The search for full time jobs has gotten a lot harder and you need to know the most in-demand soft skills to land the job of your dreams. According to SmallBizGenius, 8 out of 10 employers say that soft skills are becoming more important to the success of their companies. Knowing how to communicate your soft skill strengths will put you ahead on your next job application. Keep reading to learn what HR departments and employers are looking for when it comes to soft skills.

What Are Soft Skills?

Soft skills are all about “how” you work, especially in regard to others. Soft skills aren't typically earned through training sessions, achievements, or promotions. They're something you have to develop both inside and outside of your workplace. How you interact with your team is going to make or break your next job interview.

Hard skills often have a “soft” cap. Certificates and software standards will quickly become out-of-date as new updates roll out. Your soft skills are evergreen.

Why Do Soft Skills Matter for Landing Full Time Jobs?

Soft skills are what drive businesses to success. A company could have the most technically brilliant minds, but it won't matter if they can't communicate and work together. Soft skills are driving the hottest full time jobs. Hiring managers know that hard skills can be learned, but soft skills are much harder to teach. Having less experience but better soft skills is often a desirable scenario for many companies. Now that we've discussed the importance of soft skills, which ones do you need?

Which Soft Skills Should You Prioritize?

There are five key soft skills that you should prioritize. These skills show that you're ready to work in a team and that you can change with the times.

Adaptability

Workplace situations evolve rapidly. A project might go through some significant changes in a short period of time. How you respond to these changes defines one of the most important soft skills. Flexibility and adaptability are core soft skills. These skills give you what it takes to rise above other candidates for full time jobs. Think about times you've successfully demonstrated your flexibility and use those moments to highlight your adaptability skills.

Communication

Communication is key. This includes interpersonal speech, written communication, and body language. Your communication soft skills need to highlight effective communication styles that also motivate the people around you. Being overly critical or terse can alienate people you need on your side. Communication soft skills are all about how effectively you can get your ideas across.

Teamwork and Interpersonal Skills

No one works alone. Even in the most siloed fields, we all have teams we need to interact with. An extremely technically-skilled employee can quickly sink a team if they don't know how to work with others. You need to be able to articulate how you interact with your team in good and challenging times.

Time Management

There are only so many hours in the day. How you use these hours is extremely important for employers. You should highlight your ability to create and stick to a schedule. It's also vital that you know how to prioritize tasks. How does your workflow respond to sudden changes or emergency projects? Is it able to withstand them while still remaining efficient? A well-thought-out approach to time management is an in-demand soft skill.

Conflict Resolution

We're often shy when talking about conflict, but every workplace occasionally has team members butting heads. How you handle conflict is extremely important for potential employers.

Conflict resolution is all about being firm with your boundaries and opinions, but flexible enough to work within a team. You need to be able to take a stand when things take a wrong turn. You should also highlight how you can take criticism and use that information to grow.

The next time you're applying for full time jobs, make sure you understand the importance of soft skills. Employers prioritize soft skills, and they've only gotten more valuable. While hard skills can be easily learned, that's not the case with soft skills. Adaptability, communication, teamwork, and conflict resolution are key soft skills to include on a resume. Get in touch with StaffQuick today to receive help with employment placement.