What Are Soft Skills And Why They Matter

Soft skills aren’t the same as being good at your job. Having a a full-rounded set of soft skills makes you not only a better business owner or worker, but a better human. 

What Are Soft Skills?

  • These are different from things like "I know Photoshop" or "I have a background in accounting."

  • Soft skills are the ones that can be hard to quantify but that you show or demonstrate by doing/being them

  • Examples are:

    • the ability to think on your feet

    • strong leadership skills

    • being a good communicator

    • being emotionally intelligent

Why are they important?

  • They affect your ability to do the hard skills as well as how you work with other people

    • Think soft skills = people skills

    • You can be the best graphic designer but if you are impossible to work with no one is going to want to hire you.

  • Not that most people listening are here because they want to work on their resume but soft skills are what often makes you a culture fit.

  • If you hit a roadblock with a hard skills, your soft skills are what helps you overcome or work around the challenge.

  • Not everyone is born with soft skills like leadership, being a critical thinker, the ability to read people or the room so they can really set you apart.

How do you improve and grow your soft skills?

  • Solicit and listen to constructive criticism

  • Find a mentor to help you (fuck, maybe a therapist LOL)

  • Realize that you build soft skills by doing so you have to possibly put yourself in situations that push you or make you uncomfortable

What do we think is the most important soft skill to have?

  • Communication skills

  • Work ethic

  • Problem solving skills

  • Flexibility/adaptability

  • Interpersonal skills

  • Resiliency

Tayler Cusick Hollman