Education

The growing importance of soft skills: why teamwork and good communication are valued more than ever

Employers will often cite soft skills ahead of skills more traditionally associated with qualifications achieved at college

Soft skills, frequently referred to as transferable skills, are often intangible; you will almost certainly never have taken an exam to prove you have these capabilities. Photograph: iStockphoto

Shauna Bowers
Tue Jun 20 2023 - 01:09

A third-level degree or further education of some kind is incredibly important when it comes to a person’s career trajectory. Increased knowledge and education almost always means increased opportunities.

However, now more than ever before, there is a growing focus among employers and recruiters about the soft skills that make a good employee.

Technical knowledge remains important, of course, but research shows employers now look to so-called soft skills, and will often cite these abilities ahead of skills more traditionally associated with qualifications achieved at college.

Soft skills, frequently referred to as transferable skills, are often intangible; you will almost certainly never have taken an exam to prove you have these capabilities.

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However, that doesn’t make them unimportant, and it doesn’t mean you don’t have them in your possession. In fact, in many ways, they are equally as valued by any prospective employer as any degree or qualification you might have on your CV.

With the advances in technology, and artificial intelligence (AI) in particular, there is a greater emphasis on the other contributions that humans make to a workplace.

In fact, many employers believe that these skills, which encompass communication, ethics and morality, teamwork and leadership among others, are often what makes the best employees.

Career consultant Angela Burke, who has more than 11 years’ experience working across recruitment and career consulting, as well as a postgraduate qualification in career development and coaching, said the most important skills will differ slightly from job to job.

“Overall, in my opinion, there are a few soft skills that employers really value regardless of job type. Employers want graduates to be able to communicate clearly and concisely while adapting their communication style as necessary across various types of stakeholders,” she said.

Ms Burke, who has amassed almost 15,000 followers on her Instagram page angelaburke.ie where she shares free resources and advice, said leveraging interpersonal skills to build relationships, collaborate and influence accordingly is “incredibly important when starting your career”.

“You’ll always be glad of those relationships when problems occur,” she said.

“On that note, every vocation comes with some level of problem-solving required so employers value the ability to approach problems with critical thinking and a solution-focused mindset.”

Maureen Lynch, operations director at Hays Ireland recruitment firm, said the current generation of Irish graduates are “very well educated and come out of third level with a rich array of skills and technical expertise”.

As graduates begin a career path, however, one “key area” of focus is the ability to work well within a team, Ms Lynch said.

“This is often an intangible quality, but it ultimately means being someone people enjoy working alongside and who consistently brings positive energy to the workplace,” she said.

“Another key element of being a team player is the ability to problem-solve. The more adept you are at solving problems in your workplace environment, the more positive an impact you can have in your team.”

Ms Lynch said while, admittedly, a team won’t always be able to achieve consensus on an issue, “the best solutions are often those that have majority support across the team”.

“This means being able to build trust in the eyes of others and navigate any potential divisions or misunderstandings,” she said.

Adaptability is another key skill that employers in the modern world of work seek. Given the ever-changing world in which we live, being able to adapt and thrive in evolving conditions is the key to success for any business, and thus for each individual employee too.

Because students don’t do modules specifically to learn these sorts of skills, many graduates when entering the world of work feel as though they are not equipped in this regard.

However, according to Ms Burke, graduates have far more proficiency in these skills than many of them realise because they’re so ingrained into day-to-day life.

“Through part-time jobs and group college work, graduates will have spent time flexing all of these soft skills without realising it,” she said.

“They can continue to strengthen their soft skills by seeking out opportunities where they can put these skills to use. Voluntary work, ad hoc projects at work and passion projects are all great ways to practise.”

Employers are aware that a new graduate has only recently finished college and may, or may not, have worked a full-time job before. As such, there is a lot of awareness that these new hires will be learning on the job.

In fact, Ms Burke said that’s largely what the first 12 months of a graduate job is for.

“You’re on such a steep learning curve and it’s expected. I always encourage graduates to release unnecessary pressure and instead leverage the opportunity to learn and that includes learning from mistakes made along the way,” she said.

“I often suggest that graduates identify someone they know that is particularly skilled in communication for example and connect with them to learn best practices from them.”

Shauna Bowers

Shauna Bowers

Shauna Bowers is a reporter for The Irish Times

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