5 Soft Skills Every Apprentice Needs
Soft skills are best described as people skills. Hard skills are the skills that can be demonstratable and trained in. An assumption is that hard skills are all that matters, but soft skills are equally if not more important. Within all our apprenticeships, we have behaviours we expect our apprentices to demonstrate. These behaviours are a core part of learning and development and are considered soft skills too.
What are soft skills?
Soft skills are our traits, how we conduct ourselves, deal with situations and interact with others. Unlike Hard skills, they are not specific to any industry or job role. They can be easily transferable to any role.
The earlier we become aware of our soft skills the more likely we are to improve them. This will only enhance our professional lives and allow us to create a better work/life balance.
Soft Skills You Need:
Communication
Good communication is a core skill for our professional and personal lives. It’s also one our key behaviours that we expect from our apprentices. Effective communication isn’t just about speaking clearly, it’s about active listening and being able to communicate your ideas in a way that resonates with others. Three core parts to communication are:
Verbal – Being able to speak clearly and confidently.
Written – Pay close attention to your writing style in emails, reports and other documents. Be clear and concise to avoid any misunderstandings.
Active Listening – Being able to speak and listen are equally important. By listening and asking questions you are showing that you value others ideas and input.
Problem Solving
No matter what you do in life challenges and obstacles are inevitable. By having good problem-solving skills you will be able to deal with any issues and demonstrate your ability to think on your feet. This is nothing to be afraid of, as you can get develop your skills by doing the follow:
Analyse – Think about the situation, analyse, and break it down into smaller parts.
Think outside the box – Don't be scared to get creative and suggest innovative ideas and approaches.
Decision Making – If there are multiple possible solutions to your problem try to weigh them up. Think about the pros and cons and trust your judgement. It’s also important to be open to other people's ideas too.
Time Management
Time management is the act of balancing multiple deadlines and tasks. Effective time management helps you to stay organised and work towards deadlines. The key parts to effective time management are:
Prioritisation – Work through your to do list and identify the tasks that are the most urgent.
Planning – Log key dates, Create a timeline and schedule. This will help you to stay on track and work in an efficient and effective way. It might also be a good idea to block out focus time to work on your projects.
Avoid Procrastination – Make yourself aware of the signs of procrastination and take steps to avoid this. Set specific goals and rewards for completing tasks.
Ways to improve your time management skills are:
Use a planner. It doesn’t matter if it’s a physical planner or a digital one. If it helps with your time management, that’s all that matters.
Whatever the end goal is, break it down into smaller easier jobs.
Create a focused work environment with limited distractions.
Adaptability
Adaptability means that you can adapt and change with a business or a situation. This means you can handle any unexpected changes and continue to work effectively. There are three key areas to be mindful of in terms of adaptability.
Flexibility – Be open to change, new ideas and tasks.
Resilience – Develop the ability to recover quickly from setbacks. View challenges as opportunities.
Open to Feedback – Be open to feedback from colleagues and use it to enhance your skills.
To help you in developing these skills try to seek feedback rather than waiting for it and try new experiences to get yourself out of your comfort zone. This is one of the key behaviours that feature on our apprenticeships expected behaviours, so ensure you get that feedback.
Growth Mindset
Having a growth mindset means you believe you can develop what you already know as well as gaining new skills. A person with a growth mindset usually has a love of learning.
People with a growth mindset usually look for ways to improve the skills they have and see everything as a learning opportunity. Challenges and constructive feedback give them a direction as to where they need to improve and grow their skills.
If you are looking to improve your growth mindset, try these tips:
Set both professional and personal goals
Reflect on experiences and think about the things you’ve learnt
Seek people who work with you and support your growth
If you’re not sure where to go to build on your skills, research it or reach out to those in your network who might know.
Highlighting your Soft Skills
When it comes to applications, cover letters and CV it is important that you highlight not just hard skills but soft skills too. At first, it might not seem easy to demonstrate your soft skills, but it might be easier than you think. Here are some tips for highlighting your Soft Skills:
When looking at a job role or apprenticeship try to identify the soft skills.
Take some time to think about a time when you’ve used that skill and write down about that experience.
Include this in your cover letter or application if possible.
Many of these soft skills are closely linked. You might be working on something when an unexpected issue comes up. This is where you use your problem solving and adaptability to deal with it. Effective communication is also key here. So it could be that you have some experiences where you have used several skills at once.