Expanding Your Career Repertoire: Meaningful Soft Skills for Young Professionals in 2023
Developing a robust and meaningful skillset is key to your career growth
While many skills will be dictated by career milestones and areas of responsibility, there are a few key soft skills that you can begin to hone upon entering professional life. For this article, we consulted a few of the most prominent resources for career development to determine the most in demand skills for 2023, and how you can leverage them to make an impact as a young professional.
Soft vs. hard skills
First, it is important to understand the difference between hard skills and soft skills.
Both are going to be important as you begin your career and may change as the scope of your role and related responsibilities change or expand. “If you want to get ahead, you need to embrace continuous learning. By improving your work-related skill set, whether it's soft skills or hard skills, you boost your chances of improving your career trajectory.” (3).
“Hard skills include machinery skills, software skills, languages, techniques, tools, and specific processes. Anything that you could learn by getting a degree, watching a tutorial, or via some sort of training.” (2). These are skills that will help you perform your job to the best of your ability or according to the technical competencies and knowledge requirements of your employer.
Development of soft skills are just as important to your success. “Desirable qualities for certain forms of employment that do not depend on acquired knowledge: they include common sense, the ability to deal with people, and a positive flexible attitude . . . [i]ncluding time management, leadership skills, personal habits, and language skills.” (2) Soft skills also provide avenues to improve your communication skills, develop your workplace reputation, and develop productive habits. “These are the habits and social graces that make you easy to work with and an effective employee.” (2).
Elevate your thought processes
A good place to begin your skills development is to explore different methods of problem solving and efficient thinking.
Analytical thinking is often compared to critical thinking, but the two concepts have different uses. “Critical thinking is a type of analysis that uses reasoning to reach a conclusion. Individuals can use this skill to help them interpret information and decide if something is right or wrong. Often this involves considering outside information during your thought process.” (4). Critical thinking is also used to learn cross-functionally; by learning more about other teams' work, you can critically analyze your role in their processes and improve your collaboration.
“Analytical thinking is a method for analyzing a problem and finding a solution. This is a way for processing and breaking down complex information. Analytical thinking is helpful in identifying cause and effect relationships and making connections between two factors.’ (4) This thought process leverages data to tell a story, solve a problem, or connect factors of a situation to generate new ideas. This could also be helpful to pinpoint an issue within a larger idea by systematically removing and adding variables until the desired outcome is reached.
“Communication skills”
Using your “communication skills” is often a fluffy, general term for the productive ability to relay and receive information.
While there are many types of communication utilized in professional life, with any specific requirements or methods set by your company or industry, a few common examples include public speaking, presentation skills, active listening, and non-verbal communication. While all professionals should develop an expertise in effective communication, young professionals may want to begin with those communication skills that match their personality and desired career goals, with emphasis on clarity of speech and writing, choosing an appropriate communication medium and timing, as well as public speaking generally (if your role requires you to interact with clients, customers, or other internal or external stakeholders). (2).
Asking questions
Asking questions is (often) an underdeveloped skill upon entering the workforce.
However, asking questions can help you achieve success not only by requesting important information to perform your job, but also by showing you have the ability to take information, move to the next step of the relevant analysis, and effectively articulate your needs in light of the complete picture.
“In most organizations, more experienced professionals expect junior team members to have questions. If you're facing a new task and are unsure of the best path forward, asking for clarity or guidance can lead to a more favorable outcome. Asking targeted, thoughtful questions might show your supervisors that you're committed to growth and want to complete your work correctly the first time.” (1).
Check out FGPM’s article on asking effective questions here.
Productive Habits
Interpersonal skills and healthy habits are just as important for your career as professional skills.
“Habits like waking up early, getting at least eight hours of sleep, exercising regularly and journaling could help you control your stress levels and focus better at work. “(1). Further, developing and practicing interpersonal skills can help you relate to others and display confidence.
Common personal skills to develop include observed business etiquette, including any nuances within your industry; patience and courtesy; and expressing gratitude. (2).
Accepting positive and negative feedback
Sharing effective feedback will be an important tool for development at any stage of your career.
Feedback is meant to provide insight into your performance, areas of success, and opportunities for improvement. “When you're early in your career, it's essential that you can process and implement feedback from supervisors. There are many opportunities to get constructive criticism that can improve your process and product like evaluations, one-on-one meetings and project notes. A willingness to reflect on feedback and demonstrate improvement may help you earn the trust of teammates and managers.” (1).
Even though not all feedback will be positive, it is important to understand that effective negative feedback will encourage you to learn from any missteps or failures.
“Sometimes new ideas don't work right away - or at all - and being able to rebound from a setback with improvements and new ideas shows employers that you'll keep their company moving forward.” (3) If you are seeking further clarification on areas of improvement, ask your manager how they would approach the scenario, or ask a trusted mentor to walk you through a new process.
Cultivate a reputation
Building a positive reputation as an approachable, trustworthy colleague is important as you grow your visibility within your organization.
To begin this process with your manager, you can prioritize development opportunities that allow you to demonstrate accountability, fairness, and respect of other’s ideas.
Not only will this show leadership skills, “[b]eing proactive about your advancement could enable you to achieve your objectives sooner than you might if you were to wait for supervisors to suggest [projects]. (1).
Also, begin to consider your “personal brand.” “Remember that people in your industry may pay attention to what you do at work and outside of work. Aim to be professional and positive in your daily interactions and practice boundary-setting between your career and your private life.” (1). Reputational, or personal branding, skills are often referred to as integrity skills. Common integrity skills could include trustworthiness, honesty, ethical standard, and teachability. (2). Building a positive reputation can begin from day one of your career.
the importance of soft skills remains consistent in 2023, even as work styles shift to accommodate the modern workforce.
By developing a repertoire of these soft skills, including any that are important within your role or industry, you will be best equipped to communicate effectively and portray yourself in your best light.
Citations
“11 Pieces of Helpful Career Advice for Young Professionals.” Indeed - Career Guide, Indeed Editorial Team , 3 Feb. 2023, https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/career-advice-for-young-professionals.
Belcak, Austin. “Soft Skills Employers Want in 2023.” Cultivated Culture, 3 Jan. 2023, https://cultivatedculture.com/soft-skills/.
Chase, Ken. “The Top 13 Job Skills Employers Want in 2023.” TopResume, 26 Jan. 2023, https://www.topresume.com/career-advice/top-professional-skills-for-resume.
“Analytical Thinking vs. Critical Thinking (Plus Jobs That Use Them).” Indeed- Career Guide, 10 Mar. 2023, https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/analytical-thinking-vs-critical-thinking.
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