Even if you possess the practical knowledge required to pursue a job, there is a big chance that you may not be chosen due to your lack of soft skills. Studies have shown that 75% of long-term job successes mainly require upon mastering soft skills and only 25% is dependent upon technical skills. The importance of soft skills has been increasing nowadays as the job market is becoming more competitive and everyone seems to be in possession of the hard technical skills. Therefore developing and training these soft skills are essential for one to achieve professional success. Fortunately, soft skills do not require talent, they are trainable and their development is limitless. Some of the soft skills employers seek in a candidate include leadership, teamwork, communication, adaptability, problem solving and work ethic. This article will introduce ways by which you can enhance and sharpen these must-have skills.
Stay positive:
Always remember that on one wants to hire someone that complains 24/7 and spreads negativity in the work place. Therefore you need to eliminate the negative thinking and always keep a positive attitude. Even when things get hard, remember that they always can get worse and try to motivate your colleague by being optimistic and reminding them to do so.
Have a sense of humor:
Humor is very important even though employees may not see it as important as the other skills. Having a sense of humor and being able to make a laughter every day will not only keep the stress away but will also make you more likeable by people at work. Thus always find the funny side in everything and make business-appropriate jokes every now and then.
Be an effective team player:
Keep an open mind and try your best to show support to your team member’s ideas even if you do not fully agree with them. Being an excellent team player says a lot about your ability to work with others and also leads to achieving the best possible outcome by working together as a team. Split the work among the team members evenly and do not try to do everything on your own as it is important for others to feel included.
Accept criticism:
It can be hard to react positively to criticism, but always try to listen carefully as sometimes you cannot tell where you went wrong and those giving you feedback have the best intentions for you. Try to learn from this person instead and improve your performance. Also be thankful and appreciate their time and effort helping you identify these mistakes.
Written by:
Ahmed Albarni
Senior Talent Acquisition
