In the ever-evolving world of Information Technology (IT), technical prowess alone is no longer the sole determinant of success. Soft skills, often considered the “human” side of the IT profession, play a pivotal role in navigating the complex landscape of technology. In this blog, we’ll explore the significance of soft skills and why they are the unseen pillars supporting IT success.
8 Soft Skills for IT Success
- Communication
- Collaboration
- Leadership
- Resiliency
- Critical thinking
- Lifelong learning
- Cultural literacy
Communication
73.2% of employers believe proper verbal communication skills are a must.
Whether you’re speaking to clients or colleagues, it’s important to employers that you know how to communicate effectively and efficiently.
Expressing yourself verbally is one of the main ways to give an excellent first impression and set the tone for how others perceive you. Being well-prepared for your interview will help you provide a great first impression and show off those verbal communication skills.
Your cover letter and resume are great ways to demonstrate this skill and make that first impression on potential employers.
Collaboration
The workplace is full of collaboration and teamwork. Your work reflects not just yourself but also your coworkers and the company. Your colleagues have various personality types, so 81% of employers want to know you can work well with others. Knowing how to delegate, being open to direction and navigating differing opinions are all part of collaborating.
Leadership
About 68% of hiring managers look for potential hires with leadership skills. Employers believe IT professionals with these skills and qualities tend to be loyal, stay in jobs longer, have fewer absences and have higher morale levels. Regardless of where you are in your career, it’s never too early to display leadership qualities. You don’t have to be a CEO to be a leader. Taking initiative, volunteering for projects, and assisting coworkers are all great ways to show your leadership qualities.
Resiliency
Resilience is the ability to recover from challenges and spin them into learning opportunities. In the workplace, resilience can look like solving problems, recovering from mistakes, and not shying away from a challenge. For example, an employee may show resilience when completing a complex project while meeting the deadline.
Resilience can help employees manage stress and persevere in the face of adversity. Additionally, resilience aids in job satisfaction improves team members’ communication, and boosts employee confidence.
Critical thinking
76% of hiring managers are also looking for critical thinking. Like problem-solving, this skill involves gathering and assessing information to make appropriate and effective decisions.
You don’t need job experience to acquire or prove you have these skills. Using anecdotes is a great way to emphasize your skills to employers. Interviewers will use behavioural questions that often begin with “tell me about a time when” or “give me an example of” to test for these skills. If you need help tackling these questions, look to the STAR method.
Lifelong learning
While some employees are only willing to do the minimum to get their paycheck, employees with intellectual curiosity are always eager to learn new skills and expand their responsibilities. What makes candidates with this quality so desirable is that they’re easily coachable and highly engaged and, therefore, can climb the career ladder much quicker than their peers. Intellectual curiosity also indicates a sense of humility as these individuals know there is always room to grow, learn and improve.
People who have the willingness to learn are all about improving themselves. These individuals understand they don’t have the answers to everything and always have room to grow. This level of self-awareness is attractive to employers. Candidates with this trait always seek learning opportunities to develop their professional and personal knowledge. This ensures they can continually optimize their work processes and improve work outcomes.
Cultural literacy
Remote work models allow hiring managers to hire free of borders. In other words, geography is no longer a limitation. Employers can expand their talent pools to the entire country and beyond without anyone having to make any permanent moves. With companies making more genuine efforts towards diversity and inclusion, workplaces aren’t as homogenous as they once were. So, employees work not only across different time zones and locations but also with others from varying cultures, languages, and ages. This is why cultural literacy, or the ability to understand the traditions and history of those from different cultures, is an essential aspect of remote work. When cultural literacy is prioritized we can see inclusion and diversity in tech flourish.
Where to highlight your soft skills
During the recruitment process, your resume, cover letter, interview and the help of online profiles can all be used to showcase your soft skills.
Resume
You can use a couple of options when including soft skills on your resume. The obvious choice is the skills section, but you can also utilize the summary or objective section along with your employment history descriptions.
Cover letter
Rather than just rehashing your resume, your cover letter should tell a story highlighting one or two transferable skills. Review the job description and choose a few skills to highlight.
Interview
Refer to concrete examples to showcase your transferable skills when answering the interviewer’s questions. Using the STAR method, you can create detailed stories of past experiences where you successfully used vital skills.
Online
Whether it’s (7)LinkedIn or your online portfolio, you can add soft skills at the click of a button.
Additional ways to prove your skills to employers
- Prioritize face-to-face conversation. Sharing your stories and marketing yourself to recruiters and potential employers can show your communication and other interpersonal skills.
- Forget the buzzwords and career jargon. Use clear and descriptive language to make an impact when describing your skills.
- Researching the new role and industry will prepare you for your interview and prove you take the initiative. Volunteering and providing work samples are also great ways of gathering tangible proof of your skills.
The Best IT Recruitment Agency in Toronto | About Live Assets | IT Staffing Solutions
Live Assets is a boutique IT Staffing/Recruiting firm specializing exclusively in building IT teams of excellence for the Information Technology sector.
We are a small, but productive team that works closely together and has had a 96% success rate for the past number of years!
We have a diverse number of clients and industries and focus on both full-time and contract I.T. opportunities.
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