Spending half of your life educating yourself and building your CV will get you an interview appointment at the desired firm, and your knowledge about your field will surely impress the interviewer, but what are the chances of you being hired the despite impressing the interviewer.
While all your educational qualification, work experience and skills in chronological order are the leading factors in your CV, your soft skills are the silent key to success for your interview appointment to your offer letter.
What are soft skills?
Unlike technical skills, soft skills cannot be learned in four-walled classrooms. These skills are personal skills and are learned when you put yourself in the outer world. Soft skills usually include communication skills, listening skills, empathy, critical and creative thinking, teamwork and many more.
Important soft skills
Communication
At the workplace, you need to interact with clients, colleagues, customers, vendors and many other people. To have a clear flow and communication and to avoid misunderstanding, it is important to master the art of communication so that even declining a request seems like a polite ‘no’.
Critical Thinking
No matter what the job is or what designation you have, every employee at some point has to make an informed decision. Your critical thinking skill helps you analyse the situation in a rational way.
Team Management
In a company, you have to deal with a large number of people at the same time to get the preset goal. Team management is one of the most important skills for every employee.
Positive Attitude
There is nothing more powerful than having a positive attitude even in the toughest of situations. Your positive attitude will motivate and encourage your co-workers to deal with the situation in a better way.
Work Ethics
Your work ethics is your attitude towards work and co-workers. It includes work flexibility, time management, punctuality, working under pressure and many more.
Why is it Important?
You may have an amazing idea for your next board meeting, but you do not know how to present it. You have given the data sheet to your boss, but it is unsure if he/she likes it or not. In a team project, you have two conflicting ideas but you will ultimately know which one to pick. All your technical skills are of no use without your soft skills. Your soft skill helps you to communicate with your co-workers, or take feedback from your boss. Your critical thinking will help you narrow down a wide discussion to a conclusion. Your team management and leadership skills will ensure your team is on the same page, and motivate them to do better.
Today, employers are looking for employees who can not only complete the assigned task but also come up with the alternative ideas. They are looking for someone who keeps the workplace vibrant, who has the ability to push the boundaries and can work under pressure.
While the technical skills can be taught in the training program, soft skills are relatively hard to teach and take time to develop; hence Most of the employers prefer someone who masters soft skill over hard skill.
How to demonstrate your soft skill during your interview?
Breaking the ice at the interview is most important. Merely answering, the questions asked of you at the interview will not increase your chances of being hired. By being friendly and approachable during the interview, you will show your ability to interact with others. And by paying attention while the interviewer is talking, you will show your listening skills. These actions will demonstrate your soft skills clearly to the hiring manager.
