Soft Skills: What Is It, And How Do You Develop It?

Soft skills allow a person to get to know and communicate with other people in a more or less intelligent way. Employees with good soft skills are in great demand, since soft skills help when the company or organization is going to run the business in an efficient way.

Today, many companies employ people who have developed their soft skills in parallel with academic studies. These have good communication skills and empathy which makes them much more interesting candidates for the employer.

The importance of soft skills in the professional world

Nowadays, many companies are looking to hire people with consistently good skills, and not just those with a lot of education or experience. They want people with good skills when it comes to social, communication and teamwork. These can be crucial factors in the hiring process.

This is where soft skills come in. Well-developed soft skills will give you an advantage over the competition, and will in a job interview be able to show that you are the right person for the job.

Most valuable soft skills in the workplace

Here are some of the most highly regarded soft skills that employers look for during the hiring process.

• Be independent.
• Have leadership skills.
• Be consistent.
• Show integrity.
• Have the ability to listen and follow.
• Be self-regulating.
• Show interest.
• Be curious.
• Be authentic.
• Take personal and social responsibility.
• Have the ability to reflect.
• Be proactive.
• Show passion.
• Show inner motivation.

• Could think new.
• Show humility.
• Keep learning.
• Have compassion.
• Have the ability to argue.
• Be able to handle time myself.
• Be confident.

How to develop soft skills?

The unconscious stage of incompetence

In the first stage, you are not aware that soft skills exist, nor how you are. Although they may affect your work, you are not worried, as you do not yet see them as important.

Conscious incompetence stage

This second stage begins when you realize that you lack some skill. Thus, you decide to learn this new skill. This stage requires full, conscious concentration.

Conscious competence stage

In the third stage of developing soft skills, you become aware of what it is you are learning. As you develop the skill, you become more confident and strengthen your qualities.

Unconscious competence stage

Finally, we come to the unconscious competence stage. This is when your skill has evolved so much that it has become a part of you and you do not even have to think about it. You use it unconsciously at work and in your free time, and it helps you adapt to your surroundings.

When a skill becomes part of your subconscious, you use it almost instinctively, without thinking about it.

Just like with other skills, practice makes perfect. In daily life, having theoretical knowledge will not hold. You must be able to apply the knowledge in practice, especially if the skill in question has to do with the social.

Finally, do not forget that your improvements are nothing more than the result of a learning process. Although your genes may affect how good you are in different areas, it is ultimately up to you to do the work to develop and learn soft skills.