Workplace - Top professionals need ‘soft’ skills as well as technical ones

You may have undertaken lots of technical training and be at the forefront of industry issues and developments, but highly successful engineering professionals also possess “soft” skills, which are highly valued by employers. These include:

Interpersonal skills

The ability to lead, motivate and delegate is important at every level of organisational responsibility. Being the most technical person in your field is not enough; you need to be able to convince others that what you are doing is important. Senior job descriptions frequently specify interpersonal skills as essential.

Team working

There are two issues a team must consider. The first is the task at hand and problems that might be involved in completing it. The second, and most overlooked, is the process of the teamwork itself and the procedures that will ensure the group works cohesively. By acknowledging both these issues you will be able to clarify group objectives and enhance your team-working capabilities.

Negotiation skills

Negotiating in a way that means you achieve desired outcomes while maintaining successful relationships with others is highly beneficial. It will help you to build relationships based on openness, trust, understanding and mutual respect. Being able to see a situation from another person’s perspective is the key because it will enable you to present your thoughts in the most favourable way.

Communication skills

An engineer has to be able to communicate ideas effectively because the industry depends on shared knowledge. Such skills could be the deciding factor in promotion. It is also important that you are able to understand instructions and consider the suggestions of others, so think about good listening techniques too.

Time management

Some people produce their best work under immense pressure, while for others tight deadlines affect their ability to carry out a task efficiently. The best way to address this is to plan ahead by identifying the objectives, the tasks needed to meet them and the time you expect this to take to complete.

Providing evidence

Demonstration of your key skills should be something you do initially through your CV, then during the interviewing process and throughout your working career. Presentation footage can demonstrate verbal communication skills, while reports can be used as evidence of your writing capabilities.

Having identified the skills you need, identify your goal and the steps needed to achieve it. Put the steps into a time frame, and define how you will know when you have reached your goal. Soft skills involve working with others, so ask for help in developing them. Make sure you have what’s needed to convince employers you are the perfect applicant.