Soft Skills You Need for Your Resume in 2023
When you click submit on sending a potential employer your job resume, the soft skills you include will make you stand out. Soft skills positively affect how you work on your own and how you work together with others.
Consider what happens when a human resources manager simultaneously receives two similar resumes. Same work experience and same training or certifications, but one candidate comes with an artillery of soft skills, and the other doesn’t. Most jobs do have requirements to apply or be considered. But you might not know how influential your soft skills can be, with 94% of recruiting professionals stating that an employee with stronger soft skills has a better chance of being promoted than an employee with more years’ experience but weaker soft skills.
What soft skills should you consider adding to your resume?
Communication
Showcase your interpersonal skills and how your communication skills can serve you across multiple workplace scenarios. For example, someone with strong communication skills is usually good at presenting, actively listening, and being open-minded.
Team Player
For most jobs, being able to work with a team is critical. When you’re a team player, you’re someone who effectively completes tasks for the betterment of the group and is good at sharing ideas, listening to different opinions, collaborating, and managing conflict.
Customer Service
No matter the job, almost every position includes some form of customer service responsibility. Someone who deals with customers or clients frequently is the front line of an organization’s brand. That usually means they are strong communicators, respectful, empathetic, and good at providing solutions.
Flexibility (paired with Adaptability)
With the shift to a remote-working job market, adaptability became a soft skill must for potential candidates. With this comes the ability to be flexible too. Someone who is both adaptable and flexible can change their thoughts based on their current experience and then adjust to said changes.
Time Management
The workplace has changed over the past few years, placing more accountability on employees as their hours have become more flexible and the work environment more dynamic. As a result, it’s now more important than ever for companies to hire people with good time management skills because that means candidates can hit deadlines without constant supervision.
Problem Solving
Identifying a problem and providing a solution is music to an employer’s ears. It gives an organization a chance to recognize a challenge and have some influence over the direction a client or customer goes because of it. Someone who is a good problem solving improves overall performance by assessing and addressing risk.
Leadership
You don’t need to have C at the beginning of your title or manager at the end to be a leader. Someone with leadership qualities is self-aware, empowers others, knows how to present information, and is consistent in their messaging.
Attention to Detail
With a world focused on instant gratification, the need to pay attention to minor details sometimes gets lost by the wayside, making room for more mistakes. Someone who is detail-oriented has an uncanny ability to silence the white noise around them and give a task their undivided attention.
Whether you’re actively looking for a job, putting yourself out there for a much-desired promotion, or want to grow professionally within your industry or position, it’s worth analyzing what soft skills you currently have and which you would like to add to your resume. This way, you can stay ahead of a forever-moving market and positively influence your career.
Which soft skills are most important for today’s job seekers? Join the conversation on LinkedIn. Also, check out 5 Ways to Manager Your Finances While Job Searching.
