Ditch the certificates! These are the soft skills employers are looking for

98% of employers say they’re more interested in the soft skills of candidates than technical skills.

Ditch the certificates! These are the soft skills employers are looking for
© Getty/ Peter Dazeley
Ditch the certificates! These are the soft skills employers are looking for

One of the pieces of career advice you are likely to get when looking for a job is to craft your resume to fit the job you are looking for. More importantly, you should look out for the specific skills listed in the job posting, especially the non-technical ones, CNBC states.

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Top soft skills

In the 2022 The Job Market Outlook for Grads, it emerged that 93% of employers say they consider soft skills as crucial in their decision about whom to hire. Kristin Kelley, chief marketing officer at CareerBuilder said the wide variety of soft skills employers are looking for complement the technical skills needed for the job.

I would say, in general, communication is very high on that list right now considering how people are working in very different situations, hybrid situations.
  • Apart from communications, the other skills employers are looking for include:
  • Ability to work independent
  • Analytical thinking
  • Time management skills
  • Flexibility
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Importance of communication

This skill is even more in-demand now with many workers either working from home fully or partially. This is so because of the reliance on tech in doing one’s job from outside the office.

The time it takes to respond to an email and how the email is written says a lot about a person’s communications skills. Georgene Huang co-founder and CEO of Fairygodboss said the need for candidates skilled in communication is in line with most company’s diversity and inclusion goals.

To be a diverse and inclusive employer. You have to work with all different kinds of people, which means you have to be able to communicate effectively with all different kinds of people.

Career experts say not to just highlight these soft skills but to demonstrate how you used them in previous roles.

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