– by Erika at Wikijob

 Erika is a career and productivity copywriter who believes in the power of networking. In her free time, she enjoys reading books and playing with her cat, Cola.

Soft skills are well known as attributes that enable a person to engage in meaningful interactions. Since there hardly exists any job position that does not require this interaction, soft skills are at the top of the most critical information on any CV. Furthermore, every year we observe particular tendencies in demand for soft skills, which influence the job market.  For instance, Udemy’s 2020 Workplace Learning Trends Report ranked the ability to continue learning to adapt to change as the most critical soft skill for career success.

However, there is no chance all the employees will search for the same soft skill. Thus, an IBM study reported that even though an estimated 120 million workers worldwide will need to be retrained due to the revolution made by AI and automation in recent time, executives named adaptability, time management, and collaboration as top in-demand skills to hire for in today’s workforce.

Our checklist of the most wanted soft skills in 2021 is based on top industry reports. Just put ticks and do not forget to move these skills to the top of your resume.

Adaptability

Adaptability means the ability to learn new things and behaviors fast in response to ever-changing circumstances. Employers used to look for this skill on their candidates’ resumes to ensure that this candidate is capable of growth and further career development. Nowadays, it has slightly changed its vital objective. The previous 2020 year has proved that adaptability will be wanted to assure proper business functioning under any circumstances once and for good.

How to become more adaptable: The journey to raising the level of adaptability is different in every particular case. It largely depends on the specific strengths and weaknesses. Identifying these factors and learning how quickly you can learn a new skill is the first set in driving behavioral change and real progress. Candidates having a sufficient level of adaptability can think soberly, resist pressure, and respond to challenges.

Time Management

Time management incorporates the ability to plan, prioritize, and organize. These abilities are the top priority when an efficient and hard-working employee is required for a position. As a soft skill, time management also denotes an employee’s ability to have a bigger picture of the work process. Efficient time management is strongly related to productivity, better decision making, and more opportunities. Moreover, the employees who practice good time management prove to be more successful in achieving particular goals and objectives.

How to improve your time management skills: The improvement in time management skills is always a good idea. It may be easily practiced in daily life and then quickly transferred to business tasks. Besides, a team’s initiative leads to improved time management skills, which will become a strong point in your future job search. Keep in mind one golden rule — effective time management starts with setting SMART goals with realistic deadlines.

Collaboration

The ability to collaborate is a critical skill unless you are searching for a job on a deserted island, as most work environments require collaboration. This skill seems to be invaluable when it comes to working at the office. However, the ability to collaborate effectively under conditions of remote working is even more critical. The skill of collaboration presupposes the abilities to be a reliable and valuable team player, managing priorities for the team, balancing personal achievement to team goals.

How to become a better team player: The idea of collaboration seems easy. However, it often appears to be a challenge. Each team member’s personality, team lead, and overall company culture set the tone for collaboration. To improve your collaboration skills, start with putting the needs of the team ahead of your own. Practice active listening and make sure you know how to communicate your ideas effectively. Prepare to step out of your comfort zone and work in the field you are not well familiar with, which will help to rely on teammates more.

Emotional Intelligence

The level of emotional intelligence or EQ reflects the ability to recognize, understand, manage, and reason emotions. This skill is critical when it comes to complex problems, unexpected twists, and stressful situations. With today’s focus on collaboration and company culture, emotional intelligence is a top wanted soft skill for high-performing team members.

How to improve your emotional intelligence: Although personality traits predetermine emotional intelligence, luckily, it still may be trained and improved. Practicing emotional intelligence competencies start with self-awareness. Start with better recognition of your own emotions. Once you can effectively recognize your feelings, you will face fewer difficulties in understanding other people. Social skills are also closely connected to emotional intelligence. Therefore, improving them at the same time would be an excellent solution.

Flexibility

Flexibility is a capacity to adjust to short-term changes calmly and positively, to deal with the tasks effectively with no stress. As we cannot predict what challenges are going to arise next, flexibility might be a solution. CompTIA survey states that, along with adaptability, flexibility promises to be a top chased soft skill in the upcoming years. A flexible candidate is versatile, resilient, and responsive to changes in work modes and plans. Thus, such an employee is highly praised by the employer.

How to incorporate flexibility into your approach: Flexibility involves having an open attitude, a strong understanding of the purpose and identity. Concentration on the core values may help to feel grounded during stressful periods. Besides, looking at the situation from another perspective helps to understand and manage it better. Thus, work on being open-minded in your attitudes and reactions to existing and new opportunities.

Storytelling

A famous Native American proverb states: “Tell me a fact, and I will learn. Tell me the truth, and I will believe. But tell me a story, and it will live in my heart forever.” Strange as it may seem, but storytelling is a soft skill, which denotes the ability to communicate your message effectively and clearly to the audience. This audience may be an HR at the interview, a team lead, a manager, or a team of your colleagues. Many young leaders often struggle to acquire this skill. However, those who managed to master storytelling understand its importance.

Practice storytelling: As leaders embrace the power of storytelling, they search for it in new hires. Undoubtedly, good storytelling is an art, but there still is a science to it. To master storytelling, practice the whole communication set. The tone of voice, gestures, body posture, the structure of speech, humor, confidence — all these points require particular attention and hard work to make them work for you.

Communication

Practical communication skills are helpful in daily life, interviewing processes, and further career development. The ability to communicate effectively means knowing how to transfer your message to any receiver under various circumstances. Verbal and written communication come into play every day at the workplace. Thus, you are to be sure you are communicating with the benefit of your company and career in general.

How to improve your communication skills: Communication skills always top the list of the most in-demand soft skills to succeed in the workplace. With the rise of social media, texting, and remote working, the communication skills set gets even more critical. To improve your communication skills, make the very act of communication a priority. Read books, listen to speeches and podcasts, and analyze structures. Think carefully about every message you send during the day. Try to be brief yet specific while speaking or writing, unless you search for a romantic novels writer’s position.

Soft skills are paramount in daily life and the workplace. Now that you know what soft skills will be most in-demand in 2021, you should concentrate on cultivating or improving them.

Some companies will highlight the soft skills they are searching for. Use this information to your advantage and prepare in advance. While writing a cover letter, compiling a resume, or interviewing, think of soft and hard skills as accessories. They alone cannot qualify you for the position, but they make you a much more attractive candidate in combination with real-life experience and references.