Develop your soft skills

Soft skills are general skills that most employers look for when recruiting and are needed for most jobs. They're sometimes called transferable skills or employability skills by employers. We gain soft skills in school, life and work.

Find out about some of the soft skills employers look for and how to develop these skills.

Examples of soft skills

You often pick up soft skills though life experience, like how you:

communicate and work with others
make decisions
organise yourself at work and school
adapt to difficult situations

When you apply for a job you'll need to show that you have the soft skills needed.

Communication

You can use communication skills in lots of different jobs.

You use communication skills when:

writing emails
dealing with customers
reading instructions
helping and caring for people

Improve your communication

You can develop your communication skills by meeting new people and working with them.

You could:

join a sports team or creative arts club
volunteer somewhere you will talk to the public
practice making phone or video calls
take an online course, like on how to give work presentations

Leadership

Leadership skills are not just for managers. Having leadership skills shows an employer that you can manage yourself and your workload.

You might have experience of using leadership skills like:

time management
conflict management
problem solving
mentoring

Improve your leadership

To develop your leadership skills you could:

organise your schedule by creating a timetable
resolve conflict between friends or colleagues
teach skills to others in your spare time or in the workplace

Positivity

A good attitude is something a lot of employers look for. Employers look for people who see solutions, not problems.

You use positivity skills when you:

stay calm in stressful situations
look for answers to problems
have a can do attitude

Improve your positivity

To develop your positivity skills you could:

do a free online course around personal growth and wellbeing
solve problems when things go wrong
network, whether for work or education, this shows a good attitude to learning and growing
be part of a team, like sports or creative arts to show you’re a team player

Flexibility

Being flexible shows that you're adaptable to different situations. It shows you can handle change and adapt at short notice.

You can be flexible by:

covering for a teammate
working outside of your regular hours
changing what you're working on to fit with priorities

Improve your flexibility skills

To develop your flexibility skills you could:

rearrange your day because of a change in priorities
do more than one task at a time
do something outside of your comfort zone
do a challenge that stretches you
change your plans to help someone at short notice

Problem solving

Employers look for problem solving skills because it shows you can find problems and fix them.

You might use problem solving skills when:

dealing with a customer's problem
doing research to understand a situation
asking questions to help you understand the bigger picture

Improve your problem solving

To develop your problem solving skills you could:

play logic puzzles and games
keep a journal – looking at your mindset and how you look at solving problems
get involved in projects with others where you solve problems together
try brainstorming and developing plans for problems you have

Next steps

If there are soft skills that you want to work on further, you could do some volunteering or work experience.

You could also do a free online course to help you gain more soft skills. This will give you examples you can use on your CV or in job interviews when you apply for jobs.

Speak to an adviser

You can call 0800 100 900 or use webchat to speak to an adviser.

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