In 2022, Australian employers consider soft skills equally important (and some feel more important) to a candidate's knowledge, experience or technical skills, and 81% of employers say that teamwork is the most important soft skill they require in their permanent staff today.

Defining Soft Skills

Soft skills are also known as interpersonal skills, essential skills or noncognitive skills. They are those crucial personal attributes that relate to how you work and behave and include communication skills, active listening skills, empathy, time management, among others.

Recruiters and employers typically look for job candidates with soft skills because they make you more successful in the workplace.

Someone may be excellent with technical, job-specific skills, but if they can't manage their time or work within a team, they may not be successful in the workplace. Soft skills are also transferable skills that can be used regardless of the person's current role. They play a vital role in the success of a job search, your potential for promotion and your long-term career progression.

Teamwork comes to the fore

Adaptability had been at the top of the list of soft skills in 2021, valued to ensure workforces shift to new ways of working. In 2022 teamwork is coming to the fore and is prioritised. Employers value working well with colleagues, stakeholders and clients to ensure common goals are met. Followed by problem-solving and communication skills to find creative and viable options to existing and new challenges and to express, share, accept and adopt ideas.

Teamwork is rated as the most important soft skill at 81%, followed by problem-solving (79%), communication (74%), adaptability (70%), critical thinking (63%), time management (60%) and emotional intelligence (53%).

Here are 5 Tips to Demonstrating Your Soft Skills in Your Job Search:

1.      Gather Evidence

Take every opportunity in your current role to demonstrate your soft skills. This gives you quantifiable examples to add to your resume and share in an interview to prove your skills.

2.      Know your career story

Your unique selling proposition (USP) positions you in the candidate market based on your personal strengths, skills, experience and value. Often candidates focus their USP on their technical skills, so make sure yours also spells out your soft skill strengths to show recruiters and prospective employers the full value you could provide.

3.      Develop a Solid Personal Brand

Your collective professional activity – both online and offline matters. Online, such as your status updates, the people and organisations you follow and the content you like, personifies your 'brand'. Offline, the people and organisations you network with will build a community that grows your profile (and is often reflected online). Prospective employers research you online, so make your personal branding work for you by showcasing your soft and technical skills. For example, demonstrate exceptional written communication skills on your profile. Showcase teamwork successes in the experience section of your profile. Demonstrate an interest in your industry's networks, work in teams if you volunteer, and ask others to endorse your soft skills.

4.      Be Collaborative and Build Rapport

With your interactions with your recruiter, hiring manager and in a job interview, build rapport with your interviewer, be aware of your body language and answer questions with confidence and clarity to demonstrate your communication skills.

5.      Responsive Communication

Be responsive after an interview: Following a job interview, respond quickly to provide feedback to the recruiter. This will help move your search forward, either with the current application or another. Work with your recruiter or hiring manager -  and remember to thank them for their time. After all, it's a team effort, and you'll leave a lasting positive impression.

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