Soft Skills Help Young Professionals Win

By Dan Sprumont, Jessica Franklin and Jordan Mitrik

The world is full of qualified and experienced young professionals vying for a finite number of desirable career opportunities. Their resumes are filled with highly coveted degrees, certifications, publications, technology stacks and big brand names. But at the end of the day, it’s about more than what’s on paper or behind a screen. If people don’t enjoy communicating with you in person, they’re probably not as likely to help you succeed.

Increase your chances for success by emphasizing soft skills. According to Wikipedia, “Soft skills is a term often associated with a person’s “EQ” (emotional intelligence quotient), which is the cluster of personality traits that characterize one’s relationships with other people.” Simply put – can you communicate? Can you work cross-functionally? When the winds of chaos strike your project, can you adjust your sails? When something doesn’t go your way, do you get upset or do you identify alternative solutions?

There are many unfavorable opinions that are hindering millennials in the workforce, but young professionals can bridge real and perceived gaps with colleagues by practicing and applying soft skills. Specifically networking, listening, selling and persevering.

Networking

It can be difficult to talk with strangers at a networking event, to walk into an unfamiliar department at your company and ask for help on a project, or to find a new vendor for a specific service. Networking is a skill and a state of mind. Every person you meet in any context of life is a new opportunity to network. Treat every human you meet with respect while working to create mutually beneficial relationships. As your network grows, more opportunities will present themselves. And so will the opportunities for you to connect members of your network, which directly helps both of them and indirectly helps you twice!

Listening

So you’ve built a solid personal and professional network. Great! Now listen to them. In order to communicate clear and valuable insights, we first need to listen to their needs and pain points. Many of us may agree with Vince Vaughn’s character in the film “Wedding Crashers” when he says, “A friend in need is a pest.” But a friend or professional in need is an opportunity to create value and bolster your personal brand within their network – which indirectly extends your network. Your perceived value continues to increase!

Selling

I’ve had the pleasure of building relationships with many sales professionals, and they’ve sold me on the idea that selling is the most important soft skill to exercise! You might disagree with this paragraph. So riddle me this: What happens when you need to persuade your team to implement that new process you created? When you need your boss to approve funding for your business proposal? When you need to convince that cutie from the gym to grab a drink with you?

So we’ve sold you on selling, but you don’t know where to start. Pick up a copy of “Influential Selling” by Ken Carnes. It’s an oldie but a goodie. Go out and use your new sales skills to convince friends and coworkers to do things. You’d be surprised how easy and fun it is.

Persevering

You will experience many highs and lows throughout the typical 30-40+ year career. As Bruce Springsteen sings in his song “Cover Me,” “the times are tough now, just getting tougher.” Being able to pick yourself up when you fall down or endure the dry spells is a requirement of life. Get through the bad by focusing on the good; family, friends, health and wellness, and personal development.

Young professionals have a long way to go and obstacles to overcome that they don’t even know exist yet. The tangibles on paper will help you survive. The intangible soft skills will help you thrive.