Apr 6th 2023

The soft skills that will get you hired in 2023

The world of work is evolving at breakneck speed. In the last 2 years alone we’ve seen a complete transformation in how and where we work, and we’re now witnessing the dawn of AI becoming something that can be integrated into our day to day lives.

Whilst this is threatening entire categories of low-skilled work and forcing those people to re-skill in order to stay relevant, the integration of AI also has so much potential. It can allow us to do more with less, augmenting our existing skills and making us faster, smarter and more capable.

It will also bring into focus key, very human skills that will be needed whatever job you’re in. Skills that can be transferred from company to company and across different career paths and are highly sought after by companies hiring in 2023.

We’re also seeing employers shift their focus away from solely degree-educated candidates to include school leavers and apprentices with the right skills – an exciting development for people who decided that university wasn’t for them as this opens up significant numbers of job opportunities.

“80% of tech CEOs say they no longer believe a degree is necessary for employment. The skills are what’s important.” Hadi Partovi, code.org at the world economic forum.

What’s more is that 56% of employers say they struggle to find candidates with the right soft skills, so if you can master these then you’ll have a big advantage over other applicants.

In this guide we’ll highlight these key skills, what you can do to show that you have them, how to improve upon them and learn them if you need to.

Communication

In an increasingly multi-channel world, work communications are happening across email, phone, Whatsapp, Slack or Microsoft Teams and Zoom, as well as in-person. With all these channels to use, there is incredible demand for good communication skills.

Each channel requires a slightly adapted approach and, naturally, some people will be better suited or more comfortable in some channels vs others.

If you’re working in a remote or hybrid environment, communication skills are even more important. There’s lots of opportunity for things to get missed, be misunderstood or for people to be unclear on what is required of them.

Nearly half of employers say that good communication skills are essential for business growth.

Attention to detail

Attention to detail comes more easily to some than others but in the world of work, it’s essential. The ability to focus your mind on the details, no matter how small, means that errors are spotted and corrected before it’s too late and work can be completed more easily – having a big impact on your job performance and career development.

In a world full of distraction, a simple way to improve your attention to detail can be making sure you’re focusing on doing one thing at a time. Mute your notifications, hide your phone away and give yourself a block of time to do a specific task.

Multi-tasking

In our busy working lives multi-tasking has become essential.

This makes our ability to juggle multiple responsibilities even more important! 

However, multi-tasking doesn’t mean flicking randomly from one task to another and never finishing anything off. Good multi-tasking requires forward planning, discipline about how you’re spending your time and a lot of focus – this combination of skills makes it a bit of a super power! No wonder employers value it so much.

Time management

Linked closely to multi-tasking is time management skills. Good time management skills allow you to make the most of the time you have in the day, getting all your tasks done on time without needing to work late or starting early. They’ll help you feel in control of your day and you’ll be seen as someone the company can rely upon, which puts you in a great position when it comes to career progression and taking on more responsibility.

The foundation of good time management is good prioritisation. Once you understand what your top priorities are it’s much easier to allocate more time to things that need to be done urgently and less to things that can wait.

Eisenhowers decision matrix can help if you don’t know where to start.

Problem solving

Good problem solving skills are essential and allow you to keep making progress, even if you come up against obstacles. It also calls upon other skills in this list, such as creativity and analytical thinking, and requires good collaboration to brainstorm with team mates and discuss possible solutions.

How do you know if you’ve got good problem solving skills? Well you’ll probably be the person who is suggesting new ways of doing things, helping others understand the root cause of problems or spotting opportunities in difficult situations.

Creativity

In a world where AI is going to help us get some of our more boring tasks done more quickly (or a world where it’s going to steal our jobs entirely – depending on who you believe!) there’s one thing it’s not going to replace anytime soon – human creativity!

You might think that creativity is used only in certain roles such as marketing or design, but you’d be wrong. Creativity and problem solving are closely linked and it is how you approach problems as much as anything else – that out of the box thinking, or spotting a solution that no one else has thought of yet.

The below resources give you some tools to help better understand your current creativity and some exercises and frameworks to help draw it out.

Analytical

We have more data at our fingertips now than at any other time in history. But what’s the use of all this data if we’re not able to analyse it so we can make better decisions in the future?

Analytical skills will be essential over the next few years and jobseekers who are data fluent, with the ability to analyse, interrogate and interpret data will have a distinct advantage over those who aren’t.

Whether it’s spotting trends, measuring the success of a campaign or project, or reviewing and improving processes, analytical skills set you up to make good decisions without relying solely on a gut feeling.

In a world where the only constant is change, staying on top of your game is essential – especially when it comes to soft skills. So whether you’re a school leaver, an apprentice, or someone looking to make a career change, mastering these types of skills will give you a competitive advantage in the job market. 

If you’re looking to improve your soft skills, check out Career Academy where there are plenty of free courses you can sink your teeth into.