There’s no denying the importance of having strong skills in order to get hired for a job. But there are other skills that are just as important as the traditional work-related skills you’ll need. In fact, they might even be more important. Often referred to as soft skills (or intangible skills), these are the traits that can help take your job search to the next level.
The Business Insider article, “Shake Shack’s Millionaire Founder Danny Meyer Says He’ll Only Hire People with These 5 Skills,” highlights the necessity of soft skills during a job hunt. Meyer admits that when he first started hiring for his restaurants, he would only hire people with strong technical skills. What he discovered was that some of those technically proficient employees lacked a love for what they were doing—and it showed.
“Some people who had the least impressive technical skills ended up being the biggest stars at the restaurant, while others—with the most impressive technical skills—ended up weighing the ship down,” Meyer said.
So now the famed restaurateur looks for a mélange of strong technical and soft skills, or what he refers to as “innate hospitality skills.” The good news is that these skills can be applied to almost any job in any field. We’ve expanded on Meyer’s five skills and added our own below.
Here are 10 intangible skills that will set you apart in your job search:
1. Exhibiting Optimism
If you think about it, practically every employer would want an optimistic employee. After all, who wants to hire a Debbie Downer? Optimistic people can help motivate a team when times get tough, and are quicker to tackle harder assignments that others might be reluctant to take on. Showcasing a positive, can-do attitude during your job interview can help a potential boss see how enthusiastic you are about the job. So be sure to highlight an example of when you were positive when others may have been naysayers and explain how your optimism made a difference.
2. Being Kind
Think a cutthroat character will help you get to the job search finish line faster? Think again. The ability to be kind can go a long way in winning over a hiring manager. But being kind isn’t just reserved for potential coworkers or your future boss; it’s also for everyone you meet along the way, from the security guard who gave you the building pass to the receptionist who asked for your name not once, but three times. Because believe it or not, if you’re rude or short with people, that can spread pretty quickly—and negatively impact your chances of getting hired.
3. Being Intellectually Curious
When an employer brings on a new staffer, they want that person to be excited about the opportunity to work for the company. But they also want something else, too—a genuine interest in the job. They want to see that you’re passionate about the position on the whole, as well as other components of the company. In short, an employer wants an employee who never stops learning and plans to stay with the company in order to grow with the position.
4. Developing a Strong Work Ethic
Yes, many employees start off strong when they are first hired. They show up on time, sometimes stay late, and tend to work just a little harder in order to show their devotion to their job and their company. But after a few months (or years), that can start to wane, as an employee wanders into the office late, leaves early, and begins to put out subpar work. So during your job interview, show up your strong work ethic by citing examples of when you’ve gone above and beyond in previous positions.
5. Possessing Empathy and Self-Awareness
Whether you’re working in an office full of noisy coworkers or from the quiet of your home office, being empathetic to the other members of your team (and to your boss’ needs, too) goes a long way. You need to be aware of your actions and how they affect others, from having strong communication with your colleagues to being able to pass off a project to the next team member on time.
Working in a self-absorbed bubble (either in the office or at home) won’t win you any prizes—or get you hired. Be sure to show that you are in tune to your potential employer’s needs when you sit down for your interview and you’ll win major bonus points.
6. Having Integrity
Integrity is not taking all the credit for a project when your partner did more than half of the work. Integrity is a critical component of an employee’s success; it shows a prospective boss that you value the team (and its success) over your own. It’s an emotional skill that can be hard to find in some job seekers, but working with integrity and honesty is not only the right thing to do, but something that employers desperately want in their workers.
7. Being a Person of Your Word
Let’s say that you’re applying for a remote position and are given a performance test. You tell your prospective boss that you’ll have it completed by Tuesday—but then Wednesday rolls around and you’re nowhere near done. Rather than admit your error, you silently submit your test on Thursday, without an explanation or apology. What do you think your chances are of getting hired? Kind of shaky, right?
When it comes to your job search, it’s important to say what you mean, and mean what you say. If you tell a potential employer that you’re going to hand in materials by a certain date, make sure that you can make that deadline. Otherwise, the first impression that you’re giving your boss might be that you’re unreliable, flaky, or untrustworthy. Standing by your word shows honesty, integrity, and dependability, all of which are intangible skills that employers would covet.
8. Having Good Follow-Up Skills
On a daily basis, your job search might look like this: read listings, revise your resume, customize your cover letter, and send in your application. But what about following up? Some job seekers find following up tricky, believing that if a company were interested in you, they should reach out to you. Others are afraid of “bothering” a potential employer.
Thing is, you never know what can happen to your application after you hit send. Maybe your computer glitched and your application never went through, or it got accidentally deleted. Following up, believe it or not, can be an attractive quality to a prospective employer. It shows that you a) really want the job, and b) have the courage to pursue it professionally. Wait about a week or two, and then follow up on any outstanding applications that you haven’t heard back about.
9. Having Self-Confidence
Job searching can leave your ego a little bruised. From not hearing back from employers to reading listings for jobs you really want (but don’t have the qualifications for), it’s easy to lose your confidence. But it’s important to be self-confident during your search. Self-confidence will give you the gumption to go after the jobs you really want—and explain to a potential employer why you really deserve the job. If you doubt yourself and your ability to do the job, you might subconsciously send a signal to your interviewer that they should, too.
10. Being Trainable
When you’re applying to jobs, you want to put your best foot forward, presenting to a prospective employer that you’re completely able to do the job. That said, you don’t want to look like you’re possibly a know-it-all (i.e., untrainable). If you give off a been-there-done-that impression, it could be a big turn off. That’s why you should know how to present your past experience and skills set in a way that shows the employer that you’re qualified for the job, but also eager to learn the policies and practices in order to be a successful employee, too.
These 10 intangible skills will set you apart during your job search—and really, for your life, too.
Read more from www.flexjobs.com here: “10 Intangible Skills That Set You Apart in Your Job Search“
