Andrew Seaman, Senior Managing Editor for jobs & career Development at LinkedIn
Skills are broken into two groups — hard and soft. Hard skills are measurable abilities, such as proficiency with a specific computer program. Soft skills are less quantifiable and embody a person's ability to interact with others. While both sets of skills are important, the soft ones are often a determining factor for hiring managers.
For example, a hospital that is hiring a patient-facing nurse will make sure all of the candidates have the needed certifications. They may then look at how well the nurses interact with other people. If one nurse is far better at listening and verbal communication, the employer will likely want to hire that person to interact with patients.
Soft skills present a few issues for job seekers, though. The most obvious one is that it can be difficult for people to articulate their soft skills on a resume. Including "team player" or "excellent written communication" under a skills section doesn't cut it.
Show, Don't Tell
One of the most important ways to showcase your soft skills is through your actions during the hiring process: resume, cover letter, emails, phone calls, video interviews, and more.
"While 'showing not telling' through one's resume, cover letter, and [LinkedIn] profile are great ways to introduce soft skills, the best way to show them off is to actually demonstrate them through behaviors during the entire hiring engagement," writes Ben Wiant, who is a career transition consultant and job search strategist.
He elaborates that your interactions are all opportunities to show how well you write, talk, listen and respond to other people. Also, it helps to show up organized and ready to engage as a team member.
"Show up prepared to interviews — know who you are meeting with, have prepared notes and questions, bring extra copies of your resume and the job description with you to share with people you meet with," he adds.
Examples Speak Volumes
Beyond being living proof that you have solid soft skills, you can also draw on your experiences at past positions to make your case.
"Simply listing your soft skills won’t provide much value to hiring managers," writes Anne Genduso, who is a career coach. "Instead, demonstrate how you put those skills to good use in bullets showcasing your accomplishments for each job."
"For example, if teamwork is your strength, highlight a project where you worked with various departments to reach a shared goal," she adds. "Include the challenge you faced, your approach with the team, and the results."
Of course, you shouldn't just stop at your resume. As you may know, I'm a big proponent of cover letters. They can be excellent ways to show off and highlight your soft skills.
"One of the best ways I've found to demonstrate soft skills is in the cover letter," writes Bogdan Zlatkov, who is founder of GHYC Courses. "In my cover letter I demonstrate self-awareness and empathy in the very first couple of sentences."
Specifically, he writes, "I know how hard finding the right person can be so I'll keep this short and sweet. Here are the top 4 reasons I think you should consider me for the role."
You should also practice what you'll say during interviews to highlight your various soft skills.
"Talking about human skills is a challenge for most," writes Rob Kim, who is a LinkedIn Top Voice and career educator at the University of British Columbia. Try testing out a story demonstrating one human skill but be specific — 'collaboration' can mean different things to people. Use a metaphor to explain how your human skill got something [done]."
You need to also make sure to connect how that skill addresses a responsibility of the job.
Lastly, we should all strive to be honest about our skills — hard and soft. Otherwise, you can end up tarnishing your reputation and make the employer question all of your skills.
We are human and will be better at some skills than others. Variety in our strengths and weaknesses is what makes us dynamic and helps point people toward careers where they can thrive.
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