Soft skills refer to a variety of personality traits and social/emotional skills that help people succeed at work and create a more harmonious workplace. While hard skills are important for the day to day tasks within your job, soft skills are highly sought after by employers who care about morale, company culture, and cohesive team environments. In short, the most enjoyable places to work.

Gain the soft skills to help from interview through to promotion

The recent focus on soft skills hides the fact that the ability to communicate effectively, resolve conflict, or exhibit emotional intelligence at work have always been essential for career progression. Clear communication and the ability to build rapport at interview stage is integral if you want to progress and gain a job offer. Good time management, decision making skills, and problem solving skills are among the essential skills needed for promotion to managerial level and beyond. Building and nurturing these skills throughout your career will help you to have more positive relationships with your co-workers and direct reports, and will even help you in your personal relationships as well.

Build in-demand soft skills for career success

Some of the most in-demand soft skills by employers include creativity, persuasion, collaboration, adaptability, and emotional intelligence. These are the skills that allow people to find solutions when plans are disrupted, to manage teams through difficult times, and to work well within a company. They are skills that are arguably more important during times of change or upheaval within a company, but are always part of the consideration process for new candidates. This may be why you’re asked what motivates you or about previous mistakes within a job interview.

Earn a soft skills certificate

57% of senior leaders say that soft skills are more important than hard skills - there’s no better time to start building and demonstrating these skills at work and on your CV. Our range of soft skills courses cover the most in-demand skills, from communication through to creative problem solving and decision making.

Earn personalised soft skills certificates when you complete an online course on FutureLearn, complete with lead educator signatures, organisation logos and course details. Share your achievements with employers, on Linkedin, on your CV and more.

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