Soft skills are the REAL hard skills. 👌🏻
People get jobs because of their ‘hard skills’ – skills, expertise, knowledge, certs, qualifications.
You’d think that that is enough.
Nuh-uh. 🙅🏻♀️
People get “let go” because of their ‘soft skills’… Or lack of. 😳
It’s because the people skills needed for… “people-ing” like working with their team, managing clients and their expectations, communicating clearly, being self-aware and introspective, having a curious and growth mindset… isn’t quite there.
Job descriptions are notorious for playing down these human skills. 😑
Look at the training programmes available, like trailhead and other commercial training – there are far more that teach you how to pass that cert, and how to get that job (interview skills, LinkedIn and CV polishing services) than how to not only keep, but thrive at the job with people you enjoy working with.
I know with so many incredibly smart people, so brainy, so techie, so… clever!
But who are just so awful to work with!
💩 Arrogant – love to show how smart they are by making people feel dumb and small.
💩 Selfish – hoard info because sharing it threatens their status.
💩 Lack of self awareness and not open to sincere feedback – believe they are right and everyone else is wrong.
There are also those who don’t keep their word and don’t communicate, making project work incredibly difficult.
Those who approach life and people with a posture of curiosity, empathy, kindness and an open mind… along with some badass hard skills are those I absolutely want on my team. 😍
And of course, having a sense of humour and playfulness makes life so much more fun! 🥰
Recruiters and hiring managers, make sure your job description isn’t just filled with lists of boring ‘hard’ skills, you should also write it in a way that attracts people who are good at the human side of things too.
What other skills do job roles NOT highlight but are important?
