Professional/Soft Skills

Soft skills (also known as professional or transferable skills) are your secret weapon for differentiating yourself from other applicants with the same technical skills. Soft skills are human or people skills; the better you are at working with, leading, or interacting with people, the more likely you are to succeed at work.

In today's rapidly evolving workforce, soft skills are gaining increased importance. Bots can learn to code, but they can't learn to manage a team of coders. Soft skills are what catalyze success in your career. Without them, you stall (or worse).

See information and resources below to leverage YOUR soft skills across your job search. 

 

Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills

Hard Skills are specific, teachable abilities or knowledge sets that can be measured and demonstrated. They’re often acquired through education, training, or hands-on experience, and they’re typically required to perform a particular job or task. Hard skills include core competencies or functional expertise (strategic planning, graphic design), domain knowledge (research methodologies, process optimization), applied skills (PMP), or specialized knowledge (Python, Salesforce, Microsoft Office). You may be asked to take a test before or during an interview to demonstrate these skills.

Soft Skills are behaviors, personality traits, and work habits that help you succeed at work. They are transferable between jobs and careers, and require time and dedicated focus to improve. They CAN be taught, but are less objective. Examples are persuasive communication or relationship-building. 

According to LinkedIn, the top two in-demand skills are hard skills:

AI fluency • Digital literacy

But the other in-demand skills are all soft skills: 

Strategic thinking • Adaptability & emotional intelligence • Communication • Process optimization • Complex problem solving • Learning agility

 

Soft Skills in Resumes/Cover Letters

Landing an interview can be driven more by your experience and hard skills, as they are easy to screen for in a resume or LinkedIn profile, and they are often keywords used by recruiters to filter candidates. E.g., Do you have at least 3 years of experience? That's a Yes/No question. The same applies to knowing Python, holding a PMP certification, or speaking Spanish. 

If you don't have a required (or desired) hard skill, your soft skills are unlikely to move you to the top of the interview pile. 

Skills Section

Your Skills section in a resume should focus primarily on hard skills. If you have a long list of hard skills, put them at the bottom of your resume. 

If you feel strongly about including soft skills in your Skills/Competencies section, make them clear and unique: Persuasive Communication • Proactive Problem Solver. 

Then, always include examples of how you have used your skills in your bullet points.

Experience Bullet Points

When you incorporate soft skills into your bullet points instead of just stating them in a Skills section, they become believable and persuasive. Using soft skills to showcase how you achieved a particular result is far more compelling than a simple list of skills.

Here is an example demonstrating knowledge of many marketing channels and a specific industry (hard), but also showcasing leadership, collaboration, and persuasion (soft): 

• Partnered with a footwear client to spearhead campaigns targeting K-12 and Higher Education, utilizing customized creative across email, landing pages, LinkedIn ads, and direct mail. Overcame objections to incremental spend by highlighting increased ROI through data-driven storytelling.

Here's a hiring manager comment from LinkedIn: 

"When I was a hiring manager, I had a two-word mantra: prove it. A list of soft skills said nothing and took up resume real estate. A well-written bullet point that incorporated soft skills demonstration relevant to the role for which I was hiring said far more."

 

Soft Skills in Interviews

Soft skills are key to differentiating you from other qualified candidates during the interview process. 

Most interview questions fall into these four areas: 

1. How do you make things happen?
2. How do you collaborate with others?
3. How do you lead or influence others?
4. How do you solve challenging problems?

Answering these questions requires you to describe how your soft skills enable you to be a uniquely successful [job title]. For a project manager, the way you manage projects is unique. It's not driven by your knowledge of Microsoft Project but by your ability to communicate effectively and influence others. 

When you prepare for any interview, be sure to have examples for each of the above questions that show how you combined 2 or 3 soft skills to achieve a particular result.

Other things the hiring manager cares about, and how you can showcase your value: 

1. Can I rely on this person? Responsibility & ownership • Work ethic • Knowing when to ask for help 

2. Can they work independently? Self-sufficiency • Initiative • Time management

3. Will they add value to our team? Creativity & critical thinking • Effective engagement • Mentoring others 

4. Are they a cultural fit? Integrity • Emotional intelligence & collaboration • Customer focus

 

Tools and Resources to Help You

Tools

• Leveraging Your Professional Skills presentation.

Learning Opportunities

• Toastmasters Clubs (improve presentation and other oral communication skills).
  • There are many clubs: Google "Toastmasters Portland Oregon"
• Free Courses: Leadership
• LinkedIn Learning (available through most libraries or to Premium customers) offers several courses on soft or professional skills.
• Indeed Career Guide (search on “soft skills”).

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