7 Soft Skills You Need to Achieve Career Growth

By sbernazzani@hubspot.com (Sophia Bernazzani)

Is there someone (or hopefully, several someones) at your company who it seems like everyone wants to work with?

Perhaps it’s someone with amazing soft skills which get them pulled into brainstorms. Or maybe they’re the go-to consultant for some of the most impactful business issues. Or maybe it just seems like everyone on your team really, really likes them.

Soft skills have the power to grow your career in the same way hard skills and talent can. But what exactly are soft skills? And why are they so important to growing your career? Keep reading to find out, or use the links below to jump to a section.

What are soft skills?

How to Acquire Soft Skills

The 7 Soft Skills

Soft skills can be taught, but they’re not as straightforward as hard skills which are the specific qualities that can be clearly defined, measured, and taught for success in a job.

With hard skills, you can learn advanced techniques and methods that yield measurable results. They can even be tied directly to the business’s bottom line.

But when it comes to soft skills — things like small talk, empathy, and flexibility — they’re not an exact science, but they’re just as impactful.

You need hard skills to land a job, but you need soft skills to progress in your career. So we’ve rounded up a list of the soft skills most critical to building a successful career — and how you can acquire them.

How to Acquire Soft Skills

Soft skills are unlike hard skills in that they require situational awareness to know when to use which skill. When you’re hired for an accounting job, you know that most days you’ll need to the do hard skills you learned in school like mathematical formulas, bookkeeping, and probably some work in a spreadsheet application. However, it’s not as cut and dry when you’ll use soft skills because they are dependent upon intangible factors.

This is why acquiring soft skills is so unique. Practice is the best way to acquire soft skills and demonstrate them effectively. And you might be wondering, “How can I highlight soft skills in my role?” The answer is simple — having a genuine concern for others is the main ingredient to strengthening your soft skills and growing your career.

Listen to your coworkers and leaders to understand their success, challenges, opportunities, and concerns. Then see if there are any skills, experiences, advice, or resources you can offer.

Practice doing this in your meetings, one-on-ones, and even on your lunch break with the team. You’ll be surprised by how quickly you acquire these soft skills and grow your career.

Here are seven soft skills and examples that will help you make an impact on your coworkers and your career.