Employers are increasingly looking for soft skills that complement AI and automation, such as teamwork, emotional intelligence and problem-solving.
The job market may be hard for anyone seeking work but according to ManpowerGroup’s 2025 Talent Shortage Survey, 76% of UK employers report difficulty recruiting the right talent. Demonstrating your mastery of soft skills can help you stand out from the crowd, especially if you don’t have much experience of relevant employment.
Hard skills are technical and job-specific. Soft skills are the traits and behaviours needed for most jobs. The most sought-after include:
- reliability and self-discipline
- resilience and adaptability
- critical thinking and analysis
- creativity and originality
- reasoning and problem solving
You often pick up soft skills through experience, including outside employment. Think about examples showing how you:
- communicate and work with other people
- make decisions
- organise yourself at work, school or college
- adapt to difficult situations
Communication
You use communication skills every time you deal with other people. From writing emails to dealing with customers, reading instructions or caring for someone. Develop these skills by
- Taking up a hobby – join a sports team or drama club. Anything where you interact with other people helps.
- Volunteer somewhere you will talk to the public
- Practise making phone or video calls. Employers often report younger people, especially, are nervous about speaking rather than messaging, so get some practice.
Leadership
Leadership skills are not just for bosses. They show an employer that you can manage yourself and your workload. Think about your experience of time or conflict management, problem solving or mentoring
Develop these skills by
- organising your schedule – perhaps create a timetable
- manage differences between friends or colleagues
- teach skills to others in your spare time or in the workplace
Flexibility
Being flexible shows that you can adapt to different situations. It shows you can handle change.
You can be flexible by:
- covering for a teammate
- working outside your regular hours
- changing what you’re working on to fit new priorities
Improve your flexibility
Things such as
- rearranging your day because of a change in priorities
- do something challenging or new – outside your usual routine
- changing your plans to help someone at short notice
help you to develop flexibility.
Problem solving
Employers look for problem solving skills because it shows you can find difficulties and fix them.
You might use these skills when:
- dealing with a customer’s problem
- doing research to understand a situation
- asking questions to help you understand the context
Improve your problem solving
To develop your problem solving skills you could:
- play logic puzzles and games
- get involved in projects with other people where you solve problems together
- try brainstorming and develop plans to tackle the problems you have. Ask a friend to do this together
- keep a journal – it helps you to reflect and look at how you overcame problems, or how you could have tackled problems better
Next steps
If there are soft skills that you want to work on further, you could do some work experience or volunteering.
Read more about soft skills from experts such as Prospects, the graduate careers advice service.