What Are Soft Skills?

Written by Coursera Staff • Updated on

Whereas hard skills describe what you do, soft skills describe how you do it.

[Featured image] A man smiles at his colleague while listening to him speak. In the background, another woman sits at the table listening and smiling at the story. All three colleagues are using their soft skills to communicate, listen, engage, and relate to one another.

Soft skills are the attributes and behaviors that describe how a person approaches their tasks. You likely use soft skills across all areas of your life—communication, critical thinking, problem-solving, and other interpersonal skills are some examples of soft skills—but they’re particularly valued in the workplace.

In fact, soft skills are commonly referred to as workplace or human skills. These alternative names can be a bit more descriptive when you’re thinking about and discussing your skill set.

In this article, we’ll go into more detail about the high-value soft skills employers look for and offer some tips for improving yours.

Hard skills vs. soft skills

Hard skills describe what you do, while soft skills describe how you do it.

Your hard skills are your technical skills, relating to the types of tasks you know how to do. Some examples of technical skills are data analysis, computer programming, writing, and UX design. When you complete a task, you often use a combination of hard and soft skills—technical skills to guide your process and workplace skills to encourage effective outcomes.

Read more: Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills: What’s the Difference?

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What workplace skills are employers looking for?

Workplace skills can offer insight into a person’s approach to work beyond the technical aspects of their role. For many employers, how you do something is just as important as what you are doing—especially when it comes to long-term learning, growth, and success.

According to the US Department of Labor, employers consider workplace skills more important to work readiness—or the minimum qualifications necessary for a given occupation—than technical skills [1].

In particular, employers are broadly looking for:

Employers may consider workplace skills to forecast a person’s future potential. This type of character analysis may come into play when choosing the leads for a new project or deciding whether an employee is ready for a promotion. Hiring managers also assess workplace skills to determine whether a job candidate will be a good fit for a specific team.

Soft skills examples

Different employers will value workplace skills differently. Here are some examples of desirable workplace skills:

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Ways to improve your workplace skills

Since workplace skills are largely tied to behavior, improving them may involve shifting your regular patterns, approaches, or thought processes. This type of work tends to require practice and patience, but over time, you’ll likely notice more ease as you tap into your workplace skills.

Although they’ve traditionally been seen as harder to learn than technical skills, there are several ways to build upon your existing workplace skills. If you have a specific skill in mind that you’d like to improve, think about ways you can implement that skill into your daily life. You can also consult a life coach for help developing a personalized plan of action.

Here are some ideas for improving your workplace skills:

1. Practice different communication styles.

People tend to prefer different communication styles, whether that’s delivery methods—such as conversation, email, or text—or the manner of the delivery, like passive, aggressive, or assertive communication. In addition to your communication skills, considering how you might approach communicating in different situations can be an opportunity to practice adaptability, critical thinking, and strategic thinking.

To practice different communication styles, you might try to express the same idea in various ways, by writing it down, describing it aloud, and putting it into a presentation, or to various audiences.

Read more: 22 Ways to Improve Your Communication Skills in the Workplace

2. Join a group project.

Beyond demonstrating your ability to take the initiative, joining a group project can offer opportunities to practice several workplace skills, such as teamwork, time management, and active listening. As a bonus, group projects can enable you to bring your technical skills into a collaborative environment.

To join a group project, take an interest in what colleagues are working on and offer your help where it may be beneficial, or look for opportunities within your local community.

3. Learn something new.

Learning something new can expand your typical way of thinking and encourage growth. There are strong links between learning and creativity, so whatever you decide to learn, you stand to gain technical knowledge and enhance your creative thinking and problem-solving skills.

To learn something new, check out the class offerings at your local community college or art center, or browse popular free courses on Coursera.

4. Socialize with teammates.

You use workplace skills in every interaction you have. Simply getting to know your teammates can be an effective way to practice your communication and active listening and can create opportunities for future collaboration.

If it feels appropriate, approach socializing with your teammates with an interest in their lives, as well as a willingness to share about your own.

5. Suggest improvements to processes.

As you build your technical and workplace skills, you may notice some opportunities to improve how things are done in your workplace. Thinking critically about processes, recognizing problems, and finding viable solutions are all valued workplace skills.

To suggest improvements to processes, you may want to ask your manager about their preferred process and what type of information they’ll need in order to assess your suggestions.

6. Ask for feedback.

Many workplace skills have an element of interactivity, and sometimes an outside perspective can help illuminate things you are doing well and areas you may want to focus on improving. Similarly, offering feedback to others can be an opportunity to practice active listening, leadership, and teamwork.

To ask for feedback, turn to your manager, recent project collaborators, or other colleagues you’ve built relationships with.

How to include workplace skills on a resume

Including your workplace skills on your resume can be less intuitive than including your technical skills, but there are opportunities to do so within your summary, objective, or in a special skills section. Additionally, you can select action words that align with the skills you want to demonstrate within your work experience section. Then, you can use your cover letter to share further details.

Remember that workplace skills are reflected in how you approach your work, so when you discuss your successes, share what you did, how you did it, and your impact.

Read more: What Skills Should I Include on My Resume?

Keep learning

Continue working on your workplace skills with Coursera. Browse popular workplace skills courses from top institutions and industry leaders, or check out IBM’s People and Soft Skills for Professional and Personal Success Specialization. Sign up for a free seven-day, all-access trial and start learning today.

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  • Earn certificates for learning programs you complete
  • A subscription price of $59/month, cancel anytime

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Article sources

  1. US Department of Labor. “Soft Skills: The Competitive Edge, https://www.dol.gov/agencies/odep/publications/fact-sheets/soft-skills-the-competitive-edge.” Accessed May 18, 2023.

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