and interviews and follow-up without being annoying. Usually, employers will define for you what they consider annoying and what is respectful. Follow-up is essential to your job search, and persistence is a needed elements to achieve results. Furthermore, it impresses employers with the right amount of patience.

8. Courage

Showing you’re unflappable during changes impresses employers. Courage is associated with leadership and rarely disappoints. Part of your overall career story should include a narrative where you were willing to do something no one else volunteered to do. Not that you needed attention on you but in seeing the bigger picture, there was a need. It is not found how much or volume but in how significant and what it made others feel.

9. Perseverance

“How do you manage stress” is often asked by employers. This is answer comes in all shapes and sizes but best displayed in stories, and it’s better when validated by others. Every employer would love to hire a persevere-at-all-cost employee, but examples through storytelling make your case.

10. Purpose

A person who has personal reasons to serve and desires to make a difference owns intrinsic reasons to excel. It is a rare attribute to drive a career, but it makes a job candidate pretty attractive when accompanied by the right set of skills. Staci Parker is a Ph.D. candidate, and educator, certified resume writer, and certified coach states through reflection and visualization empower the individual to find a driving force behind his or her career aspirations.

I am sure there are more, but again, these can come through when you share stories of your accomplishments. Why would an employer do without any of these softer skills? It’s like the first date with someone you like or dislike and you don’t know why. Then you meet someone who has It; then it becomes hard to put into words.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

by Mark Anthony Dyson

What Soft Skills do Employers Want From Job Seekers?

Soft skills are critical to demonstrate throughout the hiring process, and become evident as all skills are discussed. In fact, there are surveys like the one below that suggest candidates lack showcasing them in the workplace. The other suggestion is that job seekers that demonstrate them will stand out in addition to having the hard skills needed for any position.

Recently, the December 2012 issue of Business Communication Quarterly published a paper citing top 10 soft skills Executives need in the workplace:

1) Communication

2) Courtesy

3) Flexibility

4) Integrity

5) Interpersonal skills

6) Positive attitude

7)Professionalism

8) Responsibility

9)Team work

10) Work ethic

These skills were also rated among the same group from most to least important by the same group of CEOs, again, these are soft skills that they value the most:

Integrity 93.0
Communication 91.2
Courtesy 84.2
Responsibility 71.9
Interpersonal skills 61.4
Professionalism 47.4
Positive attitude 45.6
Teamwork skills 43.9
Flexibility 42.1
Work ethic 36.8

Simply, soft skills are a combination of people skills, career attributes, and customer service. Every profession rely on these skills to sell and service customer/client issues.

*Business Communication Quarterly December 2012 75: 453-465, first published on October 8, 2012

Embody these skills

Job seekers cannot say a certain soft skill is here or there. It is part of who you are professionally. It is not like clothing that you can put it on, nor are attributes that you can point out. It is there when a job seeker explains and demonstrates hard skills needed for a position. Soft skills are valuable transferable attributes that noticeable when it has becomes the job candidate.

Which of the above soft skills are your strength (s)? Which one do you need to work on? Let us know in the comments.