Soft Skills

What makes you stand out to an employer? What skills does an employer expect candidates to have? What are soft skills and how can you highlight yours?

What are soft skills?

Soft skills relate to how you work and interact with others. These are not technical skills, but transferrable skills that can be applied to various situations.

Why are soft skills important?

Soft skills are necessary to succeed in any job. Knowing what your soft skills are and being able to discuss them in an interview will set you aside from other candidates. There are four main reasons soft skills are important:

1. Strong soft skills lead to quicker promotions

2. The workplace is very collaborative

3. The ability to effectively communicate is crucial for growing business

4. Soft skills can't be automated

Examples of soft skills:

Some of the top soft skills employers are looking for candidates to have in 2022 are:

• Communication

• Critical thinking

• Leadership

• Positivity

• Teamwork

• Work ethic

• Adaptability

• Time management

• Openness to feedback

• Self-motivated

There are many other soft skills besides the ones listed above. These are all skills that an employer cannot teach their employees. You can learn to use Adobe InDesign once you start, but if you are not someone who is receptive to feedback, it is going to be hard not to react if your boss doesn't like your work.

How to highlight your soft skills to an employer:

You can highlight your soft skills in your resume, cover letter and interview:

1. Resume- The person reading your resume will automatically have a first impression of you based on the content you provide. You can highlight your soft skills in your bullet points by showing how you complete tasks. For example, "Managed 15 employees." This shows you have leadership skills.

2. Cover letter- Your cover letter should tell a story, showing an employer why they should hire you. This is a great place to talk about the soft skills you have and how you have applied them to previous jobs.

3. Interview- During your interview the employer will most likely ask a variety of situational questions that determine if you have the soft skills they are looking for. Similar to your cover letter, your interview responses should be tailored around the soft skills you possess.

Learn about the soft skills AU students have and how they are applicable to the workplace:

Watch a short video where AU students talk about the soft skills they possess.

Visit the Center for Student Success to learn more ways you can highlight your soft skills to an employer.