According to an article in the latest edition of the American Staffing Association’s bi-monthly magazine, Staffing Success, most employers believe that a candidate’s soft skills are just as important as their hard skills. Soft skills are defined as “less tangible traits associated with one’s personality, such as a positive attitude,” and hard skills are “abilities that are learned to perform a specific job function and can be measured, such as operating a computer program.”
The article also cites a survey completed by CareerBuilder of more than 2,000 hiring managers and human resources professionals. The survey found the top ten most desirable soft skills that companies say they look for when hiring. We’ve included the list below:
- Strong work ethic – 73%
- Dependability – 73%
- Positive attitude – 72%
- Self-motivated – 66%
- Team-oriented – 60%
- Organization – 57%
- Works well under pressure – 57%
- Effective communicator – 56%
- Flexibility – 51%
- Confidence – 46%
