Are you currently on the job market looking for opportunities? Maybe you’re already employed, hoping to become a more valuable part of your team or organization. Whatever your reason for wanting to develop fresh skills, it’s important that you also look at soft skills.
Now, what are soft skills? These are personal skills that make you more likable as a person in general. These are skills and qualities that you exude that are not part of the technical skills required of the position you’re currently in or are applying to. For instance, if you’re a writer, a technical skill you may have is possessing great knowledge of English grammar. Meanwhile, a soft skill you may be required to have is creativity.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the five soft skills that will make you a good employee in the eyes of both employers and teammates.
1. Strong work ethic AKA professionalism
There’s a debate whether professionalism is learned in school or an intrinsic part of one’s DNA — or it could be both. Regardless, it is important that you exhibit professionalism in everything you do, especially at work. Having a strong work ethic means getting to work and meetings on time, finishing tasks before they’re due, and having the willingness to go the extra mile whenever needed.
2. Effective communication skills
Communication is a broad subject. It’s one thing to be a good speaker and writer in the technical sense, and it’s another thing to know how to effectively send a message across, even if you use fewer words. A good communicator is one who also knows how to listen. Good timing is also necessary for communication — you have to know when to speak and when to listen. Communication also requires you to be good at profiling people to know the best way to communicate with them.
3. Creative problem solving
The last thing you’d want to be caught saying when faced with a challenge at work is, “I don’t know what to do.” Even if you don’t know what to do at the time, you have to show that you’re willing to work it out and find a way to solve a problem. This is where creative problem solving comes in. There are certain issues that need to be dealt with in a creative manner, so you need to be always prepared to think outside the box.
4. Efficient time management
One of the most important skills that an employee should possess is time management. You need to be organized in everything you do, know how to prioritize tasks and determine which need to be done first. You have to work smarter, not harder.
5. Leadership skills
Employers look for leaders. They like employees who they see can grow with their company and eventually be able to be trained as a manager or leader. This doesn’t mean that you have to be bossy, though. Leadership means having the initiative to be in charge whenever the chance comes up. You should deliver quality outputs when you are tasked to manage a project.
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Photo by You X Ventures on Unsplash
