THE SOFT SKILLS THAT CAN GIVE YOU A REAL EDGE IN THE JOB MARKET

​We discussed soft skills before in this blog, specifically with a post titled "The Importance of Soft Skills in Your Job Search." However, there's a sub-set of soft skills that are even more valuable to you, and that is the subject of this blog post.
But first, let's recap with a definition: soft skills refer to skills that involve the way you interact with other people, specifically your boss and co-workers.
Now that we've recapped with a definition, let's move to another one. Transferrable soft skills are soft skills that can be applied to a number of different areas within a specific industry, and they can even be transferred from one career to another.
How can transferrable soft skills give you an edge in the job market? Let's answer that question with a hypothetical situation. Let's say that you're close to getting a job. It's come down to just you and another person.
You and this other person have about the same level of skills and experience for the position. In fact, you even have a lot of the same soft skills. However, you have a few transferrable soft skills that the other person does not have. Guess who gets the job? That's right, you do!
Transferrable soft skills can serve to "break the tie" in a situation like that one (even if it is hypothetical). Job seekers need every edge they can get in the employment marketplace. That's why you should be constantly adding to your skill set, not just with hard skills related to your trade or profession, but also with soft skills. And that includes transferrable soft skills.
What kind of soft skills are we talking about, specifically? Below are four transferrable soft skills that can give you an edge in the job market:
#1—Communication
Okay, this is a skill that everyone can improve. It's probably the most common and most important transferrable soft skill. And when we talk about communication, we're talking primarily about two things: frequency and effectiveness. Basically, it's how often you communicate and how well you communicate. You need both elements to excel with this skill.
#2—Leadership
Okay, this soft skill is more elusive than communication. Not everybody can be a leader. If everybody was a leader, then there would be no real leaders. However, you can still learn everything there is to know about leadership, and if you have an inkling of leadership DNA within you, perhaps you can use that to put distance between you and other job seekers.
#3—Emotional intelligence
We've discussed this before, specifically with the blog post titled "Gaining the Advantage of Emotional Intelligence." Once again, this is a skill that just about anyone can improve. You don't necessarily have to be a leader in order to improve your emotional intelligence and use that skill to excel in the workplace and the job market.
#4—Time management (efficiency)
Time management does not pertain only to tasks in the workplace. It also pertains to the time spent with co-workers. An organization wants its employees to exercise exceptional time management not only with the tasks they complete, but also in the way they interact with co-workers. Let's face it: people sometimes waste time chatting with colleagues. That's not efficient.
How do YOU stack up in these four areas? What can you do to improve your skill within each one? Your ability to do so might have a tremendous impact on your job search and your career.
Time Staffing can help give you another edge in your job search.